James Milner has broken the record for the most appearances in Premier League history after starting in Brighton’s match against Brentford on Saturday, Milner’s 654th in the competition.
The 40-year-old had equalled the record of 653 matches, set by Gareth Barry, earlier this month.
Milner has represented Leeds United, Newcastle United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Brighton, winning two Premier League titles at the Etihad and one on Merseyside under Jürgen Klopp.
The majority of Milner’s 564 Premier League matches came at Liverpool (just over 35%).
Milner is seven years older than Brighton head coach Fabian Hürzeler.
“I think it’s difficult to sum him up with one word or a sentence. He’s a role model on the pitch and beside the pitch,” Hürzeler said of Milner in a pre-match interview with the BBC.
“There’s no surprise why he’s there where he is at the moment because he has such a great discipline. He has such a great effort every day and he is never satisfied. He keeps going and it’s a great opportunity for him.
“It’s a great day for him to show us again why he is the record-holder regarding the Premier League games. Therefore, we are all looking forward to seeing him playing today.”
Brighton still have 11 Premier League matches remaining this season, giving Milner further opportunity to extend his record.
As well as moving clear of his former Villa teammate Barry in the all-time list, Milner extended his lead over Ryan Giggs (632 appearances). Frank Lampard (609) and David James (572) make up the top five.
Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer (544), Gary Speed (535), Emile Heskey (516), Jamie Carragher (508) and Phil Neville (505) round out the top 10.
Milner has scored 56 goals in his 654 matches with his first coming in his fifth senior appearance for Leeds in 2002, aged just 16 years and 356 days. The goal made him the youngest player to score a goal in Premier League history before James Vaughan found the back of the net for Everton in 2005.
The Englishman has 90 Premier League assists to his name — a personal single-season high 12 were registered in 2009-10 when he was the creative fulcrum of an exciting Villa team.
– How James Milner broke Premier League’s appearances record
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– Klopp on Milner record: Liverpool success impossible without him
