Ralph Milne was born in
Dundee, the youngest of four siblings, on 13 May 1961. He was moved forward a year in
primary school due to his remarkable academic progress.
Dundee United Immediate success Milne signed for
Dundee United in January 1976 and, after a couple of seasons in the reserves, began to feature for the first team during the
1979–80 campaign. He scored his first goal at the age of 18 during his full debut appearance on 28 July 1979, United's third goal in a 3–0 win over
Dunfermline Athletic in a
Drybrough Cup tie. Milne scored his first
Premier Division goal on 8 September in a 2–2 draw away against
Celtic, netting the
equaliser with a long-range shot. By the end of his debut season, Milne had played 20 games, eight of which he was in the starting line-up for, and scored three goals. He was named as the club's Reserve Player of the Year and picked up a
1979 Scottish League Cup Final winners medal despite not being named in the matchday
squad. The
1980–81 season saw Milne become a regular in the Dundee United team, scoring 10 goals in 33 appearances. He finished the season playing in the
1981 Scottish Cup Final side, which ended in a 4–1 defeat to
Rangers after a replay. Milne was now being described by manager
Jim McLean as "potentially... the most exciting player in Scotland", describing Milne as a "winger with pace who can score goals". McLean, however, expressed reservations about Milne's overall attitude and ability to play through patches of poor form. Dundee United reached another final in the
1981–82 season, and Milne scored the opening goal in the
1981 Scottish League Cup Final on 28 November 1981, latching onto a pass from
Paul Sturrock and striking a low powerful shot past the Rangers goalkeeper; however Rangers went on to controversially win 2–1 after another goal for Dundee United, "scored" by Sturrock, had been disallowed for
offside. Milne also impressed in Europe that season, scoring against
AS Monaco,
Borussia Mönchengladbach and
Winterslag (twice) in the
UEFA Cup.
League title and European Cup campaign The
1982–83 season was a seminal year for both Dundee United and 21-year-old Milne. The club won the league for the first time, finishing one point ahead of Celtic and "
New Firm rivals"
Aberdeen in a tightly fought league campaign. Milne's 16 goals in the league, playing wide right, were a significant contribution to United's league win. On the last day of the season, 14 May 1983, Dundee United needed a win to guarantee the league title. The day after his 22nd birthday, Milne opened the scoring against local rivals
Dundee with a skilfully executed long-distance chipped shot; the match finished 2–1 to United. Milne achieved his peak goal tally in his career that season, scoring 21 goals in all competitions. Dundee United's league success saw them take part in the
European Cup in
1983–84. Milne scored doubles against
Hamrun Spartans and
Standard Liège as United reached the semi-final, losing 3–2 on aggregate to
Roma in an ill-tempered tie. Dundee United also failed to retain their league title, finishing in third place and 10 points behind champions Aberdeen. Milne's goal tally also dropped significantly from the previous year, down to five goals in the league and a total of 12 in all competitions. In August 1984, Milne scored both goals against
Nottingham Forest in a pre-season testimonial match for McLean. However, after the game, the pair again fell out because of a brief conversation Milne had with
Brian Clough which led McLean to believe the player was trying to arrange a deal away from United; by this time Milne had grown increasingly frustrated over being frequently fined a week's wages for breaking minor club rules and generally offending McLean's strict sense of discipline. The financial strain this caused led to him to work as a casual labourer to meet his
mortgage repayments. By this time, his drinking had become more of a problem, resulting in a struggle to maintain fitness. Milne featured in a further two Cup finals for United, losing 1–0 to Rangers in October 1984 in the
Scottish League Cup Final and losing 2–1 to Celtic in May 1985 in the
Scottish Cup Final. He aggravated a
hamstring injury in the final against Rangers and was out of action for three months. In
1986–87, he played in the first three rounds of the UEFA Cup run (scoring once, against
RC Lens in the first round) which eventually saw the team beat
Barcelona and Borussia Mönchengladbach on their way to
the final. However, Milne had left in January 1987 before these high-profile games took place, sold to
Charlton Athletic, having lost his place in the side to the up-and-coming
Kevin Gallacher. Milne made a total of 285 appearances for Dundee United in major competitions and is the club's all-time top scorer in Europe (
UEFA Cup and
European Cup) with a tally of 15 goals.
Charlton Athletic He was sold to English
First Division club Charlton Athletic in January 1987 for a fee of £125,000. He played at
Wembley Stadium in
the final of the
Full Members Cup on 29 March, which ended in a 1–0 defeat to
Blackburn Rovers. Charlton finished the
1986–87 season in the relegation play-off place, but retained their top-flight status after beating
Leeds United 2–1 in a replay in the
play-off final, following a 1–1 aggregate draw. Milne only played as a late substitute in the first leg at
Selhurst Park and ended the game with a broken jaw after being elbowed by
Micky Adams. He dropped out of manager
Lennie Lawrence's first team plans during the
1987–88 season, and was allowed to leave the club.
Bristol City Milne dropped down two divisions to join
Bristol City for a £50,000 fee in January 1988. City ended the 1987–88 campaign in the play-offs, but failed to gain promotion after losing 4–0 to
Walsall in a replay of
the play-off final. After a full pre-season, he started to play well and hit six goals in 30
Third Division games during his time at
Ashton Gate. Milne's form attracted attention elsewhere, with Aberdeen among those interested, and a move Milne favoured to be near his son and other family in Scotland. On being called into a meeting with manager,
Joe Jordan, Milne was told by Jordan that he had no intention of letting him nor any of his other best players leave, but that he would make an exception for Manchester United.
Manchester United Milne's form at Bristol City was enough to convince
Manchester United manager
Alex Ferguson that he was still worth a contract with a top-flight club. In November 1988, he moved to
Old Trafford in a £170,000 deal. Ferguson was looking to build a title-winning side two years after joining United but had seen his side finish second in the league the previous season, and now they were on a winless run in the league that saw them mid-table. Ferguson selected Milne on the left wing as
Gordon Strachan was already established on the right wing. He also scored on Boxing Day in a 2–0 win over Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford. The following week, Milne played what he felt was his best game in a Manchester United jersey in a 3–1 New Year's victory over
rivals Liverpool. However, they were unable to maintain their form and finished 11th in the league after winning only three of their last 14 league games. Milne scored his third and final United goal on 25 March 1989 in a 2–0 home win over
Luton Town, once again in the league. In September 1989, Ferguson signed left-winger
Danny Wallace from
Southampton. Wallace was not a particularly successful buy for United, and was soon himself struggling to hold down a place in the first team, but the progression of
Lee Sharpe meant that Milne was forced out of the first team picture at Old Trafford in
1989–90, making one substitute appearance in the league. During that season, as United struggled in the league but won the
FA Cup, Milne was loaned out to
Lou Macari's
West Ham United, where he made the final appearance of his career in a
League Cup tie on 24 January 1990 away to
Derby County at the age of 28. His season was ended shortly afterwards after he picked up groin injury that required surgery. Despite being given a new one-year contract he began missing reserve team games during the
1990–91 season and instead spent his time drinking. Despite his low transfer fee, Milne has been described as Ferguson's and even as Manchester United's worst signing. Ferguson defended the signing by pointing out Milne's contribution to the development of Lee Sharpe, who was playing left-back at the time. Ferguson remarked that Milne helped Sharpe by both dropping back to protect Sharpe and by giving him positional advice.
Sing Tao Milne had unsuccessful trials with
Turkish club
MKE Ankaragücü and
Danish side
Esbjerg fB in 1991. Later in the year he travelled to
Hong Kong to play for
Sing Tao SC. He spent a year there, helping the club to finish fourth in the
First Division in
1991–92, before he rejected the offer of a new contract and instead returned to Britain. He had a trial spell at
Derry City before quitting football at the age of 32. ==International career==