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At the beginning of next season, in September 2003, Milner was sent on a month-long loan to [[Football League Second Division|Second Division]] side [[Swindon Town F.C.|Swindon Town]]. The aim was to help Milner gain experience as a first team player. Leeds insisted he would only be on loan a month. He spent a month with Swindon, scoring tow in six games. In December he represented England U20 at the [[2003 FIFA World Youth Championship]]. |
At the beginning of next season, in September 2003, Milner was sent on a month-long loan to [[Football League Second Division|Second Division]] side [[Swindon Town F.C.|Swindon Town]]. The aim was to help Milner gain experience as a first team player. Leeds insisted he would only be on loan a month. He spent a month with Swindon, scoring tow in six games. In December he represented England U20 at the [[2003 FIFA World Youth Championship]]. |
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During this season Milner was also came up to the [[England national under-21 football team|England under-21 side]] by [[Peter Taylor]]. His debut was against [[Sweden national under-21 football team|Sweden]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Milner handed Under-21 call | work=BBC Sport | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/england/3575613.stm | accessdate=June 20 | accessyear=2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Chopra earns U21s draw | author=Gerry Cox | url=http://www.thefa.com/England/U21s/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2004/03/SwedenU21vEnglandU21_MR.htm | accessdate=June 20 | accessyear=2007 }}</ref> |
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Leeds' relegation to [[Football League Championship|the Championship]] led to speculation over his future at the club. Milner had signed a five year deal with Leeds a year before but regected an improved contract and a offer of doubled wages. [[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur]], [[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]] and [[Everton F.C.|Everton]] all expressed an interest. Leeds incited that he would not be sold. Dispite this Leeds eventually accepted a £3.6million offer from [[Newcastle United F.C.|Newcastle United]], after they had made enquiries before. Financial problems forced them to sell him. This deal rose to £5million on appearances. Milner agreed a five-year deal with Newcastle at the start of July 2004.<ref>{{cite web |
Leeds' relegation to [[Football League Championship|the Championship]] led to speculation over his future at the club. Milner had signed a five year deal with Leeds a year before but regected an improved contract and a offer of doubled wages. [[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur]], [[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]] and [[Everton F.C.|Everton]] all expressed an interest. Leeds incited that he would not be sold. Dispite this Leeds eventually accepted a £3.6million offer from [[Newcastle United F.C.|Newcastle United]], after they had made enquiries before. Financial problems forced them to sell him. This deal rose to £5million on appearances. Milner agreed a five-year deal with Newcastle at the start of July 2004.<ref>{{cite web |
Revision as of 14:49, 29 July 2007
James Milner redirects here. For other persons called James Milner, see Milner.
File:James Milner 17.JPG | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | James Philip Milner | ||
Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in) | ||
Position(s) | Winger | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Newcastle United | ||
Number | 16 | ||
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19:54, 20 June 2007 (UTC) |
James Philip Milner (born January 4 1986, Horsforth, England) is an English football (soccer) player who plays for the English club Newcastle United, as a Winger and left sided midfielder.
As a child Milner was raised by Peter and Lesley and was regognized as a great talent in football cricket and a long distance runner from the age of nine. He was a season ticket holder at Leeds United before becoming a ball boy. began his career at Leeds having played the team's Academy. He first played for the full team in 2002 at the age of sixteen. Leeds where forced to sell him to Newcastle in 2004 due to financial problems. He has also had loan spells with Swindon Town and Aston Villa. Minler has made 28 appearances for the England U21 and is expected to be called up to play for the national side at some piont.
No December 26, 2002 Milner became the youngest player to ever score in the Premier League at 16 years and 357 days. Minler has made over 100 appearences in the Premier League as well as playing in the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA cup He is contracted to Newcastle until July 2009 and remains a regular starter with the side.
Early life
Born and raised in Horsforth, Leeds, Milner played most of his football as a child for Horsforth School. Graeme Coulson, a coach from Rawdon recognized his talent and asked a parent who he was. Coulson persuaded Milner to play his Rawdon side in various tournaments. The team won prestigious tournament in Rawdon Meadows with Milner scoring four in the final.[1]
I noted his name and it was one not to be forgotten. He was an outstanding talent scoring lots of goal but he was also very strong.
Rawdon coach Graeme Coulson[1]
Milner was a first class at Horsforth School, leaving with several GCSE's of A or above. He won an award for his performance in PE upon leaving the school.[1] Milner and his his parents Peter and Lesley were Leeds United season ticket holders. Milner later became a ball boy because he wanted to get closer to the action. He showed talent in cricket and played for the Yorkshire Schools team. Milner was impressive as a sprinter and as a long distance runner. He was the cross-country champion and the district champion over 100 metres for three and two consecutive years respectively.[1]
Milner joined the Leeds United Academy after he was spotted by a scout while playing for Westbrook. He after making progress he was taken on as a trainee after leaving school. He continued to improve his skills with the youth team and has played for England at Under-15 and Under-17 levels.[1] Milner helped the England U17 side in summer tournament in 2002, which he helped them to win with a goal against Brazil.[2]
Early career
Milner's debut for Leeds United came on 10 November 2002 when he replaced Jason Wilcox for the final six minutes in a game against West Ham United. The appearence made him the second youngest player ever to play in the Premier league.[3] On December 26 he became the youngest scorer in the history of the Premier league with a goal came in a in a 2-1 win against Sunderland.[4] Two days later Milner scored a far more impressive goal against Chelsea. Avoiding an attempted tackle from Mario Stanic and shooting a powerful shot from 18 yards away. His desire, ability with both feet and confidence in the game impressed many reporters. Many fans were existed, having already seen the emergence of Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney. Claudio Ranieri said after the game he played with the brain of someone the age of thirty.[5] On 10 February 2003 he signed a new five-year contract for Leeds after his promising displays.[6]
At the beginning of next season, in September 2003, Milner was sent on a month-long loan to Second Division side Swindon Town. The aim was to help Milner gain experience as a first team player. Leeds insisted he would only be on loan a month. He spent a month with Swindon, scoring tow in six games. In December he represented England U20 at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship.
During this season Milner was also came up to the England under-21 side by Peter Taylor. His debut was against Sweden.[7][8]
Leeds' relegation to the Championship led to speculation over his future at the club. Milner had signed a five year deal with Leeds a year before but regected an improved contract and a offer of doubled wages. Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and Everton all expressed an interest. Leeds incited that he would not be sold. Dispite this Leeds eventually accepted a £3.6million offer from Newcastle United, after they had made enquiries before. Financial problems forced them to sell him. This deal rose to £5million on appearances. Milner agreed a five-year deal with Newcastle at the start of July 2004.[9]
Newcastle United
Milner signed for Newcastle on 2 July 2004 for £5 million.[10] He was introduced by the Magpies in their pre-season Asian tour, and he made good use of the opportunity to score his first goal for the club, against Kitchee in Hong Kong, a 1-1 draw.
His first Premiership game for Newcastle was a 2-2 draw at the Riverside Stadium against Middlesbrough on 14 August 2004. On 16 September he made his European debut when Newcastle played Israel's Bnei Sakhnin in the UEFA Cup, and nine days later he scored his first goal for the club, against West Bromwich Albion at home on 25 September 2004, a 3-1 win.
But Newcastle's poor start to the season, in which they could not find a win in the first four Premiership matches, resulted in manager Sir Bobby Robson being sacked. New manager Graeme Souness gave Milner only 13 league starts in the whole season. He played 41 games in all competitions, but only scored once.
The 2005-06 campaign saw Milner scoring his first European goal when he struck in Newcastle's 1-3 win away against Slovakian side FK ZTS Dubnica in the Intertoto Cup on 17 July, 2005.[11] However his inability to hold down a regular first team place, and a clause in the purchase of Nolberto Solano by Newcastle from Aston Villa, resulted in Milner being loaned to Aston Villa for the 2005-06 season.
Aston Villa
Former Aston Villa manager David O'Leary, who managed Leeds from 1998 to 2002, gave Milner his Villa debut on 12 September, 2005 against newly-promoted West Ham United. He got his first goal for the club five days later, scoring in the 1-1 draw against Tottenham Hotspur on 17 September at Villa Park. Three days later Milner struck again, scoring two goals in Villa's thrilling 3-8 League Cup win over Wycombe Wanderers.
Milner was a regular in his season with Villa and, after his loan spell had expired, O'Leary wanted to sign him permanently. With a lack of transfer funds at Villa Park, in addition to a change of management at the club, no deal appeared to be on the cards. However, with Villa being taken over by American billionaire Randy Lerner and appointing Martin O'Neill as manager, the deal was resurrected.
According to Milner's agent Mick McGuire, he was going to sign for Villa on 31 August, 2006. Villa made an improved offer to Newcastle on the afternoon of 30 August and this, after deliberation, was accepted within hours by Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd. Aston Villa confirmed that Milner was travelling to the club for talks. Media sources have quoted the transfer fee as being £4,000,000. However Newcastle then recalled Milner and talks broke down.[12]
On 27 November tribalfootball.com reported that Villa boss Martin O'Neill would try again for the player in January, 2007.[13] However, Milner responded by saying he would love to stay at Newcastle.[14]
There are constant rumours about Aston Villa, but I think I'll still be here in January, I certainly hope so. I'm going to concentrate on Newcastle, playing my football and getting on with the job of getting us back up the Premiership table. It's no secret that I'm enjoying myself here this season.
Return to Newcastle
The recall of Milner was to much relief of many Newcastle fans, who viewed the player as an outstanding prospect and were delighted with his level of commitment at the start of the 2006-07 season.[who?]
Nicknamed 'Machine Gun' by his Newcastle teammates due to his impressive darts ability,[15] Milner started the 06/07 season playing regularly in the first team with impressive performances. He scored a wonderful goal in Newcastle's 2-2 draw with Manchester United on January 1, 2007, his first of the campaign. Before this he had scored just once in the league for Newcastle. His scoring form continues as he went on to score 3 goals in under 3 weeks, against, Birmingham City and West Ham United respectively. All of them were long-range efforts. Since his return to Newcastle he has proved his ability to play comfortably on either wing, after scoring and setting up goals with both feet on either flank. He was awarded the squad number 7, later changing to 16 due to a preference of Albert Luque.
After very impressive displays, Glenn Roeder told interested clubs such as Aston Villa and Middlesbrough that Milner would not be leaving.[16] On January 20, 2007, Milner signed a new contract at Newcastle which secured his future at the club until 2011. On January 31, his goal scoring form continued as he netted against former club Aston Villa from 18 yards.
Style of play
Milner has always had a positive and unselfish attitude towards his team mates. As a result he is not a prolific goal scorer. He has the abbity to pass and shoot with both feet. He does not however consider himself a good defender and rarely takes corners of free kicks.[17] This is dispite the fact he can produce accurate crosses and it able to play on the left and right side of the field. He has been decribed as being "a good reader of the game".[18]
He has simaler pace to other young players and, for this reason his main role on the team is as a wide midfielder creating scoring opportunities. His awareness of players around him and his willingness to pass has been described as mature for a player of his age.[5] This ability means that Minler is able to in any area of the field and is confident enough to run at any defender. His team mate Nobby Solano said that his re-emergence would be important to the team because of his abblity to run. [19] It is prosible however that the fact he has spent most of his career playing for poor teams has amplified his performances.
Manager Sam Allardyce said he believed Milners youth and abblity to stay free from injury would make him an important part of the team for many years.[20]
Career statistics
Club | Season | Premiership | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Others | Total | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
App | Goals | Assists | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | ||
Newcastle United | 2006-07 | 35 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 53 | 4 |
2005-06 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 2 | |
Aston Villa | 2005-06 | 27 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 6 |
Newcastle United | 2004-05 | 25 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 1 |
Leeds United | 2003-04 | 29 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 3 |
Swindon Town | 2003-04 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
Leeds United | 2002-03 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 2 |
Subtotal | 137 | 10 | 19 | 14 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 22 | 0 | 11 | 4 | 188 | 20 |
(Statistics correct as of July 28, 2007)
References
- ^ a b c d e "James is the latest teenage soccer hero". Guardian Unlimited Football. 2002-12-31. Retrieved 2007-07-28.
{{cite web}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ "Milner magic seals Nationwide Glory". the fa. 2002-07-14. Retrieved 2007-07-28.
{{cite web}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ James Milner
- ^ The Premiership's youngest guns
- ^ a b Lawrence, Amy (2002-12-28). "Magical Milner". guardian. Retrieved 2007-07-28.
{{cite web}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ Milner signs Leeds deal
- ^ "Milner handed Under-21 call". BBC Sport. Retrieved June 20.
{{cite web}}
: Check date values in:|accessdate=
(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=
ignored (|access-date=
suggested) (help) - ^ Gerry Cox. "Chopra earns U21s draw". Retrieved June 20.
{{cite web}}
: Check date values in:|accessdate=
(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=
ignored (|access-date=
suggested) (help) - ^ "16 James Milner". ESPN. Retrieved 2007-07-28.
{{cite web}}
: Text "Midfielder" ignored (help) - ^ Magpies land Milner
- ^ ZTS Dubnica 1-3 Newcastle
- ^ Roeder backs Milner stance
- ^ Villa boss O'Neill: We'll try for Newcastle's Milner
- ^ Milner wants United future
- ^ Harper hits the bullseye
- ^ Roeder Rejects Milner Exit Talk
- ^ "The boy's a bit special - James Milner". fourfourtwo. Retrieved 2007-07-29.
- ^ "Opta Jury: James Milner". Sky Sports. 2006-09-28. Retrieved 2007-07-29.
- ^ "Sol hails return of young gun Milner". officialplayersites. 2006-07-14. Retrieved 2007-07-29.
- ^ "Allardyce Says Milner and Taylor are Backbone of Newcastle". nufcblog.com. 2007-06-14. Retrieved 2007-07-29.
- ^ [1] soccernet.espn.go.com, Retrieved July 28 2007.
External links
- BBC Profile
- ESPN Profile
- Profile on a fanpage of Leeds United
- Profile on official site on Newcastle United F.C.
- Profile on official site of English Premier League
- James Milner at Soccerbase