James Milner's incredible career sees the 40-year-old tied atop the all-time Premier League appearances list with Gareth Barry, as his next PL match will see pass the former England international.
Milner came off the bench for Brighton at Brentford on Saturday, passing Barry to stand alone on the all-time list. Milner's contributed to the Premier League in so many areas, including playmaking as he's currently 10th on the all-time PL assists list just behind Mohamed Salah's 92.
MORE — Current Premier League table
Milner's numbers are outstanding as he's won so much for so many teams. Some players don't get 48 Premier League appearances in his career — Milner's played 48 league matches against Chelsea alone.
Also remarkable? Milner's only been sent off three times: one straight red against West Brom and the other two coming when he was shown two yellows versus Crystal Palace.
James Milner career records and stats: Where has Milner played?
The Leeds United academy product broke into the senior team in 2002 when he was 56 days shy of his 17th birthday.
He's now played 654 times for six Premier League clubs, scoring for all of them.
Milner has 56 Premier League goals and 90 assists in league play.
James Milner Premier League appearances by club:
- Liverpool, 230 appearances
- Manchester City, 147 appearances
- Aston Villa, 100 appearances
- Newcastle United, 94 appearances
- Leeds United, 48 appearances
- Brighton, 35 appearances
James Milner's trophy case
- 3x Premier League winner (2 with Man City, 1 with Liverpool)
- 2x League Cup winner (1 with Man City, 1 with Liverpool)
- 2x FA Cup winner (1 with Man City, 1 with Liverpool)
- 1x UEFA Intertoto Cup winner (Newcastle United)
- 2x Community Shield winner (1 with Man City, 1 with Liverpool)
- 1x Club World Cup winner (Liverpool)
- 1x UEFA Super Cup winner (Liverpool)
Premier League all-time appearances leaders: When did James Milner catch Gareth Barry?
Brighton's James Milner played his 653rd Premier League match in Week 26 of the 2025-26 season, appearing in the first half of the Seagulls' match at Villa to tie Barry.
He's been in the 18 for 21 of Brighton's PL matches this season, missing six through injury. He's played in 16 games, the latest being his history-making substitute appearance at Brentford.
Premier League all-time appearances leaders (as of February 21, 2026)
- James Milner, 654
- Gareth Barry, 653
- Ryan Giggs, 632
- Frank Lampard, 609
- David James, 572
- Gary Speed, 535
- Emile Heskey, 516
- Mark Schwarzer, 514
- Jamie Carragher, 508
- Rio Ferdinand, 504
- Steven Gerrard, 504
- Sol Campbell, 503
- Peter Crouch, 501
- Paul Scholes, 499
- Jermain Defoe, 496
- John Terry, 492
- Wayne Rooney, 491
- Ashley Young, 485
- Stewart Downing, 483
- Michael Carrick, 481
- Phil Neville, 478
- Sylvain Distin, 469
- John O'Shea, 465
- Jordan Henderson, 456
- Aaron Hughes, 455
- Jussi Jaaskelainen, 452
- Shay Given, 451
- Brad Friedel, 450
Who's next amongst active players? Burnley's Kyle Walker has 436 PL appearances, James Ward-Prowse has 410, and Raheem Sterling has 396.