Paul’s a powerful goal grabber!

 

Paul has been with the Haverfordwest County Football Academy since the age of 11

and has progressed through the under 12, under 13 under 14 and into the under 15 development squads - and is a member of the  Pembrokeshire Schools under 15s this season. He has been recently promoted to the Academy under 16 squad and has put in good performances in futsal and Cup competitions.

And that is the way it has been almost from the time he started out as a six year old when he kicked a football around in the garden with his father Ian, who took him to practice with the youngsters at Monkton and Paul quickly showed his footballing ability under the watchful eye of coaches Simon Blunsden and Kevin Davies. He was quick off the mark even then and throughout the eight seasons since that beginning he has added high skill levels and a real nose for goals that has caught the eye wherever Paul has played.   

 

Paul currently plays for the Monkton Swifts’ under 15s team coached by Tom Meiring and doubles up by playing for Haverfordwest County, in the same age group against teams from ‘up the line’, which is coached by Matthew Price.

It inevitably means that Paul has travel aplenty as he has to make twice-weekly treks from Pembroke across the Cleddau Bridge to Haverfordwest, but he would be first to admit that he is lucky to have total support from his family. His dad Ian used to play for Pembroke Borough when he was a youngster alongside the likes of Chrissie Manning, Pat McQuillan and Mike Lewis – and mum Jeanette is the ‘best taxi driver in the world.’ His younger brother Josh (12) is also a good goal scorer in his own right and plays centre forward for Monkton Swifts and in the county set-up for his age group.

Paul has also played at county level every year since he was about eight years old, playing alongside other top players like Liam Cullen from Kilgetty, now a seasoned Welsh international, and Billi Truman from Tenby. He played in the Tom Yeoman Shield team coached by Angie Nicholls, which reached the semi-final of the competition played amongst county and regional sides from all over Wales, with Pembrokeshire just missing out by 3-2 in a nerve-jangling semi-final at the Conygar Bridge Meadow Stadium.

 

“Paul played in a very good county team which was unlucky not to make the Tom Yeoman Final,” said Angie, “and he was very keen to learn and eager to play in all our matches.

“He was certainly a credit to his family and his home club as he never missed a training session or a match unless there was a very good reason.”

Most of their other matches were played on the lower pitch at the Bridge Meadow, below the grand stand, and last season he scored over 20 goals in all matches – and this season he has easily surpassed that by firing in 43 goals from around 26 matches. 

 

In one of his most recent games, for the Swifts against Tenby at Monkton Lane, he scored after 50 seconds, three minutes and then seven minutes to record what surely must be the fastest hat-trick ever at the ground – and after having another goal disallowed he added his fourth goal just two minutes from the end. That is the kind of goal-grabbing that has caused Paul to be a very good striker for the future if he can maintain his current momentum.

 

But even that feat pales somewhat into insignificance against a match for the Swifts at under 14 level where he scored EIGHT goals in a big Monkton win against Clarbeston Road at Monkton Lane. He was quite unstoppable on that occasion and again demonstrated his ability to find the net with bewildering ease!

 

After scoring a hat-trick against Newport in an away match for the Pembrokeshire Schools’ team which gives him a tally of eight goals in four matches for them, he was promoted to play up a year for the under 16s squad coached by Bernard Steer and Lukas Gamble and played against the likes of Cardiff, Aberystwyth and Newport Schools.

“We promoted Paul because his pace off the mark and all-round skills allows him to play against players older than he is,” Bernard told us, “and he has settled in really well, training hard and being ready to listen to advice we give him.

“He is always ready to track back and help in defence and has the pace to get back up front quickly – and if he can maintain his current rate of progress then he will certainly be one to watch for the future.”

 

Paul has already attended UK Football-organised trials at BP Llandarcy and certainly learned lots from the experience of playing against older players there.

“I would love to play football at a higher level,” admitted Paul, “and I hope to make it to the first team with Haverfordwest County - and we’ll see what happens after that.”

Ask him who is his favourite player and he would be quick to single out Christiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid, “because he is very fast and scores loads of goals.”

That is an apt choice because the description fits Paul Miller at his age group – and who knows how far he can go if he can maintain his current rate of progress in the oval-ball game!

 

Having seen Paul Miller play for the Haverfordwest County Academy under 16 level we can agree with all that excellent coaches like Angie Nicholls and Bernie Steer say about him – and we wish this modest young feller every success in a sport where he already excels and hopefully will go even further one day!