James Milner has announced his retirement from football at the age of 40.
He hangs up the boots after a record-breaking season that saw him overtake Gareth Barry as the Premier League all-time record holder, with his 654th top-flight appearance coming in our 2-0 win at Brentford in February.
Since making his debut in 2002, he’s played Premier League football at Leeds, Newcastle, Aston Villa, Manchester City, Liverpool, and Brighton. In his career, he won 7 major domestic honours, including 2 Premier League titles, as well as the Champions League with Liverpool in 2019.
In a statement released on Monday morning, he stated:
“I leave the game with immense pride, gratitude, and memories that will stay with me for the rest of my life. Football has given me far more than I could ever have imagined, and I will always be thankful for the opportunities it provided.”
Since signing for The Albion in 2023, he has played 39 times and has been both a valuable squad player and a dressing room leader. Towards the end of this season, he played a much more pivotal role in Fabian Hurzeler’s squad, starting 10 of the last 19 games.
His departure could cause a couple of behind-the-scenes issues for Brighton, with his departure potentially building on a growing leadership void at the club, considering the ramifications of multiple senior players in the hierarchy leaving, with Adam Webster and Solly March’s departures already announced, alongside a transfer away for both Joel Veltman and JPvH still being on the cards.
This represents one of the focuses we absolutely need to be looking at in the summer; some big voices in the dressing room to accompany Lewis Dunk.
I think we’re certainly going to miss him. Besides being a helpful squad player, he was also clearly a big voice in the dressing room, and a major driving force, especially behind the scenes, for our recent successes under both RDZ and Hurzeler. It’s certainly going to take a lot to replace him in that regard, and I think we’re going to miss him, and we all wish him all the best for whatever his post-playing career holds!
Photo by Alex Simpson on Unsplash
