Kenny Miller: Former Scotland & Partick Thistle striker retires at 40
- Published
Miller scored 267 goals in 809 career appearances
Former Scotland striker Kenny Miller has retired from playing football at the age of 40.
Miller began his career at Hibernian in 1998, before playing for Rangers, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Celtic and Cardiff City, among others.
His final playing role came at Partick Thistle, who he joined in June 2019 on a one-year contract.
In 21 league games he scored five goals before being released from Firhill by manager Ian McCall in January.
He is joining the coaching staff of Australian A league side Newcastle Jets.
The Edinburgh-born forward earned 69 Scotland caps, scoring 18 goals over a 12-year spell.
He made his Scotland debut in a friendly against Poland in 2001, earned his 50th cap nine years later against Czech Republic and made his final international appearance against England at Wembley, scoring in a 3-2 defeat in August 2013.
"It has been a career far beyond my expectations," said Miller in a statement.
"I would like to think that I give all young players hope that if you give everything you've got in every training session and match you can play at the highest level.
"I've scored goals in the Premier League, Champions League and at international level and you can't ask for much more than that.
"Representing my country and pulling on that shirt as many times as I did is the greatest honour any young Scottish kid could have,
"If you had told me when I was a young boy at Hibs that my career would have gone like I would have laughed at you."
Kenny Miller celebrates scoring against the Czech Republic in a 2-2 draw at Hampden in 2011
Courage to cross Old Firm divide
Miller ended the 1999-2000 season as Hibernian's top scorer and PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year before departing to Ibrox in a £2m move.
He was off to Wolves a year later then, in 2006, came a seismic move as he signed for Gordon Strachan's Celtic, becoming one of the few post-war players to play for both sides of the Old Firm.
He packed in a league title and Scottish Cup in his sole season at Celtic Park and played a key role as the club reached the Champions League last 16 for the first time.
After those European highs came a record low - his year at Derby County ended in the fewest points total in Premier League history - before a return to Rangers beckoned.
Miller had three spells across 18 years as a striker for Rangers
Some fans found it difficult to accept the signing of a former Celtic striker as Miller became just the second player to cross the Glasgow divide twice. But his goals and performances answered most critics as a glut of trophies including three successive titles followed.
A third spell at Rangers took his appearance total for the Ibrox club to 301, with 116 goals.
A famous final act
Miller's meandering career also took him to clubs in Turkey, Wales and Canada but he spent the final 18 months back home in Scotland.
He was appointed player-manager at Livingston, only to leave seven weeks later, had a season at Dundee as they dropped out of the top flight, then pitched up at Partick Thistle.
One of Miller's last acts was to make history with his final goal, joining Zlatan Ibrahimovic on an elite list.
His consolation strike for the Jags late on in a 4-1 thumping by Dundee United on 11 January made him one of the few players to have scored in four different decades.
It was a feat matched by Ibrahimovic the same day as the Sweden legend scored for AC Milan against Cagliari.