A former captain of the club, Tommy Elphick joined Aston Villa from Bournemouth at a time when the Midlands outfit was looking to get back on it's feet. 

The club had just been relegated to the Championship after a disastrous Premier League campaign and were looking to bounce back with new manager Roberto Di Matteo and new owner Dr. Tony Xia at the helm.

Elphick was signed from the Cherries for a fee of £3 million and was immediately installed as Villa's new captain as they looked to bounce back to the top flight at the first time of asking.

The centre back became a regular for the first team during the first two months of his debut campaign before suffering an injury, before making his return and then subsequently being dropped down the pecking order by the newly installed Steve Bruce at Villa Park.

Following this, Elphick was placed on transfer list during the January window as the club looked to trim down their wage bill.

In the end the defender failed to secure a move away and stayed on as back up to Nathan Baker and James Chester.

Ahead of the following season, the centre back was linked with the likes of Birmingham City and Sunderland, however he once again failed to secure a move away, thus staying as part of the squad under Bruce.

The 34-year-old was then loaned out to Reading in January of that season, although he saw much of his time with the Royals plagued by a knee injury and only ended up making four appearances before his return to Villa.

During his final season in the Midlands, Elphick spent part of the campaign on loan at Hull City, playing 18 games for the Tigers before he once again returned to Villa Park to play 12 games before his release.

The final move of his career was to Huddersfield Town in June 2019 on a two year contract, however a further surgery on his knee restricted his game time to just 15 games before he was eventually let go upon the expiry of his deal in the May of 2021.

Elphick's father is a keen horserace owner, with the defender himself buying his first horse a few years ago, in a move that he called his release from football.

All in all his playing days will mainly be remembered for his stints with his first clubs in the form of Brighton and Hove Albion and Bournemouth, however he certainly played a small part in helping Villa to get back on their feet after being relegated.