Ben Mills (footballer)

Ben Mills (born 23 March 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Whitchurch Alport.

Ben Mills
Personal information
Date of birth (1989-03-23) 23 March 1989
Place of birth Stoke-on-Trent, England
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 Whitchurch Alport
Youth career
Port Vale
?–2007 Leek Town
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2008 Newcastle Town 32 (9)
2008 → Leek Town (loan) 4 (1)
2008–2009 Leek Town 33 (12)
2009 Stafford Rangers 15 (6)
2009–2010 Alfreton Town 13 (1)
2010–2011 Stafford Rangers 33 (6)
2011–2012 Nantwich Town 25 (11)
2012 Macclesfield Town 13 (0)
2012 → Chester (loan) 8 (9)
2012–2013 Chester 24 (4)
2013 → Altrincham (loan) 4 (1)
2013–2014 Brackley Town 19 (3)
2014 Leek Town 9 (5)
2014 Newcastle Town 8 (1)
2015 Witton Albion 7 (2)
2015– Newcastle Town 5 (2)
2017– Whitchurch Alport
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:00, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

Career

Mills was a trainee at Port Vale[1] and was also at Leek Town as a youth player.[2]

He joined Newcastle Town in July 2007, turning down a deal with Leek[3] and in September 2008 joined former club Leek, initially on loan.[4] However, the decision by Newcastle to take Mills off contract to enable him to play for Leek backfired on the club, after the player decided to remain with Leek and sign with them.[5]

In March 2009 he turned down moves to Stafford Rangers[6] and to Tamworth and Hednesford Town.[7] opting to remain with Leek for the remainder of the season. In July did sign for Stafford, with an opportunity to play at two steps higher in the football pyramid.[8]

He then spent time with Alfreton Town[9] before returning for a second spell at Stafford Rangers.[10]

In the 2011/12 season he played for Nantwich Town,[11] including featuring for the club in their 6–0 defeat by MK Dons in the FA Cup in November 2011.

He moved to Macclesfield Town in January 2012[12] and made his Football League debut on 14 January in a League Two game against Torquay.[13]

In August 2012 he joined Chester on loan,[14] scoring nine goals in the seven appearances he made for the club during his loan spell, including a hat-trick in a 4–0 victory over Guiseley.[15] Whilst Mills was keen to join Chester if the right deal could be made[15] Macclesfield initially rejected Chester's offer but then indicated they would be willing to accept their bid, however Chester manager Neil Young chose not to continue negotiations due to a tight transfer budget.[16]

After his return from loan he made his first appearance for Macclesfield in the Conference National in October 2012.[17] In November 2012, with a lack of first team football, Mills transferred back to Chester on a permanent basis, despite being reluctant on a move to part-time football 2 months earlier. The move was funded by donations from Chester fans.

Struggling with injuries and form he was loaned to Altrincham,[18] scoring once in four games. He sustained an injury which ended his season. He returned to Chester for the start of the 2013–14 season but only managed to score once within eleven appearances and left the club in October 2013.[19]

After spells with Brackley Town, Leek Town and Newcastle Town he signed for Witton Albion in August 2015.[20]

References
  1. "Crewe Alex: No striking reunion for Alex boss Davis". The Sentinel. 14 January 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  2. Dawson, Stephen (19 February 2007). "eek Town Youth 5–1 Stone Dominoes". BBC. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  3. "Newcomers flood into a very wet Harrison Park". Leek Post & Times. 11 July 2007. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  4. "UniBond Shorts". The Non-League Paper. 7 September 2008. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  5. Harper, Chris (18 October 2008). "Non-league football: Newcastle set to lose striker Mills". This Is Staffordshire. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  6. White, Andy (17 March 2009). "Mills Turns Down Step Up". The Non-League Paper. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  7. White, Andy (12 March 2009). "Pitmen Keen on Mills". The Non-League Paper. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  8. White, Andy (2 July 2009). "Stafford Sign Striker Mills". The Non-League Paper. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  9. "Alfreton Town: Striker Mills joins Reds". This Is Derbyshire. 20 November 2009. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
  10. "The lure of Ben Mills' Rangers return". Express & Star. 17 June 2010. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
  11. "Ben Mills leaves Rangers for Nantwich". Express and Star. 6 June 2011. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
  12. "Macclesfield Town sign Ben Mills from Nantwich Town". BBC Sport. 19 January 2012. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
  13. "Macclesfield 1 – 2 Torquay". BBC Sport. 14 January 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  14. "Ben Mills in Chester loan". Macclesfield Town FC. 16 August 2012. Archived from the original on 18 August 2012. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
  15. Wheelock, Paul (8 September 2012). "Chester FC: Hat-trick hero Ben Mills would 'love' to join Blues – if a deal can be agreed". Chester Chronicle. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  16. Wheelock, Paul (20 September 2012). "Chester FC: Ben Mills will not be signing for Blues as transfer saga finally ends". Chester Chronicle. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  17. "Macclesfield 1 – 1 Newport Co". BBC Sport. 13 October 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  18. "Chester FC: Shock Altrincham loan will do Ben Mills 'world of good'". chesterchronicle.co.uk. 21 February 2013. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  19. "Ben Mills to leave the Deva". chesterfc.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  20. "Witton Albion FC - BEN MILLS". 89media.co.uk. Archived from the original on 17 September 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
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