Joleon Lescott

Joleon Lescott

Lescott with England at UEFA Euro 2012
Personal information
Full name	Joleon Patrick Lescott[1]
Date of birth	(1982-08-16) 16 August 1982[1]
Place of birth	Birmingham, England
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[2][3]
Playing position	Centre back
Club information
Current club	Manchester City
Number	6
Youth career
1999–2001	Wolverhampton Wanderers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2000–2006	Wolverhampton Wanderers	169	(8)
2006–2009	Everton	113	(14)
2009–	Manchester City	105	(7)
National team‡
2000	England U17	1	(0)
	England U18	2	(0)
2002	England U20	5	(0)
2002–2003	England U21	2	(0)
2007	England B	1	(0)
2007–	England	26	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:01, 20 January 2014 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20:29, 26 March 2013

Joleon Patrick Lescott (born 16 August 1982) is an English footballer, who plays for Manchester City and the England national football team. He plays as a centre-back, though he has played in various other positions across the defensive line, including left-back. Born in Birmingham, Lescott is a graduate of the Wolverhampton Wanderers youth academy. He made his first team debut with Wolves in 2000 and he was named the supporters' Young Player of the Year two years running. By 2002 he was a first team regular, playing in most Wolves' games.

The team was promoted to the FA Premier League in 2003 but a knee injury ruled him out for the season and the team was relegated. He was named in the Championship team of the year for the 2005–06 season. He moved to Premier League side Everton and made his debut in August 2006. He was voted player's Player of the Season by his teammates in the following two seasons. In 2007–08, he scored 10 goals for the team, including 8 in the Premier League. Lescott completed his move to Manchester City on 25 August 2009. Internationally, Lescott represented England at various youth levels before making his first team debut in 2007 against Estonia in the Euro 2008 qualifiers.

Early life

Lescott grew up in the Quinton area of Birmingham where he attended the Four Dwellings High School in Quinton, the area in which his mother still lives. Lescott grew up supporting Aston Villa.^[4] When he was five years old, Lescott was struck by a car, suffering severe head injuries leaving scarring on his forehead.^[5]

Club career

Wolverhampton Wanderers

His first-team debut came as a 17-year-old in the 2000–01 season against Sheffield Wednesday at Molineux on 13 August 2000. At the end of his first season, Lescott was named the Supporters' Young Player of the Year by the Wolves' fans; an award he also won in the subsequent 2001–02 season.

Lescott started to become a regular fixture in the Wolves' team. During the 2002–03 season he missed only one league match and played in each of the club's FA Cup fixtures. He was also a member of the team that defeated Sheffield United 3–0 at the Millennium Stadium to win promotion to the FA Premier League for the 2003–04 season. Lescott declared this to be the proudest moment of his career.^{[citation needed]}

Despite Wolves gaining promotion, Lescott along with Matt Murray was unable to participate in the 2003–04 season due to knee surgery, preventing him from competing in the Premier League. Wolves were subsequently relegated and, upon completing his rehabilitation, Lescott returned to compete in the Championship.

In October 2005, Lescott agreed a two-and-a-half-year extension to his contract at Wolves. At the conclusion of the 2005–06 season, he was named in the Championship team of the season, voted for by his fellow professionals, and also picked up the Wolves' Player of the Year award.

Everton

Lescott at Everton

Lescott was sold to Everton at the start of the 2006–07 season for an immediate payment of £2 million, followed by a further £2 million paid in instalments and a final £1 million contingent on appearances.^[6] The transfer was slightly delayed as Everton asked for extra medical checks to be taken on Lescott's knee following the reconstruction of the joint earlier in his career. Lescott made his Everton debut in August 2006 during a victory over Watford and his first start of the season away to Tottenham Hotspur, after Alan Stubbs injured his groin in the previous game against Blackburn Rovers. The game was Everton's first victory at White Hart Lane in two decades, and Lescott was named man of the match.^{[citation needed]} Lescott started again in the next match, the 204th Merseyside derby, a 3–0 victory for Everton. Lescott's first Everton goal came in a 1–1 draw against Aston Villa at Villa Park on 2 April 2007. Lescott was voted the Players' Player of the Season 2006–07 by his teammates.^[7] He also finished a very close second behind Mikel Arteta in the fans Player of the Season.^{[citation needed]}

The start of the 2007–08 season saw Lescott score three goals in the first eight games of the season. He did not quite manage to continue scoring at that rate, but he ended the campaign with 10 goals in all competitions and the highest shot-to-goal ratio in the Premier League: 42.1%.^[8]

On 8 May 2008, at the end of season awards, Lescott was voted Everton's Player of the Year and Players Player of the Year.^[9] Prior to the final home game of the season against Newcastle, on 11 May 2008, Lescott was also awarded the Player of the Year award by the Everton Disabled Supporters Association. The EDSA labelled Lescott "Mr Consistency" for his performances over the 2007–08 season. He is also only the second Everton player to have ever been awarded the honour twice.^[10]

The start of the 2007–08 season saw Lescott move to the left-back position after Joseph Yobo and Phil Jagielka's successful partnership at the centre of Everton's defence provided manager David Moyes with a selection dilemma. On 7 December 2008 Lescott played superbly against Aston Villa scoring two goals, even though Everton lost 3–2.^[11]

On 25 January 2009, Lescott scored Everton's only goal – a close-range header – in the FA Cup 4th Round meeting with Liverpool. The match ended as a 1–1 draw,^[12] but Everton went through by scoring the replay's only goal in extra-time on 4 February. Lescott later played in the FA Cup final for Everton on 30 May, resulting in a 2–1 defeat to Chelsea.

Following the end of the 2008–09 season, Manchester City attempted to sign Lescott, but Everton publicly rejected 2 offers from the club. On 11 August 2009, Lescott submitted a formal written transfer request, which was immediately rejected by Everton. Manager David Moyes refused a request from Lescott to be taken out of the squad for the first home game of the season, a 6–1 defeat to Arsenal. Lescott received a mixed reaction from Evertonians when the teams were announced on the PA system.

David Moyes then revealed that he had taken Lescott out of the squad for the midweek Europa league game due to 'bad attitude'. He claimed his head had been turned and that Manchester City's public pursuit of Lescott had disrupted Everton. Powerless to keep hold of an unhappy player, Lescott was sold to Manchester City for £24 million much to the anger of Evertonians who had taken Lescott to their heart. Lescott has received abuse from Evertonian's since his move, highlighted in April 2011 when Lescott played at Goodison for the first time since his move and was met with boos and anti Lescott songs from the terraces.

Manchester City

Lescott playing for Manchester City in November 2010 against Lech Poznań.

The ongoing saga finally came to an end when Lescott moved to Manchester City for a fee speculated to be £22 million^[13][14] with Lescott signing a five-year contract with the club on 25 August 2009.^[15] Lescott made his debut for City on 27 August in a 2–0 League Cup away victory over Crystal Palace^[16] and scored his first City goal in a 2–2 draw with Fulham on 25 October 2009.^[17] Lescott's first season and a half proved to be a frustrating time for the defender with him struggling to find the form he had shown at Everton, along with picking up a number of injuries, which included re-injuring his knee after hyper-extending it in a 3–3 away draw with Bolton Wanderers. Pundits and journalists alike felt Lescott was finding the pressure of performing after the big fee City had spent to bring him to the club difficult.^[18][19] Roberto Mancini replaced Mark Hughes as manager in December 2009 and preferred Lescott after his return from injury to Kolo Touré to partner the fast improving Vincent Kompany for a few months which in this time, including an impressive 4–2 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in March 2010. With Lescott finally showing good form he would once again find himself frustrated after picking up another niggling injury, which would see him struggle to get back into the side in his preferred central defensive role for the foreseeable future.

On 28 December 2010, Lescott scored a header, City's first of the season, in the 4–0 victory over Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium, but during the January 2011 transfer window, with Lescott making few first team appearances during the first half of the 2010–11 season, there was speculation that he would be moving back to Wolverhampton Wanderers on loan, Roberto Mancini however continually insisted that Lescott was a part of his plans. In February 2011 Kolo Touré was suspended for failing a drug test, this would represent a huge opportunity for Lescott who was reinstalled as the partner of Vincent Kompany in central defence. Lescott went from strength to strength as the two formed a formidable defensive partnership. On 17 April 2011, he started and played the full 90 minutes against Manchester United in the 1–0 FA Cup semi-final victory at Wembley Stadium as City reached their first major-final since 1981. On 25 April, eight days after that win over their rivals, Lescott partnered Vincent Kompany again in an important game vs. Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park and completing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 win, also making his 30th appearance of the season for City in the process.^[20][21] Lescott was part of the Manchester City team that won the FA Cup, beating Stoke City 1–0 in the final at Wembley and ending a 35-year wait for a major trophy in the process. He would also score two more headers in the final two games of the season, in a 3–0 win against Stoke three days later and also against Bolton Wanderers in a 2–0 win, as City ended the season in third position and qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time.

On 7 August 2011, in the 2011 FA Community Shield, Lescott scored in a 2–3 loss against Manchester United, this would prove to be City's last defeat on English soil until a 2–1 defeat by Chelsea on 12 December, during this time Lescott firmly established himself as a vital part of the team in defence, as City recorded incredible 5–1 and 6–1 away victories over Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United respectively, in which Lescott started both, and assisted a goal in the victory over United. Lescott scored an own-goal in a 1–1 draw with Liverpool at Anfield in November but has continued to show strong form throughout the season on the whole as City have gone on to make their strongest ever start to a season, breaking a number of Premier League records in the process. Lescott also made his Champions League début against S.S.C. Napoli, City however failed to progress past the group stages after away defeats to Napoli and Bayern Munich in Group A, finishing third and dropping into the Europa League as a result. On 22 January 2012, he scored a goal in a 3–2 win against Tottenham, giving City a 2–0 lead at the time.^[22] On 12 February 2012, he scored a winning goal against boyhood club Aston Villa in a 1–0 win.

International career

Lescott lining up against Switzerland in a Euro 2012 Qualifying match, 9 September 2010

Lescott has represented England at Under-18, Under-20, Under-21 and England B levels. After his first season for Everton, Lescott made his England B debut against Albania at Burnley's Turf Moor on 25 May 2007, he replaced Reading's Nicky Shorey in the 73rd minute.^[23]

On 3 September 2007, Lescott received a call-up to Steve McClaren's England squad for the Euro 2008 qualifiers with Israel and Russia.^[24] Lescott made his international senior debut against Estonia on 13 October 2007 – replacing Rio Ferdinand at half-time – with England winning 3–0. His second cap – and first start – was the Euro 2008 qualifier against Russia, which England lost 2–1. On 16 November Lescott made his second international start against Austria in a friendly, England won the game 1–0 and Lescott made a composed performance at the heart of defence.

Lescott made his first England appearance under the management of Fabio Capello on 26 March 2008 in a friendly match against France, coming on as a substitute at half time for the skipper John Terry. He made two appearances in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup, but injury prevented him from being part of the squad for the finals.^[25] Lescott was a regular member of the England squad during qualification for Euro 2012, and was named in Roy Hodgson's 23-man squad for the tournament.^[26] On 11 June 2012 he scored his first international goal for England with a header against France in England's opening game of Euro 2012.^[27]

International Caps

As of 26 March 2013.

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	11 June 2012	Donbass Arena, Donetsk, Ukraine	France	1–0	1–1	UEFA Euro 2012

Career statistics

* Appearance & goal in 2011 FA Community Shield

Honours

Wolverhampton Wanderers

• Football League First Division play-offs: 2002–03

Manchester City

• Premier League: 2011–12
• FA Cup: 2010–11

Personal life

In April 2012, Lescott, his brother, Aaron Lescott, and Coventry City defender Jordan Stewart launched a fashion line of high end designer clothes called "The Lescott Stewart Collection."^[29] Lescott is a cousin of British boxer Brian Rose. The pair were featured together on Sky Sports' Ringside programme in April 2013.

References

External links

• Joleon Lescott career stats at Soccerbase
• Profile on Official Manchester City Website
• Premier League profile
• England Stats at the FA
• England U21 stats at England Football Online

v t e England squad – UEFA Euro 2012 1 Hart 2 Johnson 3 Cole 4 Gerrard (c) 5 Kelly 6 Terry 7 Walcott 8 Henderson 9 Carroll 10 Rooney 11 Young 12 Baines 13 Green 14 Jones 15 Lescott 16 Milner 17 Parker 18 Jagielka 19 Downing 20 Chamberlain 21 Defoe 22 Welbeck 23 Butland Coach: Hodgson