Micah Richards reveals 'truth' behind Joleon Lescott's car tweet in 2016 | OneFootball

Do you remember Joleon Lescott’s infamous car tweet? It’s a social media post that will stand the test of time thanks to its obscurity and the mysterious nature behind it. The former Manchester City defender, over the years, has stood firm that the post was ‘accidental’ – but many people still hold doubts to this day.

It was 2016 and Aston Villa – home to both Lescott and Micah Richards at the time – had just come off the back of a chastening 6-0 defeat to Liverpool. Divock Origi, Nathaniel Clyne and Kolo Toure were just three of the players to get on the scoresheet for the Merseysiders and the Villa Park faithful were doubtlessly irked by the nature of the loss, especially with them dwelling at rock bottom of the Premier League.

The majority of professional footballers, who are paid ungodly amounts of money, would have travelled home, head in hands, and reflected on the defeat. In doing so, an array of measures would spring to mind ensuring that it doesn’t happen again. But not Lescott. Instead, the defender-turned-pundit thought it would be the perfect opportunity to take to social media to post a photo of a really expensive car – in particular, the Mercedes-AMG S 63 Coupe, which had a value of £121,690.

Villa fans were quick to call the former England international ‘disrespectful’ for his seemingly out-of-touch post, but Lescott was equally sharp in defending himself as he issued an apology but did claim that the tweet was, unusually, sent from his pocket while behind the wheel of his car.

Richards reveals 'truth' to Lescott claim

‘How he described it was something ridiculous’

The idea that he posted the picture while driving, of course, seems untrue, especially after falling at the hands of the Reds thrashing. Richards, who played 100 games with Lescott during his playing days, spoke to podcast co-hosts Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker about the incident and backed up his former teammate and compatriot.

Jokingly stating that he was at fault for at least three of the goals during their heavy loss, the lovable pundit revealed that he was with Lescott on the way back to their homes in Manchester and admitted that he was, in fact, telling the truth about the infamous - and quite unbelievable - story, one that still comes to fore every now and again eight years on.

After blaming old school Twitter, Richards went on to explain that Lescott’s ownership of a car company meant that he could source his teammates new vehicles for prices lower than what someone would typically pay and, therefore, the infamous picture of the swish motor was already prepared to send to one of the Villa lads.

After years of uncertainty, it seems as if Lescott’s long-term pal has put any rumours of misinterpretation to bed given that he was present when the tweet, which has since amassed thousands of interactions, was posted. The likes of Wayne Rooney and Victor Waynama have sent the football community into wildfire with their funny posts in recent years, but it seems as if Lescott has good reasoning behind his – with confirmation from the one and only Richards.

Lescott received huge backlash for tweet

He later explained his reasoning on Twitter

As expected, Lescott drew ridicule from angry Villa supporters after the picture, which has still not been deleted. The cynical minded out of the bunch believed that the image of the car was a sly dig towards the Villa faithful, who had shown little to no encouragement over the entire 90 minutes of action against the Reds.

In the wake of the online concern over Lescott’s post, he took to Twitter – again – to alleviate any untruths about the post. Kicking things off by apologising for the unworthy performance against a Premier League heavyweight, Lescott insisted that Liverpool were the better team but he – alongside his teammates – took full responsibility for the loss.

He then went on to add a little extra at the end, referencing the earlier post from his account. While not offering an apology, Lescott gave the reason behind the post and suggested that it was ‘totally accidental’ as it was sent with his phone in his pocket all while driving - but his admittance was still not enough for some of the loyal Aston Villa fanbase.

Lescott’s career for club and country

Birmingham-born, the 26-cap England international emerged from the Wolverhampton Wanderers youth ranks and, in 2006, he went on to break his senior duck at his boyhood club. After making his first appearance for the first team, he went on to become a nailed-on starter, accruing 227 games – the most he made for any team.

A three-year stint at Everton followed before he joined Manchester City in the summer of 2009, where he spent five years, totting up 160 games on the blue side of the football-mad city. Spells at West Bromwich Albion, AEK Athens and Aston Villa then came next for the centre-back with his legs seemingly aging.

Interestingly, Lescott’s loss against Liverpool was one of his 31-game tenure at Villa Park, which just goes to prove that his position in the heart of the Villans defence was never secure. To top off a respectable career, most notably in England’s top tier, he spent a six-month stint at Sunderland before calling it a day after just 123 minutes of action at the Stadium of Light.

As mentioned, Lescott represented England on 26 different occasions, with his first appearances for the Three Lions coming in October 2007, while plying his trade for the Toffees, under former England boss Steve McClaren. He may have never become a tried and trusted option with the likes of Rio Ferdinand and John Terry ahead of him in the pecking order, but he was reliable during his pomp.