Joleon Lescott is a defender for England and Everton in the English Premier League. Lescott can play in the centre of defence, using his experience and ability to block opposition’s attacks, but favours playing as the team’s left-back, allowing him to burst forwards and get into the box more often. Lescott has been used at both centre and left-back by England boss Fabio Capello, but faces strong competition for both spots in the first-team.
Lescott was born on 16th August 1982 in Birmingham, England. He spent his childhood days playing football with older brother Aaron (who is also a professional footballer), and watching Match of the Day. He was knocked over in a car accident when he was still just a boy, but thankfully made a full recovery, though some scars are still visible today. He was scouted by local club Wolverhampton Wanderers as a thirteen year old, and whilst it took him some time to adjust to the pressures of training, he signed for the club at the earliest possible opportunity – on his 17th birthday.
Lescott was thrown in at the deep end at Wolves, with Joleon making his debut and then cementing his place in the first team when he was just 19 years old. He was voted Supporter’s Player of the Year, having won the fans over with his no-nonsense tackling and reliability at the heart of the defence.
After just 3 seasons in the Championship, Lescott was one of the key men when Wolves won the Playoff Final, and promotion to the Premiership. Sadly, his dreams of playing against the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United weren’t to come true just yet – with a knee injury costing him a whole season. The side badly missed him, and they were relegated back to the Championship.
Lescott played for another two seasons, helping Wolves reach the playoffs but they never won promotion again. Despite being very happy at the club, he moved on when the chance to play at the highest level came up.
Joleon Lescott joined David Moyes’ Everton in August 2006, for a fee that could rise to £5m. He was played at left-back by the fiery Scottish manager, and excelled. He was reliable at the back, great at getting challenges in when they need to be mad, and was a real favourite of the fans, who saw Lescott as one of themselves on the pitch – never stopping running, and pitching in with some important goals along the way.
He was voted the Player’s Player of the Year in his first season, and also won his first call-up to the England national side. He has been a fixture in the Everton first-team since, with his versatility allowing coach Moyes to play him at left-back or centre-back. His aerial prowess deserves a mention – he has a habit of scoring important headed goals from last-ditch corners and free-kicks.
Joleon Lescott was first called up to the England side by Steve McLaren, but has continued to be a regular squad player since Capello took over. He made his debut in October 2007, against Estonia, and is a more-than-adequate reserve defender should either of the established centre-backs Rio Ferdinand or John Terry be unavailable.