The South West football received a shock recently following the sudden passing of former Exeter City and Torquay United goalkeeper Kevin Miller at the age of 57.
Miller originally joined the Grecians in 1989 from Newquay, and he played a starring role in the City that won the Fourth Division title in the 1989-90 campaign under Terry Cooper. It was a side that is still fondly remembered by Grecians' fans, and his teammates included the likes of Scot Hiley, Richard Dryden and Chris Vinnicombe, all of whom, like Miller, would go on to grace a higher level.
In 1993, Miller followed Cooper to Birmingham City before moving on to Watford, where he won the Hornet's player of the year award twice, as his form at Vicarage Road helped him to earn a £1.5million move to the Premier League with Crystal Palace.
A transfer to Barnsley then followed where he stayed for three years before making the return to St James Park in 2002. However, his return coincided with the season that the Grecians were relegated from the Football League under the ownership of John Russell and Mike Lewis, which also saw Uri Geller serve on the club's board. The season also saw the club go through three managers in John Cornforth, Neil McNab and Gary Peters.
Further spells in the Football League followed for Miller with Bristol Rovers, Derby County, Southampton and Torquay United before he returned to his native Cornwall to sign for Bodmin Town.
After he retired from playing, Miller worked as a goalkeeper coach for Torquay United and Exeter City, as well as a stint as manager of Exmouth Town. At the time of his passing, he had been working as goalkeeper coach at Wigan Athletic, a role which saw him reunited with former Grecians boss Gary Caldwell.
His sudden passing is a huge loss to his family and friends and football in the South West has lost one of its true heroes.
