Wilfred Milne is an English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 former professional footballer. A one-club man, Milne spent his entire professional career with Swansea Town

Swansea City A.F.C.

Swansea City Association Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. One of the most successful clubs in Welsh football, it has won 10 Welsh Cups and led the English Football League First Division in December 1981, before finishing the season in 6th position...

 where he holds the club record for most appearances in the Football League.

Career

After winning the Northumberland Senior Cup, Milne signed for Swansea Town

Swansea City A.F.C.

Swansea City Association Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. One of the most successful clubs in Welsh football, it has won 10 Welsh Cups and led the English Football League First Division in December 1981, before finishing the season in 6th position...

 in May 1920 from local junior side Walker Celtic for the price of a fish tea and a cup of tea (2/9d). Manchester United

Manchester United F.C.

Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

 and West Ham United

West Ham United F.C.

West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...

 were also interested in the player at the time. He did not play in the clubs' first game in the Football League at Portsmouth

Portsmouth F.C.

Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...

, but six games later replaced the injured William Ogley at left back. He became the clubs' first choice left back for the next sixteen seasons, making at least 30 league appearances in thirteen of those seasons, and was ever present in the 1930–31 season.

Milne scored his first Swansea goal on his 501st appearance for the club, a penalty, and went on to score a further six goals. His is final two appearances for Swansea came in the 1936–37 season as an emergency goalkeeper, replacing the injured Stan Moore for games against Leicester City

Leicester City F.C.

Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...

 and Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest F.C.

Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...

. At the age of 38 he was released at the end of that season, and joined Milford United as player-manager, but only lasted half a season before returning to Swansea. He died in Swansea in November 1977.

Milne played a total of 586 league games while at Swansea, which is a record to this day, while only two other players have managed to top 500. Roger Freestone

Roger Freestone

Roger Freestone is a former Wales international Goalkeeper.-Club career:Born in Caerleon, near Newport, Monmouthshire, Freestone began his career at Newport County as a trainee before moving to Chelsea in 1987 for £95,000...

 made more appearances in all competitions for the Swans, however he played in a number of competitions that weren't invented in Milne's day, notably the Football League Cup

Football League Cup

The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...

, Football League Trophy

Football League Trophy

The Football League Trophy, currently known as the Johnstone's Paint Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football knock-out competition open to the 48 clubs in Football League One and Football League Two, the bottom two divisions in the four fully professional top...

, European Cup Winners' Cup

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions. The cup is one of the many inter-European club competitions that have been organised by UEFA. The first competition was held in the 1960–61 season—but...

 and the Football League play-offs

Football League Play-Offs

The Football League play-offs are an annual series of football matches to determine some of the promotion places within the Football League. Essentially, each division of the league offers a certain number of automatic promotion places to the top two or three clubs. A further promotion place is...

.