James Milner
James Philip Milner is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Brighton & Hove Albion. A versatile player, Milner has played in multiple positions, including wing, in midfield and at full back.
Milner played football for amateur teams from Rawdon and Horsforth. He supported Leeds United from childhood, and joined the Leeds Youth Academy in 1996. He made his debut for the first team in 2002 aged 16 and became the youngest player to score in the Premier League, and later spent time on loan at Swindon Town to gain further first-team experience. After Leeds United were relegated at the end of the 2003–04 season, Milner was sold to Newcastle United.
Milner made over 100 appearances for Newcastle United, winning the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2006, and spent a year on loan at Aston Villa, before signing for Aston Villa permanently in 2008. After winning the PFA Young Player of the Year award in 2010, Milner was signed by Manchester City, and went on to win two Premier Leagues, one FA Cup, one League Cup and one FA Community Shield. Milner signed for Liverpool in 2015 on a free transfer, and was appointed vice-captain. With Liverpool he won the UEFA Champions League in 2019, as well as his third Premier League title, the UEFA Super Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup, and another FA Cup and EFL Cup title.
Milner made a record 46 appearances for the England national under-21 football team, playing at the 2007 and 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championships, finishing as runner-up in the latter. He won 61 caps for the full national team, scoring once against Moldova. He was selected for the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cup squads, as well as the 2012 and 2016 UEFA European Championships.
Milner has the second-highest number of appearances in the Premier League, behind only Gareth Barry, and holds the record for the longest playing career in the Premier League, currently 24 years.
In 2026, Milner became one of only five outfield players to have made a Premier League appearance at the age of 40 or older, joining Teddy Sheringham, Ryan Giggs, Gordon Strachan and Kevin Phillips.
Early life
James Philip Milner was born on 4 January 1986 in Wortley, Leeds, West Yorkshire. Milner played most of his childhood football for Westbrook Lane Primary School in Horsforth, where one of his PE teachers and coaches was future Premier League referee Jon Moss, who would give him a red card two decades later.Milner was later educated at Horsforth School. Graeme Coulson, a coach from Rawdon, recognised Milner's talent and persuaded him to play for Rawdon in several tournaments, including a tournament at Rawdon Meadows, where Milner scored four goals in their victory in the final.
Milner was described as a "first class" student at his school; he left with 11 GCSEs and an award for his performance in physical education. He played for the Yorkshire Schools cricket team, was the cross-country champion at his school for three consecutive years and was the district champion over 100 metres for two consecutive seasons. He then completed his studies at Boston Spa School, a sports college which was a partner to the football club.
Milner supported his hometown club Leeds United from a young age. His earliest memory of the team was watching them win the FA Youth Cup in 1993. He and his parents, Peter and Lesley, were season ticket holders and Milner later became a ball boy for the club.
When Milner was 10 years old, he joined the Leeds United Academy after being spotted by a scout while playing for Westbrook Juniors in Horsforth. At the academy, Milner played against contemporaries from other clubs in Northern England, including future Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney. His role model was Leeds-born Alan Smith, who was then a Leeds United striker. Milner believed playing with Smith put him through a learning curve, as Smith had done what Milner aspired to do in coming through the academy and playing for the first team. Having made good progress at the Academy, Milner was taken on as a trainee after leaving school. However, his father insisted that he attend college once a week to continue his education.
Milner continued to excel in the youth team, and played for England at under-15 and under-17 levels. He helped the England under-17 team win the 2002 Nationwide summer tournament against Italy, Czech Republic and Brazil, scoring a goal against Brazil.
Club career
Leeds United
Milner's first-team debut for Leeds came on 10 November 2002, in a match against West Ham United, when he came on as a substitute for Jason Wilcox for the last six minutes. The appearance made him the second-youngest player ever to play in the Premier League, at the age of 16 years and 309 days. On 26 December 2002, at 16 years and 356 days, he became the youngest player to score in the Premier League, with a goal in a 2–1 win against Sunderland. His record was broken by James Vaughan of Everton in 2005. In a match against Chelsea two days later, Milner scored again, with a deft first touch of the ball and manoeuvre, to avoid a tackle from Chelsea defender Marcel Desailly. The manoeuvre created a yard of space for him to deliver a curling shot from. Reporters were impressed by his overall performance in the match, especially by his desire, confidence, and ability with both feet. Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri remarked after the match that Milner had performed like a much more experienced player. The performance prompted comparisons to England internationals Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney, who had also come to footballing prominence as teenagers.After more appearances for Leeds, Milner signed a five-year contract with them on 10 February 2003. At the start of the 2003–04 season, Milner was sent on a one-month loan to Second Division club Swindon Town to gain experience as a first-team player. Before the stint, he saw it as a valuable experience as a player. He spent a month with Swindon, playing in six matches and scoring goals against Peterborough United and Luton Town.
However, Leeds' fortunes were on the decline; the team became the subject of numerous negative stories in the media, and several first-team players were sold. Milner said he believed that this experience made him emotionally stronger and taught him how to deal with team problems. Leeds' eventual relegation to the Championship led to speculation over Milner's future at the club. Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and Everton all expressed an interest in signing him. Ultimately, Villa and Everton did not make offers and Milner rejected an offer from Tottenham as they were based too far from his family home, where he still lived. Leeds insisted that he would not be sold, with chairman Gerald Krasner referring to him as "the future of Leeds". Nonetheless, financial problems eventually forced Leeds to sell Milner to Newcastle United for £5 million. Although Milner was not happy to be leaving the club he had supported as a child, he wished to do what was "in the club's best interest" and in July 2004, he agreed a five-year contract with Newcastle.
Newcastle United
Early career
Milner made his first appearance for Newcastle United during their pre-season tour of Asia, scoring his first goal for the club in a 1–1 draw against Kitchee, in Hong Kong. During this tour, he took the opportunity to observe how Newcastle striker Alan Shearer dealt with attention from fans and the media and said that his association with people like Shearer gave him a better idea of how to deal with the media.Milner's first Premier League match for Newcastle came against Middlesbrough on 18 August 2004, in which he played on the right of the field as a winger, despite having featured regularly on the left for Leeds. When asked about this after the match, Milner said he had no preference where on the pitch he played. A month later he made his debut in European competition, when Newcastle played in the UEFA Cup against Bnei Sakhnin from Israel, after coming on as a substitute for Shola Ameobi. In the same month, he scored his first competitive goal for the club, also as a substitute, in a 3–1 win against West Bromwich Albion.
The situation changed for Milner after Newcastle manager Bobby Robson, whom Milner considered his mentor, was sacked and replaced by Graeme Souness. Under Souness, he started 13 league matches, but did not play his first full Premier League match for Newcastle until April 2005. Milner said that he was frustrated at not being used as a starter for most of the season.
At the start of the 2005–06 season, Milner scored in Newcastle's 3–1 away win against FK ZTS Dubnica in the UEFA Intertoto Cup, and also set up Alan Shearer for the team's third goal.
Loan to Aston Villa
A clause in Newcastle's purchase of Nolberto Solano from Aston Villa resulted in Milner being loaned to Villa for the rest of the season. Villa manager David O'Leary, who had managed Milner at Leeds, was happy to acquire Milner in this deal, saying that he believed Villa got the better of the deal and that he hoped to improve Milner as a player. He made his Villa debut on 12 September 2005 in a Premier League match against West Ham United. Five days later, he scored his first goal for the club in a 1–1 draw against Tottenham Hotspur. In a League Cup match less than a week later, he helped his team recover from being 3–1 down at half-time to win 8–3 against Wycombe Wanderers, scoring two goals in the second-half comeback. Throughout the season, Milner was positive about his team. He remained confident that Villa would recover from a poor start to the season and praised the quality of the squad.Milner was generally seen as a positive signing in a season that was disappointing for Villa. Milner himself also received the loan move positively, saying that he would like to join Villa permanently because of the probability of becoming a regular starter, but said that the possibility of this happening was beyond his control. Manager David O'Leary confirmed during the season that he would like Milner to join the club permanently, but doubted he would be given the opportunity to sign him. He even pulled out of signing Robert Huth so that he would have the funds to sign Milner permanently if the opportunity arose.
The newly appointed Newcastle manager Glenn Roeder appeared to appreciate Milner's ability more than Souness and expressed a desire that he remain a Newcastle player. This, as well as the departure of O'Leary and the shortage of transfer funds at Villa, meant that a deal to sign Milner permanently seemed unlikely. In June, it became even less likely when Villa rejected an offer of Milner as part of a trade for Gareth Barry. However, the deal was resurrected when Villa were taken over by American billionaire Randy Lerner, and Martin O'Neill was appointed as new manager. A move to Villa appeared to have been agreed, but at the last moment Newcastle recalled Milner and the talks broke down.