As a determined 36-year-old sportsman who is “just trying to get on” at the highest level, James Milner has little time to remember. With a momentous milestone on the horizon, however, he has no alternative. The Liverpool midfielder will celebrate the 20th anniversary of his Premier League debut on Thursday. Maybe with a yoga session at home after your workout, though not with an alcoholic drink.
It was at Upton Park on 10 November 2002 that Terry Venables launched a 16-year-old Milner’s first-class career, coming on as an 84th-minute substitute for Jason Wilcox in Leeds’ 4-3 win over West Ham. For perspective, Wilcox is 51 years old and is director of the academy at Manchester City. Nigel Martyn was on the bench at Leeds and was the same age as Milner is now. The veteran goalkeeper brushed aside the Premier League’s second-youngest debutant and urged him to savor every moment of a career that would shine “like lightning”. Three Premier League medals, one Champions League, two FA Cups and two League winners’ medals later, the conversation still resonates.
“I remember Nige saying that to me and I said, ‘Shut it up Nige, I’m only 16’. Then bam! Twenty years later. I was really good,” says Milner. “You never know what’s going to happen. You look at the journey I’ve had and the amount of manager changes I’ve had.
“In the second season, when Peter Reid started putting players ahead of me, I went on loan to Swindon for a month because I wasn’t going to play. When I came back, I played every game. They are small things. I went to Newcastle and Sir Bobby Robson was sacked within a couple of months. A new manager [Graeme Souness] I wanted more experienced players, so again I go out on loan to Villa. When you think about it, there are a lot of obstacles. It’s not like all the coaches have said, “I have him as a player.” You have to keep proving yourself over and over and you know people doubt you.
Milner is on the brink of another milestone, a 600th Premier League appearance. Only three players have reached that figure in the Premier League era – Gareth Barry (652), Ryan Giggs (632) and Frank Lampard (609), although the midfielder can’t join that elite club on Sunday Tottenham due to derivative concussion protocols. from the 2-0 win against Napoli on Tuesday.
Quick Guide
James Milner in…
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The toughest rival “Messiah. Unbelievable.”
The best goal “I’d have to pick three. My first for Leeds at Elland Road. Newcastle-Man United at St James’ Park. Gary Neville had just hit me in the air. I went off injured, I got back on, I cut it in and I smashed it into the top box. And Villa at Sunderland away, 30 yards out.”
hero “Alan Smith at Leeds. He was a local boy coming through the academy. He did what we all wanted to do, scoring with his first touch at a big ground – Anfield – and in front of the Kop.”
Best performance “It has to be 4-0 against Barcelona.”
The biggest influence “It seems unfair to name one because of the amount of people I’ve been lucky enough to work with, players and coaches. But my parents and my wife are the main reason I’m still playing.”
The best advice “Work hard. You want it. My dad used to say that anything I practiced with my right foot had to do with my left. If I took five shots with my right, I’d do the same with my left. That’s helped play in 50 positions, I guess.”
When were you at your peak? “My best individual seasons were one at Villa, the year before I moved to City, when I scored a few goals and broke into the England squad. I played every game in the middle. City signed me on the back. And then with Liverpool we had one year in the Europa League and the other in the Champions League and I made a lot of assists.”
The highlight? “It’s hard to pick one because every time you win a trophy and I’ve been lucky enough to win some big ones. To make my Leeds debut, to score my first goal for Leeds and to do it again a few days later at Elland Road, those are highlights.”
Biggest regret? “Two stand out. Being relegated with Leeds and not being able to celebrate the league title with Liverpool, considering how long they wanted it, to be able to get it and be behind closed doors. It was a huge shame and a huge shame.” .
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The veteran attributes his longevity to good luck with injuries and a driven mentality: “I must always want to show this stubbornness, always wanting to be the best in training or wanting to show the youngsters in the pre-season. ” as he describes it. But it is fortune and determination of his own making. An all-out lifestyle is not unusual for a top-flight professional in 2022, but it was different when Milner was working his way up through the ranks at Leeds. The steely determination that drives Milner, evident in his recent match-winning challenge on West Ham’s Tomas Soucek and which Jürgen Klopp regards as an invaluable influence on the squad, was present from the outset.
“I’ve lost count of how many times people have said, ‘Oh, just have one,’ or ‘Can I be there when you have your first drink?’ They probably would have regretted being there if it had happened; I could have become quite ruthless. You don’t know, it could have been a hug and a kiss too. You just learn at that age and think, ‘What can I do to be the best?”
“Alcohol isn’t the best for you? Well, I won’t do that. After training, I’d practice corners and free throws instead of playing PlayStation. That obviously changes. After training every day five years ago I would have been shooting and my finish was great. When you get older you can’t be hitting balls every day after practice so you have to develop. I’m going to do yoga tonight when I get to home
James Milner says his toughest rival has been Barcelona’s Lionel Messi. Photograph: Sergio Pérez/Reuters
“It’s probably the worst saying in football when you’re going, ‘You’re busy, you’ or ‘Busy bastard’. It’s not, is it? It’s doing your job to the best of your ability and getting the most out of it. Now it’s the norm. Every player in this dressing room is in the gym before training now doing their own thing. Back then, or even at some other clubs now, you might have five to 10 guys, whereas here he’s 25. And that’s why the boys are at the level they are.”
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Milner, who shares fitness tips with fellow seasoned athletes and friends Jimmy Anderson and Kevin Sinfield, has witnessed a transformation in locker room culture. But despite the “busy” comments, he believes the education he received at 16 was essential to prolonged success at the top.
“In that dressing room at Leeds there were people like Dom Matteo, David Batty and people like that. I had Wednesday and Sunday off so the lads mostly went out on a Saturday night, did team building on a Wednesday and some trained with a bin bag on Thursday to sweat in. On the other hand, some of the injuries I saw Dom Matteo play with: he was digging holes in his boots to play, he was in pain but he just took it even with a grade two hamstring – it was a different time, but there were pros and cons to both.
“The senior players looked after me very well to protect me from the press and make sure I didn’t do interviews too soon. They would check on me when I needed it and make sure my boots were clean. It was a different way of learning than the boys have now, but it wasn’t worse, just different.
“I feel lucky to have been in both eras. I was playing in the Premier League and also collecting slips [underpants] get up off the ground, taking jumps [for training kit] on the bus, cleaning the U19 captain’s boots and making teas on the bus. You had to earn your stripes to get there. I feel lucky to have been through that and it’s helped me, because you feel you have to earn the right to be among these guys.” That right has to be earned at Liverpool. Milner makes sure of that.