What James Milner is Up to Now as Update on His Life After Retiring Emerges
· GiveMeSport
Milner has been keeping himself very busy over the past few months.
James Milner's long and highly successful professional football career came to an end earlier this year.
Milner started his career at Leeds United, making his Premier League debut for the club at the age of 16 years and 309 days.
The Englishman went on to play for Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Manchester City, Liverpool and Brighton & Hove Albion. He also made 61 appearances for the Three Lions, scoring once.
Milner, who won 13 trophies in his career, including three Premier League titles and one Champions League, found game-time hard to come by during the 2025/26 season at Brighton.
With his best days behind him, Milner decided to retire at the end of the campaign at the age of 40, with his final game coming against Manchester United.
Milner has kept himself very busy over the past few months, enjoying his time away from the limelight and the rigours of professional football.
In August, Milner gave a little insight into what it has been doing over the past few months. Milner is a keen golfer, and he posted a video of him playing the sport in the United States, as well as an image of him caddying for Megan Dennis. He also posted a series of images of himself in Japan, Indonesia and Singapore.
Milner was known for being one of the hardest-working players during his time in professional football, and he is continuing to keep himself physically fit post-retirement.
Last week, Milner posted a video showing him training for a marathon. He shared statistics from a 32km run that he completed. He did that distance in 2 hours 26 minutes, with an average pace of 4.32 minutes per kilometre.
It has recently been reported by the Athletic that Milner is now back at former club Liverpool for coaching purposes.
Milner is keen to stay in football and is currently working towards obtaining his UEFA Pro Licence. As part of that process, he’s been invited by Liverpool academy director Alex Inglethorpe to coach the club’s younger age groups.
Milner is believed to be assisting current staff rather than being given responsibility for a particular group. He worked with the under-11s at Liverpool's training ground last weekend, but he’s set to operate across different squads.
Milner isn't the only former Liverpool player that has been working with the club's youngsters in recent weeks while they complete their coaching badges. Conor Coady, who is currently without a club after leaving Wrexham, has been doing the same, working with the club’s under-21s squad alongside head coach Rob Page.
Milner, who has been named as one of the most underrated players in Premier League history , spoke about potentially becoming a manager in an interview with Goal earlier this year. He said in March:
> “I've done my B and A, UEFA B and A licence. I enjoy the stuff, helping the younger boys on the training field.
> “The manager [Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler] involved me a lot in the coaching side last year when I was injured and involving me in their meetings and stuff and there's a lot I enjoy to it. It's also a very hard job and you see how hard they're working and you see managers flying and get manager of the month and a new contract and they get sacked seven games later!
> "So it's a very difficult job to do, one that sometimes I think I'd love to have a go at, especially with it being tough. I've got that mindset that you want to go and show you can do it. But who knows?
> "But there's definitely aspects of the coaching side I love. Being on the pitch and helping the players and finding it quite easy to see things in a session, what's not quite right. But then obviously you need to learn your skills on the other side, session planning.
> "I've been very fortunate with who I've worked with and the players I've worked with and the managers. So it would be a shame not to pass it on to the next generation, I suppose.”