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Starting his career at our next opponents Norwich City, we caught up with ex-England international Danny Mills about his time with the Canaries and his short spell at Hull City!

Signing for boyhood club Norwich City:

Progressing through the system, Mills would sign his first professional contract at Norwich in November 1994. For a player that would later win a League Cup with Middlesbrough, play European football with Leeds United and represent England at a World Cup, signing his first deals at Norwich was always one of the most pinnacle moments for Mills.

“You have dreams as a kid. I was never blessed with God given talent, so there were milestones. It was, can I get an apprenticeship? Yes, got an apprenticeship. Wow, can I get a professional contract? Yes, incredible. I don't mind saying this, but my apprenticeship contract was £27.50 a week, but I was delighted to sign that; it was one of the proudest moments in my career, and then my first professional contract, £250 pounds a week,” revealed Mills.

“You start to think, wow, I'm getting paid to play football. And then you keep going on. You want to become a first team player, first team regular, and then we're going to England Under-21s, and then playing in the Premier League, and then become an England international. I just kept working hard and ticking off these boxes, and I look back and I had some incredible times."

Senior Debut & First Goal at Norwich:

Remaining patient, his senior debut for the Canaries came on 13 August 1995 against Luton Town before scoring his first senior goal in a League Cup fixture away at Torquay United two months later.

When asked about the two fixtures, Mills said: “Sadly, the first game, I gave away a penalty! It was the first game of the season and it was live on TV on a Sunday and I gave away a penalty. It was a little push in the back of somebody; it probably was a penalty in all honesty due to youthful exuberance. We then scored about a minute later and it was the longest minute of my life. 

“I was very grateful to Martin O’Neill to give me my debut. He had seen something in pre-season and he said to me ‘I believe you're good enough, get in there and go for it.’ Torquay is quite a long journey from Norwich and there were no private jets or anything like that. It was a League Cup game and I think we'd won the first leg 6-1. The younger players were given an opportunity to play and I won't lie, it was an absolute banger; it was outside the foot, top corner. I'll take that as one of the best goals I've ever scored. If you can find it on YouTube then you'd be very, very lucky!”

Signing for Hull City on loan:

Fast forwarding to September 2006, Hull City would sign the 19-time England international on loan in September 2006 from Manchester City in hope to provide experience to a youthful backline struggling in the Championship.

"The season before, I broke my leg against Arsenal and I missed that season effectively. When I came back in, I just needed to get some fitness. Man City had signed some good new players and I was going to be second choice right back, and rightly so as no one's got any God given right to play.

“I knew the Chairman Adam Pearson and he said that the club had just been promoted from League One. Hull had got a young side, done incredibly well, but were lacking a little bit of experience in the Championship. The likes of Michael Turner were good young players, but they were young. They weren't used to playing at that level. So I spoke to Phil Parkinson, who was great, and I think it was 10 games I was supposed to be coming in for,” explained Mills.