James Milner, the Premier League’s reluctant record breaker

BRIGHTON, England — James Milner walked into the darkened room in his training kit, clutching two bottles of water. “So, good week, James?” was one reporter’s greeting as Milner sat down to talk about his record 654 appearances in the top flight, a tally he reached Saturday in Brighton & Hove Albion‘s 2-0 win at Brentford.

“Yeah, not too bad, we’ll take the three points,” Milner said. Team first, always.

Gathered at Brighton’s training ground were several journalists and a Guinness Book of World Records representative waiting to hand Milner three awards for Premier League-related honors. Replica jerseys with Milner’s name and number dotted the room, ready to act as backdrops for various broadcast commitments — all because of his stunning achievement.

When Milner checked his phone after his 654th appearance, he was greeted by hundreds of messages from former teammates, managers, coaches, friends and folks he met playing golf in America. One message was from Gareth Barry, the man whose record he’d surpassed. Barry offered congratulations, and Milner wished him a happy birthday for Monday. Barry said he was off to play golf. “That sounded good to me,” Milner said.

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He’s a reluctant record breaker. Despite over two decades in the spotlight, he has found all the attention a little overwhelming. “I suppose I’ve always tried to get on with my job and keep my head down, really,” Milner said. “I don’t want it to come across as disrespectful or anything because I’ve had so many amazing messages … but it’s probably I’m not used to the fuss.”

Since Milner made his debut back in November 2002, he has racked up appearances for Leeds United, Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Manchester City, Liverpool and now Brighton, whom he joined in 2023. His current club has been a good hunting ground for pros in the twilight of their careers; he name-checks Danny Welbeck, Lewis Dunk, Adam Webster and Pascal Gross as players cut from the same cloth as him. All are older than manager Fabian Hurzeler, who sees Milner as an essential conduit in the dressing room. “He transports my messages, he transports my values in the group, and … takes responsibility in the right moments,” Hurzeler said earlier in the season.

At the turn of the year, Milner was being used more as a substitute for short, impact appearances. “My body doesn’t agree to sitting still, so I think that’s why I don’t like being on the bench so much as well,” he said. But Saturday at Brentford, he was named in the starting lineup, slotting in as the No. 6 for his record appearance. He impressed in the role, proving crucial in Brighton’s transitional play but also chopping down Brentford attacks before they had a chance to build momentum — and all this a year or so after he was told his career was done.

Milner picked up a severe knee injury against Arsenal on Aug. 31, 2024. For the next six months, he couldn’t put weight on his foot. “I think most people — the surgeon, the physio, people who knew what I had — thought I was finished, at my age, being a footballer and what I had,” Milner said. But he persevered and made his comeback as a late substitute in Brighton’s final match of the season against Spurs. “I wanted to try and prove that I could get back from that because I don’t think many people could. So that was my driver. It’s one thing getting back, but then it’s, ‘All right, can you go and play in the Premier League?'”

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He’s always had an inherent desire to prove people wrong. He thinks this attitude stems from his father’s tough love. “He knew what I was like and he used to say, ‘You don’t work hard enough, you’re not going to make it.’ It was never in a horrible way, but he knew what he was doing.”

He added: “Football’s brilliant, isn’t it? You always have your doubters. There’s always someone who believes you’re not very good, or someone believes someone’s better, or you shouldn’t be playing, or you’re not playing in the right position, or you’ve played too many minutes. … But something that’s always been at my forefront is to prove it wrong.”

What remains non-negotiable are his professionalism and demands of those around him. Some of the messages he got after Saturday raised a smile. “Some said, ‘You were a nightmare to work with,’ or challenging to work with. But I take that as a compliment, that I pushed them to be better, asked questions and challenged them.”

The physios and fitness staff at Brighton must find dealing with him a cocktail of frustration, fascination and fulfillment. “I always ask questions: Why are we doing this? And then I decide if it is the right thing to do. [I need] information behind it; give me the science behind it. Why am I doing an ice bath? Where’s the proof behind that? And then you build up what you think.”

You soon got the sense that some of his 40-year-old mind was already plotting the next part of his day after media duties. An average day in the life of Milner includes breakfast and lunch at the club interspersed with “preactivation” before training, “which gets longer and longer as you get older because of the little injuries you’ve had and you have to stay on top of.” Then it’s training, followed by further gym work. He does yoga a couple of times a week, on Barry’s recommendation. And as for dinner? “It’s pretty boring, to be honest, which will shock you with me. Just normally like a steak and rice or veg, something simple.”

He makes it sound so routine, but it’s a level of dedication that started off as a target for jokes and eventually became the envy of his teammates. Even on holiday, he’s seen running up the steepest hill possible near the family house in Spain; he once ran away from a group of dogs, slipped and took most of the skin off his forearm. He still made his golf tee time.

It all means his finely tuned body still answers his brilliant footballing mind. He admitted his back hurts a bit more than it used to, though. He and his wife laugh at how his ankles crack whenever he tries to sneak into his children’s bedroom to give them a kiss goodnight.

One day he’ll turn the final page of his career. His contract is up at the end of the season, and he hasn’t yet held discussions with the club on his future. Hurzeler wants him to stay another year. Milner doesn’t fear retirement, but choosing the right time is difficult. “I feel like I still can [play] now, but do you go to the point where you can’t? Is that too long? I finished the game at the weekend, and some of the boys went, ‘You can’t retire, Millie, this year. You’ve got to go again next year.'”

Whenever retirement does come, he might allow himself a brief chance to reset. “But when you haven’t got [the structure], I think I’d probably look towards doing marathons or something like that to give me something to go for again,” he said.

Will we see Milner move into management one day? “Sometimes it appeals to me, for sure. And then other times, you see managers getting a new contract and getting sacked in two months … so it is a difficult job, but it’s one the competitive guy in you thinks, I wouldn’t mind giving that a go and taking it on.

“I know the end’s getting closer. I do appreciate that. But I still think I’ll stay in the present and try and focus on what I can contribute to the team as a player.”

Next up, it’s Nottingham Forest at home on Sunday. Milner will fill whatever role is required, but he’s quietly relieved the spotlight is no longer on him. “I don’t want to come across as ungrateful about this sort of thing but there are always opinions in football,” Milner said. “I’m just doing my job and trying to be the best player I can be, and I’ve been fortunate enough to do it for a very long time.

“Individual things aren’t really something I’ve ever looked at. It’s always the team comes first, and the period we’re in at this moment in time, it’s important we get the win.”