'He Deserves Recognition' - Joleon Lescott Reveals His Pick For The Premier League Hall Of Fame

Joleon Lescott has called for former Manchester City teammate Gareth Barry to be inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame.

The Premier League launched the Hall of Fame in April last year and set out to recognise the careers of many of the top-flight's greatest ever players.

Alan Shearer and Thierry Henry were the inaugural inductees, while Eric Cantona, Roy Keane, Frank Lampard, Dennis Bergkamp, Steven Gerrard, Patrick Vieira and Wayne Rooney have also joined the club in recent times.

Six more will soon join the party, with fans able to have their say from a star-studded 25-man shortlist .

Lescott's former City colleagues Vincent Kompany and Sergio Aguero are in the mix but he believes Barry, the all-time Premier League appearance holder, should go in.

Image: PA

Speaking to SPORTbible, Lescott said: “It's always difficult, this. I always like to know what the criteria is. What is the criteria for getting in there? Because the range of player, position and qualifications varies.  

“I always say Gareth Barry should be in there. He’s played the most games – more than anyone else – Shearer's in there because he scored the most goals. 

“He didn’t just make appearances by the way. I think he’s played 600 and something games and 94 per cent of them were starts. He deserves recognition for that because I don’t think that gets beaten either. 

“I think James Milner would arguably be the closest but to play what it equates to – 17 seasons – consecutive seasons without missing a game – is a remarkable achievement.”

Image: PA

Barry played 365 times in the Premier League for Aston Villa, captaining the club. He then signed for City in 2009 and racked 132 appearances in the league, winning the Premier League and FA Cup before moving to Everton.

He finished on 635, breaking Ryan Giggs' record in the 2017/2018 campaign while playing for West Brom.

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Topics: Manchester City, Premier League

Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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