Sir Frederick Albert Millichip (5 August 1914 – 18 December 2002) was an English association footballer best known for his sometimes controversial contributions to the administration of the game.
On demobilisation in 1945, he returned to his solicitor's practice and became a director of West Bromwich Albion. He took on the role of chairman in 1974, when the club was failing to make progress in the Second Division under manager Don Howe. Under Millichip's chairmanship, the club re-established itself in the First Division and recruited manager Ron Atkinson, building a team that was among the most exciting in English football circa 1980.
On 24 February 1943 Millichip married Patricia Mary Long, the eighteen-year-old daughter of Arthur Long, a company director. The marriage was short-lived, and he later omitted it from his Who's Who entry.[citation needed]
On 27 December 1950 he married (Joan) Barbara Brown, a 24-year-old nursing sister. They had a son and a daughter. His son, Peter Millichip, who also followed his father into law, was also an ardent fan of West Bromwich Albion. He was a close friend of Sir Bobby Robson, and as Robson entered his final years, they worked together to establish the Sir Bobby Robson Football Academy, in Birmingham.[4]
Death
Bert Millichip died suddenly on 18 December 2002 at Selly Oak Hospital, Birmingham, following a heart attack which struck while he was attending an annual dinner at Edgbaston golf club. He was survived by his wife, Barbara, and their two children.
