DARREN Gilbert has paid an emotional tribute to his former Bodmin Town goalkeeper Kevin Miller, who died suddenly at the age of 57 on Wednesday morning.

Miller, who was the goalkeeping coach at Wigan Athletic at the time of his passing, spent nine seasons with Gilbert at Priory Park from 2007 to 2016, during which the club won multiple trophies in a record-breaking era.

“He was an absolute legend of a bloke,” said Gilbert, “One of the very best people you could wish to meet and to be with.

“He just had something about him. The best times of my playing career and then management were with Kev and we have memories of him that we will keep forever.

“I was devastated by the news and everybody who knew him will be. He left a lasting impression on everybody because he always had time for them.”

Gilbert, who is now joint boss at Liskeard Athletic, went on: “They talk about professional footballers being cocksure of themselves when they drop down to non-league level, but Kev was nothing like that.

“He did an awful lot for the young players. He would spend time with them, encourage them and sort any problems they might have.

“At the other end of the scale he dealt with senior players if there were any issues in the dressing room, I didn’t have to do it. The respect he had from team-mates was top class.”

Miller joined Bodmin after retiring from professional football, with Gilbert saying: “Alan Carey got him to come to Bodmin and when I took over from Al I managed to persuade Kev to stay.

“He was brilliant for me and he was the one behind us winning all the trophies, he had everything as a goalkeeper. I never saw him get beaten in a one-on-one situation in the nine seasons we were together.

“To win things consistently you have to have a good goalkeeper and we had the best.”

Miller was also a close friend of Gilbert, who revealed: “One of the last times we spoke he was asking about Kai (one of his sons) having seen that he had been selected to captain the Cornwall Under 18 side. That’s the sort of bloke Kev was.

“I learned a lot from Kev. He taught me a lot about football – you couldn’t even begin to imagine the stuff we talked about – and he taught me a lot about life.

“I will miss him terribly and I know the Bodmin players from our successful era are feeling the same. There’s only one Kev Miller.”