Albert John Milkins was an English professional footballer whose career ran from the start of the 1960s to the end of the 1970s.

John Milkins
Personal information
Full name Albert John Milkins
Date of birth (1944-01-03) 3 January 1944 (age 80)
Place of birth Romford, England
Height 6 ft 0+12 in (1.84 m)[1]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
1959–1961 Portsmouth
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1961–1974 Portsmouth 344 (0)
1974–1979 Oxford 53 (0)
1979–1982 Waterlooville 122 (0)
Total 519 (0)
International career
1961 England Youth 1
Managerial career
1981–1983 Waterlooville
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Born in Romford on 3 January 1944,[2] Milkins won one England Youth cap[3] whilst with his first club Portsmouth, to whom he was to give 15 years of service. He made his debut for the first team in their final match in the English First Division, although he was to wait a further two years for his next appearance.[4] In all Milkins was to make over 300 appearances for Portsmouth [5] and was to prove such a popular player that in 1970 he was awarded the inaugural Player of the Year trophy.[6] The following year he was awarded a testimonial against local rivals Southampton which resulted in a 0–7 defeat.[7] In the 1974 close season he was sold to Oxford United for whom he played sporadically until his last league appearance in May 1979.[8] He then joined now defunct Southern League club Waterlooville[9] and, after two years as first-choice goalkeeper, became player-manager during the 1981–82 season, taking over from John Waugh. At the end of that season he retired from playing but continued as first-team manager until December 1983. During his two years as manager of Waterlooville the club were promoted to the Premier Division, reached the final of the Southern League Cup, and reached the first round proper of the F.A. Cup where they played against league opposition for the only time in their history, losing to Northampton Town after two replays. After being replaced as Waterlooville manager by Ernie Bradwell part-way through the 1983–84 season, Milkins then ran a sports shop/ snooker hall consortium. Milkins has a daughter, Julie, and a son, David, who was also an accomplished footballer, playing as a forward for Waterlooville in the 1980s and 1990s.

References edit

  1. ^ Vernon, Leslie; Rollin, Jack, eds. (1976). Rothmans Football Yearbook. 1976–77. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 294. ISBN 978-0-362-00259-1.
  2. ^ "Rothmans Football Year Book,1970–71" Peskett,R/Williams,T: Harpenden, QAP,1970 ISBN 0-362-00071-9
  3. ^ He played in a 0–2 defeat against Germany in 1965 – AFS DataBase
  4. ^ "Pompey: The History of Portsmouth Football Club" Cooper,M/ Neasom,M/ Robinson,D: Portsmouth, Milestone Publications, 1984 ISBN 0-903852-50-0
  5. ^ "The PFA Premier League and Football League Players' Records 1946–98" Hugman,B: Harpenden, Queen Anne Press, 1998 ISBN 1-85291-585-4
  6. ^ "Portsmouth, from Tindall to Ball" Farmery, C: Southend-on-Sea, Desert Island Books, 1999 ISBN 1-874287-25-2
  7. ^ Saints V Pompey: A History of Unrelenting Rivalry by Aldworth,C Bendell, B Bull, D Dave Juson, D: Southampton, Hagiology, 2004 ISBN 0-9534474-5-6
  8. ^ Oxford fan site Archived 2006-02-11 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Club amalgamated with Havant Town to form Havant & Waterlooville F.C.