Footage of Micah Richards confronting angry Aston Villa fans will always be remarkable

Cesar Azpilicueta made headlines on Wednesday night when he confronted a Chelsea fan.

While the full details of what transpired at Stamford Bridge remain unknown, the Blues skipper was seen chatting passionately with a home supporter after the 4-2 defeat to Arsenal.

It summed up a frustrating evening for the west London club with Eddie Nketiah’s brace, as well as strikes from Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka, confining them to a third home defeat in a row.

With losses having also come against Real Madrid and Brentford in the days and weeks prior, it perhaps shouldn’t been surprising that tensions ran high once the final whistle blew at the Bridge.

And it’s certainly not the first time that player-fan confrontations have caught the eye with the Azpilicueta incident reminding us of when Micah Richards went over to his own supporters.

Richards is now one of the most celebrated and recognisable pundits on UK television, but before that, he was spending the final spell of his professional football career with Aston Villa.

In fact, the former England international wore the captain’s armband at Villa Park during the infamous 2015/16 season where the club was relegated from the Premier League for the first time.

The Villans finished rock bottom of the table on just 17 points with a miserable record of three wins, eight draws and 27 defeats to rank amongst some of the division’s worst ever teams.

And the discontent around the club came to the fore in January 2016 when Villa couldn’t even beat Wycombe Wanderers, slumping to a 1-1 draw at Adams Park in the FA Cup third round.

Richards himself had actually broken the deadlock in the first-half, but a penalty from Joe Jacobson forced a replay and ensured that there was a toxic