Alfred Mills (footballer)

Alfred Mills

Personal information
Full name	Alfred Edward Elvin Mills
Date of birth	(1874-12-15)15 December 1874
Place of birth	Lizard, Cornwall
Date of death	15 October 1929(1929-10-15) (aged 54)
Place of death	Getxo
Position(s)	Defender
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1902–1904	Athletic Club	2	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Alfred Edward Elvin Mills (15 December 1874 - 15 October 1929) was a English footballer who played as a defender for Spanish club Athletic Club. He is best known for being the only foreigner between the 33 founders of the club, the ‘Inglés en Bilbao’. Mills was one of the most important footballers in the amateur beginnings of Athletic Club, co-founding the club and then serving the club as a board member and a captain, winning the 1904 Copa del Rey.

Biography

Alfred Mills was born on 15 December 1874 in Lizard, Cornwall. At some point in the late 1890s, Mills arrived in Bilbao with his father to work for the cable company that connected Spain and Great Britain by telephone. He came to the city for work, like many other Britons who moved to Bilbao, but ended up staying after falling in love with a woman and then with Athletic Club, being there when it took its first steps.

Seven students belonging to the Gymnasium Zamacois founded the Athletic Club in 1898, and although the club was founded that year, Athletic was not officially established until 5 September 1901, in the infamous meeting held in the Café García, in which the 33 founding members signing the statutes, including Alfred Mills (signed as Alfredo Mills). He was the only foreign-born person among the 33 who signed the documents. In fact, the 1901 statutes even named him as the captain of the second team and therefore a member of the first board of directors.

In addition to being a founding member and a club captain, Mills was a regular starter on the pitch too, playing as a defender, who could also play in midfield. Mills lined up in several of Bilbao’s earlier matches, mostly against local rivals Bilbao FC, who was mostly made up of British. Athletic Bilbao only had one foreigner in its ranks, Alfred Mills, while Bilbao FC only had one Spanish player in their team, a great goalscorer named Guinea. He initially played defense in a partnership with Pedro (Perico) Larrañaga and later went on to play in midfield with another Englishman, George Cochran. His attacking game, according to the chronicles of the time, was terrible, meaning that his goals would always admire everyone. In 1902, the two clubs agreed to join the best players of each club to form Club Bizcaya, which was specially created to take part in the 1902 Copa de la Coronación, and the then Athletic president, Juan Astorquia, was named the team's captain. Before the 1902 Cup, Mills was part of the first-ever line-up of the Bizcaya team, which faced the Bordeaux-based side Burdigala in a 0–2 away win. Three weeks later, on 31 March 1902, he was again in Bizcaya's starting XI for the return fixture at home, the first visit by a foreign team to Bilbao, helping his side to a 7–1 win over the French side. However, there are conflicting reports about Mills not having gone to France, as the match report of the second game noted that “Careaga was replaced by the kind Mills”, which implies that Careaga was the one who played in France.

Losing or winning is not important, what is important is to play strong, clean and have fun.

Alfred Mills

For unknown reasons, Mills failed to participate in the Copa de la Coronación, which was won by Bizcaya after beating FC Barcelona in the final. He also failed to contribute in Athletic's triumph in the first-ever Copa del Rey in 1903, in which they complated a memorable 3–2 comeback win over Madrid FC in the final. In the 1904 Copa del Rey Final, Athletic were declared winners again without playing a single match since their opponents failed to turn up.

The Englishman was intermittently involved in matches throughout the rest of the decade, remaining involved in some of the first feats and most important moments of Athletic Club’s early history, being part of the first-ever athletic line-up that faced Madrid FC (now Real Madrid CF) on 24 April 1904. On this occasion, Bilbao won by 2 goals to 1. He was also a good cyclist, it was normal to see him on the streets of Bilbao with his bicycle.

Personal life

He was not very good at speaking Spanish. Although he lived in Logroño, an attack of uremia made him come to Algorta, where he worked in a telegraph company and where he would die on 15 October 1929, at the age of 54. It was his own son John, who took up his job in the telegraph company, although he was transferred to Vigo and, later, to Peru.

He knew how to transmit his love for the rojiblanco team to his descendants. Both his grandson, John Robert Mills, who left Bilbao because of the World War II although he spent the summers in Lekeitio, as well as his grandsons Lawrence and Robert, were staunch life-long Athletic fans and supporters, the latter even being in the 2012 UEFA Europa League Final in Bucharest. Thanks to Alfred, Athletic Bilbao has remained a matter of great importance in the Mills family.

Honours

• Copa del Rey: 1904