Milner was brought up a Leeds fan
James Milner is Yorkshire through and through. Brought up a Leeds United fan, hatred for Manchester United is in his blood.
In fact, his family were so anti-United that Milner’s dad banned him from wearing red as a child, due to its association with the club, the Liverpool midfielder revealed in an interview with FourFourTwo magazine.
“Obviously Leeds fans are brought up to dislike Manchester United, as rivals, so red wasn’t allowed. I didn’t have any red shirts or anything, and the first time I ever wore it was probably for England. He did joke when I signed for Liverpool that it was the first time he’d be happy to see me regularly in red,” Milner said.
One would presume that when Milner pops back home, the rule no longer applies, given that he plays for Liverpool.
Milner has moved around a bit throughout his career. After making his debut for Leeds at the age of 16, he moved on to Newcastle United after the Yorkshire club were relegated, and then signed for Aston Villa, where he impressed enough to persuade Manchester City to sign him, before joining Liverpool on a free.
Throughout his career, he’s ticked off the holy trinity of United’s main rivals: Liverpool, City and Leeds. Just in case there was any doubt about quite how much he dislikes United.
