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SANDY — Real Monarchs coach Mark Briggs’ home opener Saturday afternoon will be special.
The match, which kicks off at 1 p.m. MDT against Portland Timbers 2 at Rio Tinto Stadium, will be the first game of the 2018 season for Real Salt Lake’s second-division club.
It will also serve as the final match at Rio Tinto for the Monarchs, who move into the brand-new 5,000-seat Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on April 30 against expansion club Las Vegas Lights FC.
But the importance of Saturday’s match will have very little to do with soccer, or football, as the England native calls it.
Saturday will be all about paying tribute to Liam Miller, the former Monarchs assistant who died suddenly at age 36 just days before the preseason began.
“Liam was beloved by our organization, as we admired his love of the game, his competitive spirit and his hard-working mentality,” the club said in a statement at the time. “He was well-respected among all whom he taught, worked and played, and he will be greatly missed by our club.”
Forever with us 🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/6qL5wWUgNL
— Real Monarchs (@RealMonarchs) March 30, 2018
Miller, who also hailed from England, was a close personal friend of Briggs. The Monarchs will dedicate the 2018 season to Miller, wearing his initials on their uniforms in honor of the former Celtic, Manchester United and Sunderland player who played for the third-division Wilmington Hammerheads as late as 2016.
“Liam's life was his wife and his three kids. But his next love was football and being around football, whether playing or coaching, he had an infectious enthusiasm and love for the game that is second to none,” said Briggs, who coached at Wilmington prior to moving to Salt Lake City as now-RSL head coach Mike Petke's assistant. “He’s going to be sorely missed.
“Saturday will be a dedication to Liam and what he did for us in a very short time. It will be a chance to pay tribute to Liam … and to support these players.”
Miller was a well-established soccer player whose circles included some of the biggest names in English Premier League history. Former Ireland star Roy Keane was a personal friend and present at his funeral, as were other dignitaries of British soccer.
But you’d never know it by looking at him, according to RSL coach Mike Petke.
“The one thing I loved about him was that I would’ve never known he played for Manchester United,” Petke said during a taping of the Mike Petke Coach’s Show on the KSL TV app. “He was the most quiet, unassuming, humble person that you would ever meet who had those credentials.”
The defending USL regular-season champion Monarchs (1-0) opened the 2018 season with a 3-2 win at Tulsa, thanks to a last-second goal by Charlie Adams.
The win allows the Monarchs to focus on Saturday afternoon—both personally and professionally.
“We were fortunate on Saturday, where we managed to get an equalizer and the winner in the dying seconds. It was unbelievable,” Briggs said. “I told the players after the game ‘I’m not going to talk about it.’ We got three points. Now let’s go home.”
