A tip of the cap to James Milner after he announced his retirement from football at the grand old age of 40 on Monday.
A quite incredible career that started all the way back in 2002 as a 16-year-old with Leeds United, Milner went on to become the Premier League‘s record appearance holder after playing in 658 matches.
He played for six different clubs – Leeds, Newcastle, Aston Villa, Man City, Liverpool and Brighton – and won three league titles, two FA Cups, two League Cups, and a Champions League.
James Milner finished his career at Brighton, 24 years after his debut for Leeds
He also won 61 caps for England and represented his country at four major tournaments. He was, quite simply, the ultimate professional.
Dedicated, diligent, hard-working, extremely versatile, and supremely fit, Milner is the perfect role model for any young player looking to pursue a career in football.
In an era defined by players chasing celebrity status, social media circus acts and financial greed, Milner was the antithesis to all of that.
He was never interested in a personal highlights reel on YouTube or doing silly dances on TikTok. Getting a bold new haircut every month was never his thing either.
His only interest was in applying himself properly and doing his job. By his own admission, most of his team-mates probably viewed him as boring.
But if more young players in academies adopted his professionalism and work ethic, they would have a far better chance of making it.
The world of football needs more James Milners.
