OVER THE MIL

FOOTBALL: RECORD-BREAKER HANGS UP HIS BOOTS

- BY JEREMY CROSS

JAMES MILNER has finally brought the curtain down on a career all future footballers should aspire to having themselves.

One which saw the Premier League legend wring the maximum out of the talent he had been given.

Milner was good enough to pursue a career in professional cricket while growing up in Leeds.

But the multi-talented Milner chose football instead - and cricket's loss was the gain of the national sport.

Milner, now 40, went on to spend almost a quarter of a century operating at the highest level.

He made his debut for Leeds in 2002 at the age of just 16, and at the time was the second-youngest player to play in the Premier League.