Player #842 for Aston Villa, Ron Peter Vlaar played as a centre back for the club in Villa’s 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 Premier League campaigns, making 87 appearances and scoring twice.

Vlaar was born in Hensbroek, Holland on 16 February 1985.

Paul Lambert had signed Vlaar from Feyenoord for £3,420,000 in 1 August 2012 joining fellow ex-Feyenoord player and new arrival Karim El Ahmadi to the club. His recruitment was a rare bright spot in the Lambert era that was notable for his signing of players that were of insufficient quality to succeed in top flight football, including El Ahmadi. Indeed Vlaar was signed in the hope he would be a new Mellberg, however in so many ways he was not. Admittedly Vlaar had the misfortune to play for Villa during the bewildering Lambert regime but his decision to make himself a free agent and rejoin his boyhood club AZ Alkmaar raised eyebrows almost as much as his sometimes seemingly absent minded defending. In truth there was always the feeling that Vlaar didn’t really want to be there as some of his performances clearly betrayed.

Lambert handed Vlaar his debut aged 27 in the opening game of the 2012-13 season in Villa’s 0-1 defeat to West Ham United on Saturday, 18 August 2012 and he went on to feature in Villa’s first 13 Premier League squads of the season before injury struck and ruled him out until the new year.

During his initial 14 game spell in the side Villa had lost seven, drawn four and won just three as the tempo of life under Lambert was being set. On Vlaar’s return to the side in January 2013, Villa had just emerged from a torrid period, suffering their worst ever defeat 0-8, and subsequent 0-4 and 0-3 losses, before a couple of narrow defeats on the eve of Vlaar’s recovery.

Apart from another short injury spell, Vlaar was ever present to the end of the 2012-13 campaign, making 16 starts however Villa’s form hardly improved, underlining the fact that their problems under Lambert went far deeper than missing one or two key players. Villa failed to win 11 games, losing seven and only the goals of Christian Benteke kept them in the top flight at the end of Vlaar’s first season. Indeed Vlaar's goals helped too, scoring the opening goal in the crucial home victory over Sunderland on Monday, 29 April 2013 - that all but secured Villa’s Premier League survival for 2013-14 - before adding his second, and final, goal for Villa in the final day draw at Wigan Athletic.

For 2013-14 Vlaar was once again a regular starter under Lambert and once again suffered a number of injury absences through the season but of a much shorter duration than in the previous campaign. In total Vlaar made 34 appearances but the season very much followed the pattern of 2012-13 with Villa once again consistently losing and needing a win in the final home game of the season to secure their safety.

With a misfiring forward line, powderpuff midfield and porous defence of which Vlaar was the leader, 20 league defeats in 38 games and 61 goals conceded - the worst outside of the relegated clubs - there was little to be confident about for 2014-15.

2014-15 saw Lambert still in post and Villa weakened further. Once again Vlaar would go missing with injury at critical points of the season - missing at least four games on four different occasions - as major question marks continued over his commitment.

With Lambert finally sacked in February 2015 and his successor Tim Sherwood in place Vlaar would play the final 9 games of the ekeing out 3 narrow league wins that saved Villa’s Premier League status once again. Vlaar would also play in the semi final of the FA Cup to help Villa overcome Liverpool at Wembley.

However across his final 9 games for the club, whilst running down his contract to secure a free transfer away from the club in July 2015, Vlaar’s defence conceded 20 goals. Mellberg he was not.