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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Paul Gorst

James Milner awarded MBE as Liverpool star recognised for services to football and charity

Liverpool midfielder James Milner has been awarded an MBE in the Queen's Jubilee Year honours list.

The Reds' vice-captain has been given the title for his services to football and charity, having run his own foundation since 2011 on the back of a playing career that has spanned 20 years.

Milner made his professional debut aged just 16 years and 309 days in 2002, which made him the second youngest in Premier League history at the time and he has gone on to make 588 top-flight appearances, which is the fourth highest in the division's 30-year existence.

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A total of 199 of those have been for Liverpool and the midfielder has become one of the most influential figures in the squad since his move from Manchester City in 2015, helping the Reds to a League Cup and FA Cup double this term as they reached 92 Premier League points before being beaten in the Champions League final.

The Liverpool star's charity has raised over £1m for various causes since its inception, such as the NSPCC, Bloodwise, MNDA and Help for Heroes and his work has now been commended in the list, which was released on Wednesday evening.

"We started with Help for Heroes and NSPCC and then we added Bloodwise which was because of (former Aston Villa team-mate) Stiliyan Petrov when he was diagnosed with leukeamia," Milner told the ECHO about his Foundation in 2019.

"And then in 2018 we added Motor Neurone too, for (former Liverpool defender) Stephen Darby after he was diagnosed. As well as the four major ones in NSPCC, Help for Heroes, Bloodwise and MNDA, we also support other initiatives in the north, so the last few years we have supported the Liverpool Foundation and put on football camps for kids who can't afford to go, so that's the point of that.

"We have supported some initiatives in Manchester, netball teams in underprivileged areas, Leeds Rhinos, we have given money to help them out for underprivileged kids, so it is not only our four main charities, we have tried to help others around the north west. It is important to help people who are going through tough times at home or in school, being part of a team can give people that confidence and that is massive to help people rehabilitate."

Milner joins Gareth Bale and Rio Ferdinand as three football-specific figures to have been recognised for their work.

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