James Milner says not being able to celebrate lifting the Premier League title with Liverpool was the biggest regret of his career alongside being relegated with Leeds United.
The 36-year-old had won two league titles at Manchester City prior to joining Liverpool in 2015. But the Reds ended their infamous 30-year drought without a league title by winning their first ever Premier League in 2020. However, due to the restrictions imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic, there were no supporters in attendance when Liverpool lifted the trophy in June 2020.
"I’ve had this question before what is your biggest regret or low of your career. Being relegated with Leeds is one, and not celebrating that league title with Liverpool is the other. It does still hurt 100 per cent,” Milner told the We Are Liverpool podcast.
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“That’s why the parade was so important. Everyone knew we wanted the league title and how long the Premier League had been going and we’d never done it. It was a dream when I came here to win the league. To do it, with how much the fans wanted to do it, to not be together.
"And then the first game of next season was Liverpool vs Leeds, Leeds hadn’t been in the Premier League for 17 years. Imagine that atmosphere and there was no one there.”
Milner started his career at his hometown club Leeds and became the youngest player to score in the Premier League at 16 years and 356 days on Boxing Day of 2002. His record has since been broken by former Everton striker James Vaughan in 2005, but he left the Whites after just two seasons following their relegation to the Championship in 2004.
Milner went on to enjoy stints at Newcastle United and Aston Villa, before embarking on glorious spells at Man City and Liverpool. He was also capped 61 times for England and is fourth in the Premier League all-time appearance list with 600.
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