The Australia-born midfielder had made his debut on the final day of the previous season in a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of AFC Bournemouth.

Cahill's game has everything a central midfielder should - a natural eye for attacking options, coolness in front of goal, a willingness to work very hard and strength in the challenge.

He helped propel Millwall to the play-offs in 1999/2000 with 12 goals and some influential performances. And the following season he continued his rapid progress as the Lions picked up the Second Division title.

Cahill soon adapted to life in the First Division, continuing to weigh in with a glut of important goals. And Millwall also reached the Premiership in 2001/02, but lost out in the play-off semi-finals to Birmingham City.

His 2002/03 season was ruined by injury, ruling him out of action for over seven months and restricting him to just 11 appearances.

The 2003/04 term would see him attracting attention from Premiership clubs - even though he was sent off twice that season.

Cahill scored the winner in the FA Cup semi-final against Sunderland, although the Lions would go on to lose to Manchester United in the final.

The midfielder had faced a real battle to represent Australia. He played for Western Samoa at Under-20 level, when he was just 14, even though he was told that would not affect his hopes of playing for his homeland.

But he was barred from the Australia side until FIFA relaxed the laws surrounding dual citizenship or nationality for players who have not played international football above Under-21 level.

He was finally handed his debut in a 1-0 home win over South Africa in March 2004.

Crystal Palace agreed a fee with Millwall for the player's services in June 2004, but the deal fell through after Palace chairman Simon Jordan refused to pay a £125,000 fee to the player's agent.

Cahill did earn a Premiership move the following month when he signed for Everton for an undisclosed fee - believed to be in the region of £2million - on a four-year contract.

The player scored 57 goals in 249 games for Millwall.

He was named in Australia's squad for the Olympics in August 2004.