On face value, Matt Millar seems like just any regular teenager. He drives around with his freshly minted red-P’s up and music blasting – hip-hop most of the time (J Cole is his artist of choice). He is a young man who jokes with teachers, enjoys a bit of golf and an occasional surf in his spare time.
It’s a sunny Saturday afternoon and like any other high school student across the country, the athletically built Millar – who turned 18 only a couple of months ago – is focused firmly on preparing for upcoming VCE assessments but his eyes tell me where his heart truly lies.
Only a month ago, he was preparing to take the field against the visiting Heidelberg United in the final round of the NPL Victoria competition for season 2014. The week prior, he scored two goals in Dandenong Thunder’s 6-3 victory over the Goulburn Valley Suns.
The versatile young man led the line against both sides and put in a set of industrious shifts, but he concedes it’s not his favourite position, as he enjoys the freedom to roam from deeper behind on the flank.
“I was always a midfielder growing up,” he recalls.
“I have a big engine so I can get up and down the pitch so I thought midfielder was the position for me but this season sort of opened my eyes. I can play full-back, I can play wing, I can play centre forward but if you’d ask me about position, I’d say midfielder/full back.
“I like to score goal and that enjoyment from being forward and up front so definitely towards the front half.”
Used almost exclusively from that full-back role with the then Melbourne Heart youth team, Matt recalls with great joy his first experience of flying interstate to contest a football match.
“I was lucky enough to be with Melbourne Heart as they were called then, last year and I managed to play 11 games which was really good,” he says.
“The first game we got to fly to Perth and that was just unreal, I started that game and I couldn’t believe I was flying with a team to another state to play. That little experience of flying over gave me a taste and that just really increased my motivation even more to know that’s what it is.
“I’ve experienced it and now I want it even more,” he adds.
Matt is now enjoying another full season with the rebranded Melbourne City National Youth League team, and has even joined the senior boys for training.
“Coming into this Youth League season I hope to get a lot of game time in for [Melbourne] City and whatever opportunities come my way, I’ll take them in my stride. But hopefully [I’ll] get a lot of game time there, whether it’s coming here or having another NPL season,” he explains.
“[The senior lads] are really good too. A lot of the boys like Paddy Kisnorbo have all the time in the world for the younger players and it’s good to pick their brains and they love it too. They love to communicate back and share their knowledge.”
Looking out at a serene looking George Andrews Reserve – where he has produced a number of magic moments for the Thunder this season – Millar recounts what he calls his favourite footballing memory.
“We were down to 10 men and we’d parked the bus and just defended. I ran from inside my own half and just somehow beat a couple of players and shot and we scored and we won 1-0 against Green Gully which was unreal,” he says.
“From that game, that’s where I got a lot of confidence, that I can match it at this level.”
Even his then coach Dean Hennessey agreed that the Gully game was when he came to the fore as a star footballer at this level.
“I think most probably the first sign of a real deal was Green Gully,” Hennessey recalls.
“That was the start of it but then realistically, I think every week he brings something new to the table. He’s been good as gold. He listens, he wants to learn. That first impression’s been a lasting one because if you look at the games he plays and how much of an impact he’s had on us, he’s been absolutely brilliant this year.
“Matt’s still working on his technical side, but he’s got unbelievable pace and strength. Him and Kieran [Dover] complement each other perfectly when they’re in the same line-up. Both have bright futures as long as they work on the things they aren’t as good at.
Millar won the NPL’s first ever Rising Star of the Month award and has been a standout performer for his side in a campaign that has seen them yo-yo across the NPL table. Another player to have won the award is Matt’s older brother Hamish, who was also a recipient of the Rising Star of the Month Award. Matt admits the competitive nature and physicality of competing with his big brother helped him become used to playing with older kids.
“I’m from a big family … I’m one of ten kids,” he reveals.
“Football was huge growing up, Dad started us off from three and I was playing up an age group with Hamish [Millar].
“We were always in the backyard everyday kicking a ball. I just loved it. When I was three, Dad took me down to Langy [Langwarrin Soccer Club] where he grew up playing. I played with Hamish and went from there.”
It’s no secret that family has helped to mould Matt into the man he is today; it is evident in the maturity he displays. He recollects with great appreciation how his father has supported his footballing journey and identifies him as part of the inspiration that keeps him striving for success.
“Dad’s the main reason I played soccer,” Millar says proudly.
“He would sacrifice so many hours driving me everywhere and coaching me and that is part of the motivation but also I just love playing soccer – to be able to play soccer as a job and that’s your career … that’s sort of what my motivation is.”
Softly-spoken outside of the football pitch, Millar is fierce on it, playing with a level of physicality and fervour that has caught the eye of many this NPL season – a testament to his desire to live out his dream of earning a professional footballing contract.
“It’s hard to describe,” he says as he struggles to explain exactly what football means to him.
“It’s my passion, it’s what I love doing, it’s probably one of the main things I see myself doing in the future and it’s what brings me happiness.”
Like all young men whose futures are yet to be written, Matt has a number of dreams and for now, is focusing on improving his footballing abilities. He’s determined to make the most out of his bountiful opportunities – whether they be at City, Thunder or even on his recent selection in the U19 School Sports Australia National squad – but admits, like many before him, he harbours ambitions of playing as a professional footballer in Europe’s big leagues.
“I think just to be able to live every day out of the office, on the soccer field every day, all you have to do is train and that’s your life … that’s my passion, that’s what I want to be doing with my life,” Matt says.
His impressive season has seen Millar run away with the Players’ Player of the Year Award at Dandenong Thunder as well as a spot in The Corner Flag’s Fan Voted Team of the Season, both testament to the high regard those around him hold Matt in.
Hennessey, who took the gamble of playing the then-17-year-old Millar in Dandenong’s first game of the season, said the achievement was one he should be delighted with.
“He’s ended up winning it in the last game of the season. It was a really tight affair but for someone who’s just turned 18, it’s a really great achievement.
“It’s the best award you can win because it’s voted by your teammates – it’s not what the coaches think or the committee, it’s what your teammates think. For them to keep voting week-in-week-out, it just tells you how consistent he was [this season] for polling every week. That’s a real sign of consistency.
“I think the boy’s got a really bright future.”
Matt Millar’s Melbourne City start their NYL campaign on Saturday, 18th October away to Adelaide United. Kick-off at Adelaide Shores Football Centre is scheduled for 3:00pm.