Gabriel Agbonlahor to receive special service award ahead of Aston Villa exit
Villa will pay tribute to the career of Gabriel Agbonlahor by presenting the departing striker with a special service award prior to Saturday's home game against Derby.
Agbonlahor is poised to leave Villa at the end of the season, bringing to an end a 17-year association with the club he first joined as a schoolboy.
The 31-year-old will be presented with the award prior to kick-off by Villa under-23s boss Kevin MacDonald, his mentor during his early days at the club.
Agbonlahor, the club's longest-serving current player, made his senior debut in March 2006 and went on to score 87 goals in nearly 400 appearances, becoming Villa’s all-time top scorer in the Premier League.
He won three England caps in the early stages of his career and created a reputation as a big-game performer, scoring winning goals at Manchester United, Arsenal and having the decisive say in three Second City Derbies.
Yet recent years have seen a rapid decline, with Agbonlahor's relationship with supporters becoming seriously soured during the 2015-16 campaign, when Villa were relegated from the Premier League and he was forced to resign the club captaincy in disgrace.
Despite being brought back in from the cold under Steve Bruce, Agbonlahor is now well down the pecking order and unlikely to be involved against the Rams.
