Subtitled vs Aston Villa
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James Milner has played in 1.3% of all English top-flight games since September 1888. He has become a Premier League stalwart. He is now in the twilight of his career playing for Brighton and the former England international has etched his name into the history books by equaling his former team-mate Gareth Barry’s record of Premier League appearances. He was substituted against Aston Villa to play his 653rd match in the competition. He made his professional debut in November 2002.
The versatile midfielder then became the second-youngest player to play in the Premier League at 16 years and 309 days at Leeds United and became the youngest goalscorer in history just a month after his debut. Milner has won the English top flight three times, twice with Manchester City and once with Liverpool, and also played for Newcastle and Aston Villa in the Premier League. Let’s take a look at the top 10 re-signed Premier League appearance holders.
The all-time record holders for Premier League appearances
Barry and Milner hold the all-time record with 653 Premier League appearances. The duo played together for both Aston Villa and Manchester City, while they also played together for England at the 2010 World Cup. Only two other players have played more than 600 Premier League games: Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs and Chelsea icon Frank Lampard. Remarkably, Giggs played all his games for Manchester United and remains the most decorated player in Premier League history with 13 titles.
Perhaps surprisingly, only two goalkeepers feature on the list: David James (572 games) and Mark Schwarzer (514), while the rest of the top 10 consists of Gary Speed (535 games), Emile Heskey (516 games), Jamie Carragher (508 games) and Rio Ferdinand (504 games).
