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Michael Bridges, Leeds (2002-04)
James Milner was the most dedicated and professional young player I’ve met. He also took the not inconsiderable transition from being at school to playing in the Leeds first team totally in his stride. Nothing fazed him. He was very level-headed.
Back in those days, footballers used to have to share rooms during away trips and, at the time, Leeds had developed a mentoring scheme intended to support young players. It meant that my regular roommate, Harry Kewell, and I were split up. I was asked to room with James and Harry shared with Aaron Lennon. It was then that I realised what an incredible footballer – and a person – James is.
People says he’s boring but he isn’t at all. It’s just that he keeps out of the limelight. He’s not interested in it. James never drank but, once he was old enough, he would always join us on squad nights out. But whereas the others drank beer, James would stick to Ribena Toothkind.
Apart from sometimes having to drag him off the training field and telling him it was time to go home, mentoring James was never difficult. It helped that James had a very good upbringing. His parents did a wonderful job and encouraged him to have interests outside football. He was a very good cricketer and I think he’s still involved with his old cricket club in Leeds. Above all he’s a very intelligent footballer who reads the game well and has the versatility to play in different positions for different types of managers. That’s helped him.
Modern football can be too robotic at times and young players can be over-coached – at Leeds James learned to think for himself and improvise. Even then he was very good off the ball, his tracking back and positioning were impressive. He was certainly better at tracking back than me; I was always getting sworn at by Peter Reid for neglecting it.
It’s mind-boggling that James is still playing today – it makes me feel so old. His level of professionalism is right up there with Cristiano Ronaldo’s. It’s no coincidence that they’re both still going strong.
Steve Harper, Newcastle (2004-08)
I remember James as a young man, so the fact he is now 40 makes me feel really old.
I used to go around to his house after he moved to Newcastle to make sure he was all right and we’d more often than not end up playing darts. He was the ultimate professional even at that young age and that’s continued to be the case throughout his career.
James came here as a teenager and had to play in front of a big, expectant crowd, but it didn’t faze him. He quickly showed what he could do. On the pitch he scored some big goals. Off the pitch, meanwhile, his darts nickname became “Machine Gun Milner”. He was the best in all the darts tournaments we had. I was No 2 seed to him. I remember James playing darts against Phil Taylor and he started with 100, 100, 100, which raised some eyebrows, but that just shows how dedicated and talented he was from a young age.
James is a model professional for any young player and I’m absolutely delighted about the career he’s had. He’s remained grounded despite his incredible success. For any young academy player, he would absolutely be the guy to look up to.
Curtis Davies, Aston Villa (2008-10)
I played with Milly for England Under-21s so I knew what he was like as a character, person and professional. The biggest thing was his desire to be the best at everything, on and off the pitch. He had a competitive edge that drove him on. He has never had an alcoholic drink in his life and has always been somebody for whom everything matters.
When we were with the under-21s, we called him the “hydration monster”: we used to do hydration tests every morning and he’d even want to win that. Once I was playing Fifa with Nedum Onuoha and he said: “I’m going to beat Milly at the hydration test.” Nedum drank water all day just to beat James. The next morning James looked at the numbers and you could see the shock on his face and that he was annoyed someone had beaten him. That showed his desire to be the best.
When he came to Aston Villa we had a strong core of young English players under Martin O’Neill and he complemented that group really well. We had a vibrant Gabby Agbonlahor, Ashley Young … they were our go-to players, but James was massive for us and did his business in the background. Breaking the appearance record will be testament to him and the way he has lived his life, and if anyone is going to go past Gareth Barry, another former Villa teammate, there’s no better person than James to do so.
Externally, James will project a sense of being “fortunate enough to have played in the Premier League for so long blah blah blah” but I believe he has only carried on to beat the record. That’s him – he wants to win everything. It will be a massive thing for him when he looks back at his career, and it’s going to be another milestone to add to his story.
I’m really interested to see what life holds for James after football. What is his next fix going to be? Complete marathons all over the world? He could sleepwalk through a marathon – he’s a freak of nature.
Nedum Onuoha, Manchester City (2010-15)
Looking back at our time together at Manchester City, I’m not surprised at all that James is still playing. He made his professional debut at a very young age and he was a prodigy. I remember facing him for the first time when he was playing for Leeds reserves, and this was after he’d already made his debut for Leeds proper. You could see the drive, the tenacity. As the years went by, and the more time you spent with him, the more you could also understand his quality and understanding of the game.
Where he was very much ahead of the curve was with his level of professionalism. Because in the early 2000s, what professionalism looked like to other people was probably different to how he was carrying himself, but how he carries himself today is the same as other people do: somebody who has always been obsessed with doing the extras, and who understood, from a young age, that availability can be one of your best abilities.
To this day James is still that same person, but now he has the experience of having played for some of the biggest clubs in England and in some of the biggest games in European and world football. He will hold people accountable but every time he does, you know it’s fair. He’s the glue that holds stuff together. The complete package.
Sometimes we fascinate ourselves with the people who have the talent to make us say: “Wow.” Without James, the team doesn’t have a “wow”. He’s been invaluable for many years for every team he has played for. Gareth Barry was so impressive when I met him when I was younger; the fact James is about to beat his record says it all. And the next person to break the record, if it ever happens, will be another James Milner. Not an unsung hero, as such, but somebody who is almost certainly a blueprint for lots of people.
Jordan Henderson, Liverpool (2015-23)
I was very lucky to have Milly as my vice-captain at Liverpool, although I didn’t see him as that. I saw us as a pair of captains. He helped me tremendously, not only on the pitch but off it, too. We had a really good professional relationship. We called it good cop, bad cop – I’ll let you work out which one was which. We also had a great friendship off the field; our wives are still close and speak a lot.
He is someone I have admired and looked up to ever since I first played with him with England, around the 2012 Euros. I already knew he was a very, very good player. He scored a worldie at the Stadium of Light for Villa and I was right behind it.
For me it’s no surprise Milly’s about to break the appearance record because of his quality and talent. Also because his mentality is unique. I’m sure if you asked all the clubs he’s played for they’ll say he’s had a big impact on them, on the environment and on what they’ve achieved. I can’t think of anybody that is like him in football. A 40-year-old still starting in the Premier League tells you the level he will still be training and playing at.
I learned a lot from him at Liverpool. He was intense and very serious but, at the same time, he liked having a laugh around the dressing room or when we were travelling. He was constantly at it, constantly influencing the team whether he was playing or training or injured. It was the life he lived around football every day, the consistency that not many players would be able to cope with.
I can’t speak highly enough of Milly. The biggest compliment I can give him is that there’s not many people in my life who I could trust 100%; I could probably count them on one hand. Milly would certainly be one of them. I’ve got a lot to thank him for, for what he’s done for me over my career. I loved every minute of it at Liverpool and he was a big part of that.
Andrew Crofts, Brighton (2023-)
I remember the day James Milner arrived at Brighton so well. Adam Lallana was here at the time and we knew there was a possibility that he was going to sign for us. Adam said to me: “If you think I’m intense, wait until he comes in.”
During the first couple of weeks he couldn’t fully train with us because he was recovering from a slight niggle. I remember during the first part of the session that he did join in going: “Wow.” He treated the rondo box that a lot of teams do to get activated after a warm-up like it was the FA Cup final. It was exactly what I expected to see in terms of his drive and his energy.
In the first team meeting we had I remember scanning the room and seeing Milly focused razor-sharp on every word that I was saying. I was thinking: “Oh, I need to make sure that he’s buying into what I’m saying here.” I was a little bit anxious because it was Milly. That’s the presence he has.
Being around someone who epitomises commitment and passion for the game has made me a better coach. Every part of every day he will be doing his very best to make sure he’s the most prepared he can be to perform and recover. Do his gym, eat the right food, go to bed at the right time, wake up at the right time, get the recovery strategies … all that stuff. He doesn’t waste a moment to make sure that he is as prepared as he can be.
Milly’s also really good fun. He’s got a really infectious laugh. I can hear him sometimes in the changing room or at the back of the bus. He’s got a really encouraging side, too, and understands in different moments what players need based on their characters and personalities.
Whether coaching or managing is something that Milly would be interested in after he retires is something that only he could answer. Do I think he would be good at it? Yes. For sure.
