James Milner matched a long-held Premier League record that many believed would remain unchallenged when he played for Brighton & Hove Albion against Aston Villa on Wednesday.
His first-half entry, coming on as a substitute in the 22nd minute for injured Brighton teammate Carlos Baleba, marked his 653rd appearance in the Premier League, equaling the record established by former teammate Gareth Barry.
The two shared the pitch for 130 of those Premier League matches, having played together for several seasons at Villa and later at Manchester City. Barry concluded his 22-year professional career in 2020 at the age of 39, although he returned from retirement last season to participate in a few matches for local amateur club Hurstpierpoint, even scoring in a 2-2 draw against Polegate Town in the Mid Sussex Football League.
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Milner’s 24-year tenure in the Premier League is the longest in the league’s history, and he continues to compete despite having turned 40 last month. He has made 15 league appearances for the Seagulls thus far in the 2025-26 season, although his recent outings have primarily been brief appearances as a substitute in the latter stages of matches.
The experienced midfielder — who has played in England’s top division for Leeds United, Newcastle United, Villa, City, Liverpool, and Brighton — now requires just one more Premier League appearance to become the league’s all-time highest appearance maker.
Here are some remarkable facts and statistics that his extensive — and ongoing — Premier League career has generated.
Information provided by ESPN Global Soccer Research and Stats Perform.
Total goals: 56
Milner’s inaugural Premier League goal occurred back in December 2002 when he scored with a precise curler in a 2-1 win for Leeds against Sunderland on Boxing Day, prompting a celebratory pile-on from his senior teammates. At just 16 years and 356 days old, he became the youngest player to score in the Premier League — a record that lasted until 2005 when James Vaughan netted for Everton at the age of 16 years and 271 days.
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Best season for goals: 7 (2009-10 & 2016-17)
Milner achieved a personal best of seven league goals on two occasions during his career, with the first instance occurring in his final full season at Aston Villa in 2009-10. Villa finished sixth and secured a spot in the Europa League, but Milner’s most pivotal goal was likely the winning penalty he converted in the derby against local rivals Birmingham City at Villa Park in April. He matched that tally seven seasons later when he netted seven league goals in Jürgen Klopp’s first full season at Liverpool.
Total assists: 90
Milner has consistently contributed assists throughout his career, but perhaps his most notable — at least in terms of trivia — came for Brighton in October 2025 when the then-39-year-old assisted Charalambos Kostoulas, marking the first instance in Premier League history of a player setting up a goal for a teammate who had not yet been born when they made their league debut. Milner made his league debut in November 2002, while Kostoulas was born in May 2007.
Best season for assists: 12 (2009-10)
Milner was at his most productive in 2009-10 when he combined a joint-high goal tally with a career-best 12 league assists for Aston Villa. He even recorded a rare hat trick of assists in a 5-2 victory over Burnley in February 2010 by providing goals for Ashley Young, Stewart Downing, and Gabriel Agbonlahor — thus becoming only the second Villa player to achieve this feat in Premier League history at that time.
Total yellow cards: 80
Total red cards: 3
Generally disciplined, Milner has maintained a relatively low card count throughout his 24 years in the Premier League. However, one of his red cards provided a humorous moment when the Liverpool midfielder received a second booking against Crystal Palace in January 2019 and was subsequently sent off. Coincidentally, Jon Moss, the referee that day, was also once Milner’s PE teacher at Westbrook Lane Primary School in Horsforth.
photo evidence Moss as coach and Milner as captain pic.twitter.com/VhhYlRWvwR
— Foz (@chrisfozard) January 20, 2019
Longest run of consecutive starts: 41 (Oct. 18, 2008 to Oct. 31, 2009)
Known for his reliability, Milner managed to go over an entire season without missing a spot in Aston Villa’s starting XI after joining the club from Newcastle United on a permanent basis in the summer of 2008. His 41-game streak ended when he was not included in the squad for a 2-1 loss against West Ham United in early November 2009 — one of only two matches he did not start for Villa that season.
Longest run of consecutive appearances: 59 (Oct. 22, 2006 to March 8, 2008)
When including appearances off the bench, Milner achieved an impressive streak by participating in 59 consecutive Premier League matches during his time at Newcastle. However, this is still far from the overall league record for most consecutive games played by an outfield player, which is held by former Chelsea star Frank Lampard (164 appearances).
Total minutes played: 38,293
(As of Feb. 2, since 2007-08: 28,995) (pre-2007-08: 9,298) Total: 38,293
[Needs updating to include appearance no. 653 as and when]
Analyzing his 652 Premier League appearances in terms of total time spent on the field, Milner has dedicated a grand total of 38,293 minutes to playing top-flight soccer, which equates to approximately 638 hours or 26.6 days.
Total distance covered in Premier League career: 5.4 million meters
Since 2019-20 (mins played: 4,992 as of Feb. 2), Milner has covered 705,829.25 meters
Minutes since 2019-20: 4,992
Minutes pre-2019-20: 33,301
Total: 38,293
[Needs updating to include appearance no. 653 as and when]
Milner exemplifies a midfielder who is willing to cover every inch of the pitch. The data for distance run by players in the Premier League only dates back to the 2019-20 season, but if we calculate Milner’s total ground covered by the number of minutes he has played over the last seven seasons and then multiply that by the total minutes played throughout his entire Premier League career, we arrive at an estimated figure for the total distance he has traversed.
Using this calculation, Milner has covered an impressive 5,414,326 meters, or 3,364 miles, in his Premier League career. This distance is roughly equivalent to the span between New York City and London. On average, this amounts to 8.29 km (5.15 miles) per match, which is comparable to running from one end of a soccer pitch to the other 80 times.
Number of different teammates he has played with: 295
Number of opposition players he has played against: 2,396
Number of players he has played with and against: 184
It is evident that Milner has taken to the field alongside a remarkable number of different teammates since making his Premier League debut for Leeds on Nov. 10, 2002. The young winger came on as a substitute for Jason Wilcox — who is now 54 and serves as Manchester United’s director of football. In Milner’s most recent, record-equaling Premier League appearance, he shared the pitch with 17-year-old Harry Howell. A true professional spanning generations.
Throughout his career, Milner has played alongside Premier League legends such as Patrick Vieira, Sergio Agüero, Frank Lampard, Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Robert Pires, Michael Owen, and Alan Shearer. He has also faced off against greats like Thierry Henry, Steven Gerrard, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Harry Kane.
There has been considerable overlap as well, with over 150 players having played both with and against Milner in the past. Additionally, there are nine players that Milner has reunited with during his career: the likes of Gareth Barry, Adam Lallana, Mark Viduka, and Kolo Touré have all found themselves on the same team as Milner at two different Premier League clubs.
Number of different managers he has played under: 21
Number of opposition managers he has played against: 158
Number of managers he has played for and against: 12
A three-time Premier League champion, Milner has secured the title under Roberto Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini at Manchester City before winning again under Jürgen Klopp at Liverpool in 2019-20. He made the majority of his Premier League appearances under Klopp (222), followed by Mancini (82), ex-Villa boss Martin O’Neill (72), and Pellegrini (63).
Indeed, the remarkably diverse list of managers in the Premier League (two more than anyone else) that Milner has played under in the top flight includes four former England managers — Sir Bobby Robson, Terry Venables, Kevin Keegan, Sam Allardyce — as well as Brendan Rodgers, Graeme Souness, and Roberto De Zerbi, to name just a few. Milner is also the only active professional player who has played under the late, great Robson, who passed away in 2009.
Milner’s current manager, Fabian Hürzeler, is seven years and 53 days younger than his most seasoned squad member.
Number of players who have debuted in Premier League since Milner’s debut: 3,268
{As of Feb. 7, 2026]
Numerous prominent names have made their Premier League debuts after Milner’s initial appearance with a six-minute cameo off the bench in November 2002. Notable figures like Xabi Alonso, Mikel Arteta, Cesc Fàbregas, Vincent Kompany, and Robin van Persie have all emerged since then and transitioned into management while Milner continues his playing career.
Total goals scored in Premier League since Milner’s debut: 24,235
{As of Feb. 7, 2026]
During Milner’s time in the league, four of the Premier League’s top six goal scorers of all time — Harry Kane (2nd, 213), Wayne Rooney (3rd, 208), Mohamed Salah (4th, 190), and Sergio Agüero (6th, 184) — accumulated their entire career totals in the competition.
Number of teams to play in Premier League since Milner’s debut: 44
With 25 rounds of promotion and relegation occurring since Milner first played in the 20-team Premier League, it is unsurprising that he has witnessed significant turnover among clubs in the top flight. There are six ever-present teams (Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur), clubs that have fluctuated such as Norwich City, Watford, and West Bromwich Albion, and teams like Blackpool and Luton Town, which have spent just one solitary season in the Premier League to date.
Number of miles traveled in his Premier League career: 101,584
{As of Feb. 7, 2026]
In a career spanning nearly a quarter of a century across six clubs located in various regions of England, it is no surprise that Milner has accumulated considerable mileage on his journeys.
Calculating the distance of every round trip from his home stadium at the time to each of the opposition grounds where he played an away match throughout his Premier League career, Milner has traveled a distance equivalent to more than four times around the globe!
