LONDON (AP) 鈥� James Milner set a new Premier League appearance record on Saturday when playing in his 654th game in England’s top flight.
The 40-year-old Milner surpassed the benchmark set by Gareth Barry when named in the starting lineup for Brighton against Brentford. Brighton won 2-0 at the Gtech Community Stadium.
鈥淚 feel like I can still contribute minutes. I鈥檝e been a bit frustrated this year, maybe not getting the minutes, but it鈥檚 a fine balance because of course we have to develop players as well and we want to win,鈥� Milner said. 鈥淗opefully I鈥檝e proved the last few games that I can still contribute on the pitch.鈥�
Milner made his league debut as a 16-year-old for Leeds in 2002, coming on as a substitute in a 4-3 win against West Ham.
In a much-traveled career, he was a serial trophy-winner with Manchester City and Liverpool. Across his time with those two clubs he won a full set of titles including the three Premier Leagues, the Champions League, FA Cup and English League Cup.
Milner has been at Brighton since 2023 and even in the latter stages of his career has made 18 appearances this season.
Barry’s record had stood since he played his last Premier League game for West Brom against Huddersfield in 2018. He played for two more seasons in the second-tier Championship.
Milner equalled Barry’s record when coming on as a substitute for Brighton against Aston Villa on Feb. 11.
He is not putting any limits on how much longer he can go on for.
鈥淲hen you get older things can change quickly,鈥� he said. 鈥淲ith the injury I had last season I couldn鈥檛 lift my foot for six months. I鈥檒l keep pushing, let鈥檚 see where that takes us.鈥�
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