Subbed on 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 stalwart of the Premier League. He is now in the twilight of his career playing at Brighton and the former England international has now etched his name in the history books by equalling his former teammate Gareth Barry’s Premier League appearance record. He was substituted on against Aston Villa to play his 653rd match in the competition. He made his professional debut in November 2002.

The versatile midfielder was then the second-youngest player to play in the Premier League aged 16 and 309 days for Leeds United and he became the youngest ever scorer just one month after his debut. Milner has won the English top-flight on three occasions – twice with Manchester City and once with Liverpool – and he’s also played for Newcastle and Aston Villa in the Premier League. Let’s take a look at the new-look top 10 Premier League appearance holders.

The all-time record appearance holders in the Premier League

Barry and Milner hold the all-time record with 653 appearances in the Premier League. The duo played together at both Aston Villa and Manchester City, whilst they also played for England together at the 2010 World Cup. Only two other players have played more than 600 games in the Premier League – Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs and Chelsea icon Frank Lampard. Impressively, Giggs made all his appearances for Manchester United and he remains the most decorated player in Premier League history with 13 titles

Perhaps surprisingly, only two goalkeepers make the list in David James (572 games) and Mark Schwarzer (514) whilst 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).