Looking back on John Terry’s time with Chelsea FC, The Rock of London

Looking back on John Terry’s time with Chelsea FC, The Rock of London

The Hard Tackle pays respect to a famous Blues career that, despite its moments of success, was not without its struggles as John Terry appears to be saying goodbye to Chelsea.

John Terry leaving Chelsea at the beginning of this season was the furthest thing from anyone’s thinking. At Stamford Bridge, the recently crowned English champions’ home, everything was perfect. There was never a sign that Terry wouldn’t retire as a Chelsea player during his more than 21 years at the team.

The Chelsea supporters were shocked by the Blues captain’s declaration in January 2016, which called attention to what appeared to be the premature, if inevitable, conclusion to a famous career.

2000–2004: Exciting new developments
Late January 1998, John Terry made his League Cup debut against Aston Villa. He then made occasional appearances for Gianluca Vialli before briefly joining Nottingham Forest on loan. He made his debut for the first team in 2000–01 under Claudio Ranieri, who gave him 22 Premier League starts in a campaign in which the 20-year-old won the club’s Player of the Year award.

It would be the start of a string of successes.

As Ranieri depended on his collaboration with then-captain Marcel Desailly to orchestrate Chelsea’s transformation from a stylish mid-table side to a Champions League team that meant business, Terry’s significance to the team increased. When Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich acquired the club in 2003, they received a huge boost. Terry’s debut for England against Serbia and Montenegro in June made it an important year in his international career as well.

For the first time in Premier League history, Chelsea finished ahead of defending champions Manchester United in the next season. They also defeated Premier League unbeatable Arsenal on their way to the club’s first Champions League semifinal.

Terry replaced Sol Campbell as England’s starting center-back at the end of the season, making his first of four appearances in the PFA Team of the Year. He then traveled to Portugal for the European Championships.

Jose Mourinho, the Old Guard, and Success from 2004 to 2007
Jose Mourinho was hired by Chelsea in the summer of 2004. He had recently won a treble with FC Porto, an underdog team, and was eager to take on bigger challenges. As Chelsea began its greatest successful era in club history, the 23-year-old Terry was appointed captain. In the three seasons that followed, Chelsea won two league cups, two Premier League championships, and the FA Cup, thanks in large part to the ‘old guard’ of John Terry, Frank Lampard, Peter Cech, and Didier Drogba.

During this time, Terry also won a number of individual honors. The first defender to receive the honor since Paul McGrath in 1993, he was named PFA Player of the Year in 2005. In 2005, he made his first of five straight appearances in the FIFPro World XI and his first of four in the UEFA Team of the Year.

For the second time in his career, he was chosen as Chelsea’s Player of the Year in 2006. The Chelsea captain was chosen as England’s captain by England manager Steve Mc Claren, who was hired following a disappointing 2006 World Cup.

Without a doubt, Terry was suddenly among the best in football.

There would, however, be more trying times.

Moscow, Ovrebo, and another title from 2007 to 2011
After a dispute with the club board, Mourinho left in September 2007. The season itself held great promise, but Chelsea’s team was dejected three times as the League Cup, Premier League, and Champions League titles went to other teams.

Terry was left with no one but himself to blame for the European Cup in particular when he slipped for the key penalty, a moment he has vowed will haunt him forever. The following season, Tom Henning Ovrebo had a refereeing performance to forget at Stamford Bridge, handing Barcelona a spot in the final and ultimately the trophy. This caused more European agony for Chelsea and Terry.

2007–11: Ovrebo, Moscow, and a different title
Mourinho left the club in September 2007 after having a disagreement with the board. The season itself held great promise but disappointed a Chelsea team on three separate occasions as they watched the League Cup, Premier League, and Champions League trophies fall to other teams.

Terry was solely responsible for the European Cup after slipping and giving up the key penalty, an incident he has vowed will haunt him forever. The next year, Barcelona won the title and Barcelona’s referee Tom Henning Ovrebo delivered a refereeing performance to forget at Stamford Bridge, causing fresh European sorrow for Chelsea and Terry.

2010–13: Are we done?
However, the subsequent time was not favorable for Chelsea or their captain. The squad failed to win any trophies at the end of the 2010–11 campaign, and Carlo Ancelotti was fired as a result. It was the first of two occasions in Terry’s tenure that his side would have a disastrous season after a stellar one, and it also represented the first attempt to gradually remove him from the first team.

Andre Villas-Boas, the new manager, tried to create a high defensive line, but it frequently left Terry exposed. As a result, the young Portuguese manager had to resort to using speedier defenders to carry out his scheme. Additionally, he was keen to replace Didier Drogba with Fernando Torres and employ Frank Lampard less frequently.

These were difficult decisions that had disappointing outcomes and led to his termination. Another personal transgression by Terry—mouthing racial epithets at Anton Ferdinand of QPR—cost him a lengthy suspension and damaged his reputation in the England team nearly irreparably.

Roberto Di Matteo, Chelsea’s interim manager, restored the old guard, and as a result, Chelsea won its first Champions League.

After EURO 2012, Terry ceased playing for the international team, allowing him to concentrate on his club career. However, Rafael Benitez’s administration saw more rotation because Terry was primarily used in lower-stakes contests. Because his reputation among Chelsea supporters could not have gotten any worse, he could do this with a fair amount of impunity.

But it seemed like the writing was on the wall. The skipper had been out of favor for two seasons in a row and was well past the age of 30, unpleasant events were still more recent in their memories than individual accomplishments. John Terry finished?.

2013–15: Mourinho did not agree with Benitez and Villas-Boas’ viewpoints. He saw a seasoned warrior with an outstanding understanding of the game who could team up with the faster Gary Cahill to win a championship where they saw a sluggish, easily exposed has-been.

Terry made the most of the chance that came his way, excelling in Mourinho’s lower defensive block. The English duo served as the backbone of a defense that helped the team win the club’s fourth Premier League championship in 2015 by dominating the standings throughout the whole season. It was a historic accomplishment for Terry in particular since, at the age of 34, he participated in every minute of a league season for the first time in his career.

They attempted to kill him once more. He benefited from it once more and became tall.

2015–16: Are we done? (2)
With only 4 points from the first 4 games, Chelsea’s title defense has not gotten off to the best of starts. In his second tenure, Mourinho, who in 2004 asked Terry to take the club on his shoulders and supported him for two seasons, pulled his captain from the team at halftime at the Etihad in the second game of the season and started rotating him out of the lineup, starting more and more of the young Kurt Zouma in his place.

Maybe then we should have had some suspicions.

Even under interim manager Guus Hiddink, the Blues’ season did not significantly improve defensively as they continued to concede goals despite a feeble ascent to the top half of the table, Terry in the lineup or not.

The fans did not want their beloved captain, who has worn the Chelsea jersey 703 times and served as the club’s public face during their most prosperous period in club history, to have his career come to an end with a sending off at the Stadium of Light after an injury layoff.

Last week, when the team extended an offer for a new contract, the captain said, “The contract extension the club has offered me is a different role and I hope everyone will understand I want to take the time to consider it carefully before making a decision.” Fans will hope that Terry remains on, both for sentimental and football-related reasons, but the likelihood of this happening seems remote.

The sentiments of the Blues supporters are best expressed by a particular banner that adorns the Shed End: Captain, Leader, Legend.