James Milner makes humble admission with another record in sight for ex-Liverpool star

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James Milner has just made three entries into the Guinness Book of Records - but his mindset is still the same.

“Yeah...some things don't change,” said Milner. “ Football ’s brilliant, isn't it? You always have your doubters - no matter what you do or what you achieve there's always someone who believes you're not very good or someone is better than you.

“I think it's always a driver. You want to be the best and you can't change it. There's people who are always gonna doubt you.

“But that's always something that's been at my forefront to prove it wrong. Whether it's if you're not in the team - alright, I'm gonna go show you, I'm gonna be in the team, I want to be the best player in my position.

“That's just something... I don't know where that came from, whether it was younger or my dad used to play on that. He knew what I was like and he used to say: ‘you don't work hard enough, you're not gonna make it.’

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Milner is a record-breaker and yet he is still talking about needing to prove people wrong. Is it any wonder why he is still defying the odds at the grand old age of 40?

Brighton veteran Milner overtook Gareth Barry's record of 653 Premier League appearances in Brighton’s 2-0 win at Brentford last Saturday and the most overall top-flight appearances now sits at 654.

He also set two other records, which now means he holds the longest gap between his first and last Premier League goals (22 years 248 days) and for the most consecutive Premier League seasons played (24).

The former England midfielder started his Premier League career at 16 with Leeds, had a loan spell at Swindon, Newcastle , Aston Villa , Manchester City and Liverpool followed.

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It has been a career and a half. Literally. Three Premier League titles, two FA Cups and one European Cup And still an incredible energy and a humble person who admitted his “phone blew up” last weekend but it did not really bother him that much.

He laughed about the little gimmick on Google when you do a search for his name and a load of balloons come up.

“Gareth Barry sent me a message after the game and then it was his birthday yesterday, so I sent him a message saying happy birthday,” said Milner. "He just said congrats, and he said he's going away and golfing somewhere, so that sounded good to me.

“I suppose like I've always just tried to get on with my job and keep my head down really. I know obviously there's been a lot of talk around this sort of thing, but for me, I just want to do my job and I was especially pleased to get the win, that was so important for us at the weekend.”

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Milner slipped into Boring James Milner speak, the alter ego character on social media which, even he as an old school pro who avoids things like Instagram and X, even enjoyed. Ice baths, supplements, being teetotal and strict diet have all helped prolong his career, he says.

Last season, it did look all over when he was plagued by injury and he says he could barely lift his foot let alone play in the Premier League. But there it was again: a determination to prove people wrong.

“I think most people, the surgeon, the physio, people who knew what I had, probably every single person thought I was finished - at my age being a footballer and what I had,” said Milner.

“So it was probably that same thing that meant I'm still playing now really to be honest, to just prove and not finish your career in a way that wasn't really in your control.”

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There is one last record to be broken. Teddy Sheringham played as an outfield player in the Premier League aged 40 years 272 days. Milner’s birthday was on January 4 so that means he would have to carry on for another year.

Even though he says the decision has yet to be taken, it is clear that he is enjoying life to the full at Brighton where manager Fabian Hurzeler is only 33.

Milner added: “I'm pretty open at this moment in time, whether I will or whether I won't, I'm not sure. The club, we haven't had any conversations, so obviously the club have to be interested as well. It's all right me saying I want to play another year if the club don't want you.

“I said earlier in the season, let's get to February and see where we're at, and I know we're there now, so we'll see what happens.

“But like I say, at this moment in time, I'm just doing my work every day, and like I said, things can change quickly. So at this moment in time, I'm very open to it, and hopefully the last few games have proved that I can still contribute on the field.”

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