Twenty-four years after making his debut, James Milner, 40, will equal the record for most Premier League appearances if he features for Brighton against Crystal Palace on Sunday. A stellar career spanning more than two decades, six top-flight clubs, 652 Premier League appearances, 61 England caps, three Premier League titles, two FA Cups and one Champions League triumph has also delivered some unexpected moments. Milner is set to go level with Gareth Barry, who played 653 times, at the top of the all-time Premier League appearance list some 8,491 days after making his debut for hometown club Leeds United soon after leaving school in 2002. Milner was just 16 and earning £70 a week as a YTS player when he broke into the first team at Leeds, six months after taking his GCSE exams.

Source: BBC February 06, 2026 19:00 UTC