The Story So Far: Liam Millar

An in-depth look into our new summer recruit, Liam Millar…

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the 24-year-old began his footballing journey at Brampton Youth SC at the age of four. After two years, he joined North Mississauga and also represented Burlington YSC before moving to England aged 13 for footballing reasons, joining Fulham in 2013.

Spending three years with the Cottagers, Millar moved to Premier League giants Liverpool in July 2016.

A month later, it took Millar just four minutes into his Under-18s debut to score, later netting a hat-trick in a 4-0 win over Blackburn Rovers in the Under-18 Premier League. Securing goals against Derby County, Sunderland and Manchester City in the same competition, the forward ended his first season at Liverpool with six goals and two assists in 17 games for the Under-18s.

Penning his first professional contract on his 17th birthday in September 2017, Millar featured in every game of the Reds’ UEFA Youth League campaign in 2017/18, scoring twice in eight games. Also securing a hat-trick in the FA Youth Cup  third round against Hartlepool, Millar, under the stewardship of Steven Gerrard at Under-18s level, earned his first call-up to the Under-23s, recording an assist on debut against Manchester City. In total for Liverpool’s youth teams, he featured 37 times across the 2017/18 campaign, scoring 13 times and registering 10 assists.

Scoring six goals and registering four assists in 15 games for Liverpool’s academy in the first half of the following season, January 2019 saw Millar take his first venture into senior club football when he joined Scottish Premiership side Kilmarnock on loan.

Making his debut against Hearts, the winger made 14 appearances for the Scottish side, scoring once in a 1-0 win over St Mirren and recording once assist in a 5-0 victory over Hamilton.

Returning to Kilmarnock for the beginning of 2019/20, Millar featured a further 22 times for Killie, scoring another goal and registering another assist before having his loan period cut short in January 2020 to return to Liverpool.

Recording a goal and assist in Premier League 2 for Liverpool upon his return against Southampton, he made his senior debut in the fourth round replay at Anfield against Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup, playing 82 minutes.

Captaining Liverpool Under-23s six times in 14 appearances, January 2021 saw Millar join Charlton Athletic on loan. Netting in only his third appearance for Charlton later in the month against Bristol Rovers, the forward scored three goals and recorded six assists in 27 appearances.

His form at the Addicks secured a permanent switch for Millar as he joined Swiss Super League side FC Basel on a four-year deal on 8 July 2021. Playing in two test games, Millar made his competitive debut in the second round of the UEFA Europa Conference League qualification against FK Partizani. Scoring his first goal for Basel four days after recording his first assist in September 2021, Millar ended his first season in Switzerland with 10 goals and five assists in 46 appearances in all competitions.

Playing another 46 games in the 2022/23 campaign, scoring once and assisting four times, the forward began last season at Basel. Featuring six times, which included a brace in an 8-1 win over FC Saint-Blaise in the first round of the Swiss Cup, Millar returned to England on transfer deadline day to join Preston North End on loan.

Scoring the winner in a 2-1 home victory over Plymouth Argyle on debut, Millar was a consistent feature for Ryan Lowe’s side in the Championship. Scoring one and assisting one in a Boxing Day win over Leeds United, the forward scored five goals and recorded five assists in 36 appearances for the Lilywhites.

Internationally, Millar was first involved with the international set-up with Canada at the age of 14 in the squad for the Tourney Montaigu. He featured three times for Canada’s Under-20 side in the 2017 CONCACAF Under-20 Championships while also featuring four times for their Under-23 side.

The forward was handed his senior debut by John Herdman at just 18 years old in March 2018, playing the full game in a 1-0 friendly win over New Zealand. Earning 32 caps for the senior national side, he scored his only goal for his country so far in the 2023 Gold Cup in a 4-2 win over Cuba. More recently, Millar helped Canada finish fourth in Copa América 2024, playing in all six games.