https://m.westernbulldogs.com.au/new.../born-and-bred
Born and bred
Andrew Gigacz
May 30, 2019 3:31PM
The cliched headline "local boy makes good" could have been written specifically for Jim Miller, a born and bred Bulldog who turns 100 today.
Miller was born in Footscray, and cut his footy teeth in the Footscray District League before being snapped up by the Bulldogs, prior to the 1938 season.
The FDL was a fertile Bulldogs breeding ground in the 1930s, producing players such as Joe Ryan, Harry Hickey and Bob Spargo Senior who, along with Miller were all part of the first Footscray team to play in a VFL final in 1938, Miller's first season at the highest level.
The Dogs fell short in that semi-final but Miller and his locally recruited teammates formed part of a core of players that helped Footscray qualify for finals again in 1942, 1944 and 1946, making the Bulldogs the most successful of the three sides (the others being Hawthorn and North Melbourne) that had joined the VFL in 1925.
Miller gave the Dogs fine service over 131 games in 11 years, a figure that would have been significantly higher if not for the disruption of war.
Miller served in both the Army and the RAAF during World War II (he played several games for South Sydney when he was posted to NSW while in service).
Jim Miller played out the twilight of his on-field career as captain-coach of Yarraville in the VFA before a leg injury brought his playing days to an end in 1949.
Having earned life membership of the Footscray Football Club in 1947, Miller continued to be a great servant of the Bulldogs, firstly as a committee member from 1957, and then as President from 1963 to 1966. He was club Vice President when the Bulldogs made their second Grand Final appearance in 1961.
Nominated by Mark Buttler and Steven Milne as one of the Dogs' top 50 players in their 1994 book, "Sons of the 'Scray: Footscray's Finest 50", the Western Bulldogs are proud to acknowledge Jim Miller as one of the club's greats on the occasion of his 100th birthday.
