Age at first goal: 16 years, 356 days Wayne Rooney held the record as the Premier League's youngest ever goalscorer for all of two months, before it was broken by another young English prospect - James Milner. He had made his debut in November of 2002, but made a real, lasting impact the following month. On Boxing Day, Leeds-born Milner came on as a substitute for fellow academy graduate Alan Smith with Sunderland trailing 1-0. He got them back into the game, diverting a cross from Jason Wilcox into the net, and Leeds eventually won the game thanks to a late Robbie Fowler penalty. What happened next? Milner spent just two full seasons at his hometown club and was sold following Leeds' relegation from the Premier League in 2004. He joined Newcastle United, where he spent for years - interspersed with a season loan at Aston Villa - and he joined the Midands club permanently in 2008 for £12m. He excelled in Martin O'Neill's attack minded team and two years later was snapped up by oil rich Man City for a whopping £26m. The versatile Englishman was a regular for City, making almost 150 appearances before moving to Liverpool, in search of more regular opportunities in central midfield. Now into his 30's, Milner has established himself as an experienced, reliable Premier League professional. He may be permanently underrated by many fans, but there aren't many players with his longevity at the highest level.
David is an office drone and freelance writer for WhatCulture and Moviepilot, among others. He's also foolishly writing a serialised novel on Jukepop and has his own irregularly updated website. He's available for freelance work. Reach out on Twitter to @davefox990
