MILLS COOKING UP REAL TREAT!

CURRENTLY cooking with gas in Gloucestershire, there can’t be many players that advocate Forest Green’s vegan evangelism as strongly as Joseph Mills.

The 29-year-old defender joined the world’s first 100 per cent vegan football club over the summer and owner Dale Vince’s recipes have revolutionised his family life.

The cultured left-footer, a keen cook, has mined the knowledge of Rovers’ specialist chefs to work around his two-year-old daughter’s lactose intolerance.

Having returned from a twoyear spell at Perth Glory in Australia – one of the world’s fastest-growing vegan economies – Mills is a keen advocate of Vince’s vision. “I’m not sure you can call me an expert but the food in the training ground and the stadium is top notch,” said Mills, who often cooked for neighbours Jem Karacan and Sean Morrison at Reading.

“It’s virtually the first thing friends and family rave about after the game – not my performances!

“You have to back up the vegan lifestyle with good quality food. It’s helped us deal with my daughter’s intolerance.

“Not being able to eat dairy isn’t something you ever think about – but you have to learn quickly.

“In Australia, we had plenty of vegan options and coming back to this club. It’s funny how it’s worked.”

When it comes to the Mills family dinner table, however, it must be hard to avoid talking football. Sibling Matt lined up at centre-back for Reading, Bolton and Forest, while brothers Jon-Paul and Jamie also penned professional deals in their youth.

The Mills stable also seem to share a wanderlust which has drawn Matt to ply his trade at Pune City in the Indian Super League and Jon-Paul to relocate to Western Australia.

Linking up with his brother in Perth made it an idyllic two seasons for the defender and his young family, but he admits to anxiety that EFL bosses would view it as a gap in his CV.

“It was an unbelievable experience on and off the pitch,” said Mills, who started his career at Southampton in the same year group as Theo Walcott and Gareth Bale.

“We took our daughter out there when she was five-monthsold and we wanted to experience the world while we could.

“The A-League isn’t rated as highly as it deserves. It’s better than we perceive it as here and it’s trying to develop in the same way as the MLS with bigger and bigger names.

Challenge

“I knew when I signed I might struggle to get back to England, in terms of how managers perceive the league. But I stuck to my guns and wanted to challenge myself in a different football culture.

“To be fair, the jetlag had barely worn off by the time I got the call from Forest Green.”

Rovers boss Mark Cooper moved for Mills on the back of a turbulent first term in the EFL, 12 incomings and 18 outgoings representing a real break from the squad that finished 21st last season.

And it has paid dividends handsomely – going their first 12 games of the season unbeaten and remaining in the play-off picture throughout.

The Swindon-born star says Rovers’ newfound security in their league status can provide a platform for progress.

“I can’t vouch for last season but I think we feel more like an EFL club now,” he said. “I’ve been at clubs where there’s been a big influx of players and it’s taken a quarter or even half a season for them to properly bed down.

“I think Mark and the management have recruited good personalities. Just how well we started, especially, surprised me as we gelled together so quickly.

“We’re being given licence to express ourselves. It’s a very exciting project.”