Today marks a momentous day in football as we celebrate an important milestone in the history of Liverpool FC.
On this very day back in 2015, a young hero by the name of James Milner agreed to take a pay cut in order to complete a free transfer to Anfield from Manchester City.
It turned out to be one of the finest zero pounds the Reds ever spent, with Milner quickly becoming a paragon of consistency and versatility over the course of 200-plus appearances, as well as a Champions League winner.
He's also a thoroughly nice chap. Here are five highlights of his time on Merseyside.
Back in 2013, before signing for Liverpool, a parody Twitter account cropped up called "Boring James Milner" (@BoringMilner). It was nothing to do with the player himself, but gained cult status in mocking him as one of life's less interesting characters -- and now has more than 650,000 followers.
After resisting for many years, Milner finally joined the wild world of social media in March 2018 -- largely as a parody of the parody account by placing himself in the most mundane of situations. He burst onto the scene with a tweet about ironing.
#TBT to yesterday.... when I wasn't on Twitter! ππ» pic.twitter.com/TJy4RxHZJx
β James Milner (@JamesMilner) March 22, 2018
One year of lo-fi fun and frolics then passed before the Liverpool man revisited his debut tweet, celebrating his first 364 days online by looking back and paying humble tribute to his Elite Steam 3000.
#TBT 364 days ago.... tougher times before I got my deluxe elite steam 3000 iron π #mysortofgadget #lifebeforesocialmedia pic.twitter.com/2eVA74VSAG
β James Milner (@JamesMilner) March 21, 2019
Regulate
Not content with proving himself the most dependable footballer on the planet, Milner also took the hip-hop world by storm in 2016 when he lent his supreme Yorkshire flow to Warren G and Nate Dogg's G-Funk classic.
James Milner rapping Warren G and Nate Dogg's "Regulate" π pic.twitter.com/lSSaE8Vk0B
β Complex UK (@complex_uk) June 9, 2016
Ribena
When Liverpool held on to ditch Roma out of the Champions League at the semi-final stage in 2018 in chaotic fashion, Milner was asked whether he intended to celebrate with a glass of red wine.
Having been teetotal all his life, the midfielder's deadpan response has since become the stuff of legend.
As James Milner will tell you, there's only one way to truly celebrate anything...
β Football on BT Sport π©πͺ (@btsportfootball) December 31, 2018
A glass of Ribena π€£πpic.twitter.com/OL8Ry5HDo2
Milner actually scored an own goal in the second leg too, which he just about managed to laugh off afterwards.
Anyone got any tips for getting a Champions League logo off a face? #glowing #uclfinal #whofancieskiev #9assists #minusonegoal pic.twitter.com/niNoXBtJPv
β James Milner (@JamesMilner) May 2, 2018
Meeting Neymar
Two very different footballing worlds collided in 2018 when Milner was tasked with man-marking Neymar during a Champions League group-stage tie.
And when we say "collided", we mean "collided."
Neymar meet Milner, Milner meet Neymar πͺπ pic.twitter.com/UEz1794kOF
β Football on BT Sport π©πͺ (@btsportfootball) September 19, 2018
Isolation king
Milner emerged as a hero during the first few weeks and months of lockdown by striving to keep our collective morale up on social media.
He started by doing what anyone would do.... sorting his teabags...
Hey @Alex_OxChambo Barrels of laughs here in the Milner household as well - rationing the tea bags for the weekππ#crazydays#somuchtogetonwith#notgotthemovestocompete pic.twitter.com/WLDAJjyHOc
β James Milner (@JamesMilner) March 15, 2020
The former Leeds United player then stepped it up a notch by cutting the grass in his garden.... with a pair of scissors!
Now the tea bags are sorted I've got time to level out this lawn... wonder if I can borrow Anfield's Keep off the Grass sign π€#onebladeatatime #productiveday#snipsnip βοΈ pic.twitter.com/ap510x6mIf
β James Milner (@JamesMilner) March 17, 2020
Next up, the midfielder passed the time by sharpening his pencils.
Preparing for home school - there will be no slacking off under Mr Milner π¨βπ« βοΈ #yessir #staysharp#stayindoors pic.twitter.com/2L0snNfHY8
β James Milner (@JamesMilner) March 20, 2020
But the drama didn't end there, as Milner was sent to clean all the stones on his drive.
On to the first on my new list of chores... I'm not 100% sure but I think maybe Mrs M wants me out of the house for a while π€·π»ββοΈ#stonemethiswilltakeawhile#easytomissone #maybeifigravelshewillletmeoff#staysafe pic.twitter.com/pJpvKFHLvj
β James Milner (@JamesMilner) April 13, 2020
The Liverpool man shared several amusing snippets on Twitter but the best of the bunch was undoubtedly his pun laden "Isolation XI" team.
Unfortunately with the players back in training, the social media fun has come to an end.