Player #884 for Aston Villa, Joleon Patrick Lescott, played as a centre back for the club in 2015-16, making 31 appearances and scoring once.

Lescott was born in Birmingham on 16 August 1982 and was signed from West Bromwich Albion for €1.40m on 1 September 2015.

Lescott was one of a series of controversial signings undertaken ostensibly under the leadership of Tim Sherwood but in truth driven by the sheer idiocy of Sporting Director Hendrik Almstadt and Director of Scouting and Recruitment Paddy Riley. Two names that would be painted into Villa folklore for their footballing illiteracy and ultimate responsibility for Villa’s first relegation in three decades.

Lescott’s arrival was one of several sub-standard Villa signings that maligned the club throughout the 2015-16 campaign and drove Villa to their first relegation in nearly 30 years. Players such as Lescott, Micah Richards, Jordan Veretout, Jordan Ayew, Rudy Gestede, Adama Traoré and José Ángel Crespo were brought to the club despite being nowhere near the standard required for a top-flight player, and a woefully run Villa paid the inevitable price.

Lescott made his debut appearance aged 33 on Sunday, 13 September 2015, as an attacking Villa side, two goals to the good, surrendered defensively to lose 2-3 to Leicester City. That, sadly, was a sign of things to come for a Villa side with Lescott foremost and central in the defence.

Taken in the round - on and off field performance, behaviour, playing reputation, previous antics when playing against Villa and a questionable attitude - there is little question Lescott stood as Villa’s worst ever signing in 127 seasons of football.

Indeed, Lescott was almost single-handedly culpable for the huge disconnect that grew between the fans and the club during the wretched 2015-16 season.

Seemingly, there was no situation that Lescott couldn’t make worse.

Over the years, Lescott had demonstrated his disdain for Villa as an opposition player. It was therefore unfathomable why anyone at the club thought bringing an ageing centre back of questionable character and a history of fractious behaviour into the club was a good idea, merely underlining how badly the club was being run.

Lescott’s breathtaking arrogance was a low point in Villa’s history and football in general.

Lescott’s record across his 31 appearances was 22 defeats, 6 draws and 3 wins, one of which came against lower league opposition in Birmingham City.

The sole positive from Lescott’s time with Villa was that he spent just a single season with the club.

Villa, though, in a weird way, probably owes Lescott a debt of gratitude, so pathetic was his presence that the club realised they could never make that sort of mistake again - a catalytic recognition in the rebirth of the club taken almost to the point of extinction by Lescott and his cronies.

Lescott made his final appearance for Villa on Sunday, 15 May 2016, aged 33, before being released in August 2016. He doesn’t visit Villa Park.