Former England midfielder James Milner has announced his retirement from football.
The 40-year-old, who has spent the last three years at Brighton, began his career at boyhood club Leeds and has played 24 seasons in the Premier League.
Milner broke the record for the most Premier League appearances while playing for Brighton against Brentford in February, and ends his career with a total of 658.
“After 24 seasons in the Premier League, it feels like the right time to bring an end to my playing career,” Milner said in a statement on Instagram.
“From making my debut for Leeds, who I supported growing up, at the age of 16 and becoming the Premier League’s youngest scorer, I could never have dreamed of the journey I’ve been on, right through to not being able to lift my foot last year and then coming back to be part of Brighton qualifying for Europe for the second time in their history at the age of 40.”
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“I’ve been fortunate enough to experience some unforgettable moments, from fighting for survival to winning trophies, playing in Europe, and representing my country, at two European Championships and two World Cups.
“But more than anything, it’s the people and friendships I’ve made throughout the game that I’ll cherish forever.
“I leave the game with immense pride, gratitude and memories that will stay with me for the rest of my life. Football has given me far more than I could ever have imagined, and I will always be thankful for the opportunities it provided.”
Appearance leaders
Milner is one of four players to pass 600 Premier League appearances, with Barry setting the previous record of 653 across spells with Aston Villa, Manchester City, Everton and West Brom.
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Ryan Giggs played 632 times for Manchester United and Frank Lampard racked up 609 games — 429 of them for Chelsea with spells too at West Ham and City.
Surprisingly there are no goalkeepers in the 600 club, with former Liverpool, Villa, West Ham, City and Portsmouth stopper David James fifth all-time on 572 appearances.
The rest of the top 10 consists of Gary Speed (535), Emile Heskey (514), Mark Schwarzer — the only player from outside Britain with 500-plus appearances, also ending up on 514 — Jamie Carragher with 508 and Phil Neville 505.
Three other players have broken the 500 barrier — Rio Ferdinand and Steven Gerrard with 504 apiece and Sol Campbell 503.
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With Ashley Young (485) also retiring this summer following promotion with Ipswich, the leading active Premier League player on the list is Brentford’s Jordan Henderson on 463.
Giggs, Carragher and Gerrard are the only three players to make 500-plus appearances for a single club, while Barry still holds Villa’s Premier League appearance record with 365.
Barry also remains a long way clear of the pack with 54,439 minutes played in the Premier League. Milner ranks 12th by that measure on 40,876 according to the league’s official website.
Milner’s career
Milner played 48 times for his boyhood club Leeds, where he became at the time the Premier League’s youngest goalscorer, aged 16 years and 356 days, and second-youngest player — he remains second on the former list behind James Vaughan (16 years, 271 days).
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He made 94 appearances for Newcastle and 100 for Villa, 27 of them on loan in the 2005-06 season before joining permanently in 2008.
His longest and most successful spells came with five seasons at Manchester City, where he made 147 appearances and won two Premier League titles, and eight at Liverpool featuring 230 games and a third title.
He played 39 times for Brighton after joining in the summer of 2023, with the 2024-25 season interrupted by injuries and limited to four appearances.
He has scored 56 goals — 19 for Liverpool, 13 for City, 12 for Villa, six for Newcastle, five for Leeds and one for Brighton — and added 90 assists to rank 10th on the all-time Premier League list.
