As youth players, even today’s world stars had to endure a lot. The anecdote from Chelsea icon Terry is hard to beat.
There are things that immediately come to mind when the name John Terry comes up: long-time, feisty defensive bench of Chelsea FC, team captain, multiple English champion, Champions League winner, national player of the Three Lions.
Terry was always the leader everyone looked up to. He pushed young and old, pushed his team forward. On the way to his current standing, the 41-year-old has endured a lot. Also some, well, “silly” things, as Terry timidly put it.
In 1995 Terry joined the Blues Academy at the age of 14, and the youngster rose to become a professional at the turn of the millennium. At that time, when the future club legend was still miles away from this status, a different hierarchy prevailed. Dennis Wise, Kevin Hitchcock, Jody Morris and Michael Duberry were the names that young Terry looked up to at the time – and did what you do as a newcomer.
“Outside of the field, I did everything for them. I made them tea and coffee,” Terry said a few years ago in an interview with Chelsea’s club historian Rick Glanvill. But Terry also did the said “silly things.”
“On cold training days, I used the bathroom to warm the seat for her,” admitted Terry. It is “funny” when you think about it today. But it was just part of the process: “It was part of growing up. They also looked after me. That meant a lot to me.”
John Terry’s role model Wise: shoe shine service and pocket money
All of these players “made it possible for me to be who I am on the pitch,” said Terry. “Off the pitch, I had a lot of respect for everyone.” Terry was particularly fond of Wise, who was with Chelsea from 1990 to 2001 and also captain.
“He was very close to me and took me under his wing,” recalls Terry, who even offered Wise a special service. “I cleaned his shoes. He wanted them to be perfect, so I always greased them with petroleum jelly and filled them with newspaper to keep them in shape and dry to play.”
But Wise didn’t just give thanks with advice. “Every time he scored a goal, I got £ 25 [ca. 30 Euro, Anm. d. Red.]. That was half my salary at the time, “said Terry looking back:” I always hoped that we would get a penalty. “
Chelsea: Terry record player with 713 appearances
Born in London, he developed splendidly and, over time, advanced to the same level as Wise and Co. were.
With 713 appearances (67 goals, 29 assists), the former central defender is the record player in the Blues.
After 17 years as a professional at Stamford Bridge, Terry moved on to Aston Villa, where he ended his active career in 2018 and is now an assistant coach.
