John Terry has announced his retirement from playing after leaving Aston Villa at the end of last season.
Here, Press Association Sport looks at five things you may not have heard about the former England defender.
Direction
In June 2014, keen golfer Terry teamed up with Sky pundit Jamie Redknapp to take on Niall Horan from boyband One Direction and former Chelsea team-mate Andriy Shevchenko at Wisley golf course in Surrey. The pre-season tussle saw Terry and Redknapp get the better of the pop pin-up and former Chelsea forward, who went on to become a semi-professional golfer. Terry was persuaded to join Aston Villa by then-manager Steve Bruce during a round of golf in the Algarve. The Blues skipper also struck up a friendship with Australian snooker player Neil Robertson when the former world number one visited Cobham training ground for a game of pool. Robertson claimed Terry was “a lot better” than he expected after losing the first frame. A man of many talents.
Terry the Terrier
Terry spent virtually the whole of his career at Chelsea, joining Villa for one season in July 2017 having also enjoyed a two-month loan at Nottingham Forest in 2000. But did you know Bruce was on the verge of taking the defender to Huddersfield in 2000? It was while a 19-year-old Terry was at the City Ground and Bruce was in the process of doing his Football Association coaching badges. Bruce told the Guardian in an interview eight years ago: “I bid £750,000 for him, it was a lot of money for me then, and Chelsea accepted it. But the boy didn’t want to leave Stamford Bridge at the time. I was close, but at the death he didn’t want to go.”
Dad of the Year
Terry has posted many a picture of himself with his kids on his Instagram account over the years, and why shouldn’t he? He was, after all, named Dad of the Year in 2009. The former England skipper topped a poll run by Daddies Sauce to win the sought-after accolade, beating off stiff competition in the form of Peter Andre and then-PM Gordon Brown. After winning the award, Terry said: “I have won many trophies in my career but I’m proud to say that this is up there with all of them.” Terry narrowly missed the birth of twins Georgie and Summer, despite a frantic rush from an England training camp in Portugal.
Better the Red Devil you know
Chelsea stalwart Terry was a Manchester United fan growing up and has nothing but praise for the club’s former manager Sir Alex Ferguson. In an interview with the Guardian in 2006 the centre-back revealed he supported United as a boy as “you want to support the team that’s winning everything”. He quickly covered his back, adding: “But my first day at Chelsea I knew that was the club I wanted to be at. I just loved it.” Sir Alex took Terry under his wing when he went up to Manchester to train with United’s kids before signing for the Blues. He played for a Ferguson side in a Unicef charity game organised by David Beckham and captained the Carrick All-Stars in Michael Carrick’s testimonial.
An internet sensation
One thing you probably do know about Terry – but it is worth reminding ourselves – is that he caused an internet sensation back in 2012. Picture the scene. Chelsea had just won the Champions League final by beating German giants Bayern Munich 4-3 on penalties following a 1-1 draw after extra time. Terry, who was suspended for the game, appeared on the pitch to lift the trophy inexplicably decked out in his full Chelsea kit – including shinpads. He was mercilessly lampooned on social media via a series of memes which included Terry gatecrashing the moon landing and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding and also holding up a tank in Tiananmen Square, all in full kit. Despite being suspended, Leicester’s Robert Huth celebrated his side’s title win in 2016 by putting on his kit and tweeting: “Going full John Terry today!! #fullkit #LCFC.”
