'It means a lot': Ballarat North United Soccer Club celebrates 50 years

"I would have said that's the last thing on Earth I would do," he said.

The club is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and Miller has been a part of the committee for more than half of its lifetime.

A little under 30 years ago, he was driving past the sign out the front of the corner of the soccer field, and his sons expressed their strong interest in playing the sport.

Miller confessed he was not a soccer fan himself.

"This is the irony of me being the treasurer of a soccer club," he said.

"I'm the most non-sporting person you'll ever run across, but it just so happens I've got a couple of sons who are really sporting people."

Miller decided to lend a hand with the committee soon after his sons joined, and was appointed as the treasurer.

"I said I would do it for 12 months and that's it," he said.

He couldn't have been more wrong.

After numerous crash-courses on the game, Miller became a soccer expert in no-time.

"I learned a whole lot of stuff that I knew nothing about before," he said.

"After a very short time, I was pretty confident standing on the side-lines yelling, 'hey ref that's offside, you're blind.'"

Since he joined the committee, Miller said Ballarat North United has just about doubled in size, and soccer is no longer viewed as a "fringe sport".

The success of the Socceroos in the early 2000s resulted in a growth spurt for the club, which has continued to be a trend, particularly with the recent success of the Matildas and an increased interest in women's soccer.

During his time as treasurer, Miller said the committee has organised numerous fundraisers - putting the money raised back into new facilities.

"One of the great things when you're working with the club is that you actually can see where the money goes," he said.

One of the most notable changes was the installation of eight lighting towers.

"So for probably the first nearly 20 years, if it was night time training, everyone trained in the dark," he said.

"We used to do things like put the car headlights on to try and light it."

The development was a victory for car batteries and players alike.

His role as treasurer has also taken a different shape.

"I started off back in the money days," he said.

"Every weekend, the games would be played and I'd be off to the bank on Monday."

But now, he wouldn't step foot in a bank - "I haven't written a check in, I don't know, 15 years," he said.

While Miller has enjoyed growing and learning about an increasingly digital environment in his role, he said it has increased the amount of things he has to keep an eye on.

"They say computers will make your job easier," he said,

"It hasn't."

So what's kept Miller at the club for so long? He said the sense of community fostered by the club has played a major role in his choice to stay.

"I found over the last quarter century, there's been a great group of people," he said

"I've made friends along the way."

Over the years, Ballarat North United became an integral part of his life.

"If you do anything for a long period of time," he said.

"It means a lot to you."

On July 20, the club invites all members (past and present) for a three-course dinner at the North Ballarat Sports Club.

Football legend Archie Thompson will be a guest speaker on the night.

The function serves as a sort of crossroads for the club, according to Miller.

"In one sense, we want to celebrate where we've come from," he said.

"But we also want to look at where we want to go in the future."

When asked how much longer he would stay with the club, Miller let out a smile.

"Here's a good question," he said.

"I think the first year I decided I wasn't gonna do it was probably 12 years ago."