During the 1990s, David Unsworth was a real favourite of the Everton faithful.
Although he had been born in Chorley, having risen through the ranks at Goodison Park, he was an adopted Blue.
He was a strong and dependable defender, who possessed an eye for goal and was part of the squad that won the FA Cup at the expense of Manchester United in 1995.
It meant that his move to West Ham United in the summer of 1997 was met with large amounts of disappointment by supporters. The full-back made 41 appearances for the Hammers during that season, but his family had failed to settle in the capital and so another move, this time to Aston Villa, was on the cards.
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However, with his family back in Merseyside, Unsworth soon concluded that the commute to and from Birmingham was too much and so after just over a month at Villa Park, he handed in a transfer request.
Thankfully for the one-time England international, Everton were willing to match the £3m that Villa parted with to sign him from West Ham, which in turn allowed him to seal a return to his more comfortable surroundings on this very day 15 years ago without having ever pulled on a Villa shirt.
He would go on to make 188 Premier League appearances during his second stint with the Toffees, scoring on 23 occasions, including the first of David Moyes's tenure against Fulham in March 2002.
Rhino, as he was nicknamed by Everton fans, was released by the club in 2004 and prior to his retirement five years later, he had spells with Portsmouth, Ipswich Town, Sheffield United, Wigan Athletic, Burnley and Huddersfield Town.
Liam Apicella
