5 best moments from John Terry's Chelsea career

Chelsea v Burnley - Premier League
John Terry.

Veteran defender John Terry left Stamford Bridge at the end of the 2016-17 season bringing to an end a glittering career that spanned over 22 years. Strong, dogged, commanding and brilliant in the air, he is considered one of the best centre-backs of his generation.

He is also Chelsea's most successful captain having led them to 5 Premier League titles, 4 FA Cups, one Europa League and one Champions League title. He is also the highest scoring defender in the history of the premier league, usually scoring from his powerful headers from set pieces.

He was also very comfortable with the ball at his feet with his marauding runs from defence setting up many a Chelsea attack over the years.

On the occasion of John Terry's 37th birthday, we look back at the most iconic moments in the Chelsea legend's career:


#5 Breaking into the first team in the 2000-01 season

A young J
A young John Terry

John Terry joined Chelsea from West Ham at the age of 14 in 1995. However, he struggled to establish himself in the team as a regular. He was loaned out to Nottingham Forest for a year in 2000. It was in the 2000-01 season that he finally established himself as a team regular, making 23 starts and was also voted the club's player of the year.

The foundations were being laid for a long and successful career for Terry at Stamford Bridge.

Also read: 5 possible destinations for Gary Cahill as he winds up his Chelsea career

#4 Captaining the Chelsea Team

Chelsea v Aston Villa - Premier League
Captain of Chelsea.

John Terry captained Chelsea for the first time on 5 December 2001 in a league match against Charlton Athletic. Although Chelsea lost the match 1-0, this match will probably go down as one of the most defining moments of his career.

At that time, the club captain was France International and fellow defender Marcel Dessaily. He was appointed the regular club captain in the 2003-04 season by manager Claudio Ranieri when Dessaily was out of the team.

He kept the captain's armband for the next 13 years, becoming Chelsea's most successful captain ever in the process.

#3 Captaining Chelsea to 2004-05 Premier League Title

Bolton Wanderers v Chelsea
John Terry winning the Premier League for Chelsea.

Chelsea won the Premier League title after 50 long years that too in grand fashion after notching up a record 95 points. He played in all but two of Chelsea's title-winning run with the team under his expert leadership conceding the least goals and keeping the most number of clean sheets.

On a personal note, this was a brilliant season for Terry, with him becoming only the fifth defender to win the PFA Players' Player of the Year award. He also scored eight goals over the course of the season, including the winner in a memorable Champions League tie against Barcelona.

John Terry had well and truly arrived.

#2 Winning the Champions League in 2012

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John Terry with the Champions League trophy

John Terry could not feature in the final against Bayern Munich after being sent off in the second leg of the semi-final against Barcelona. However, lifting the 'holy grail' of European football at the Allianz Arena on the 19th of May 2012 was certainly a dream come true for the Chelsea legend.

Terry was a vital cog in the Chelsea wheel throughout the tournament as Chelsea won the tournament with a combination of dogged determination and a steely resolve-something John Terry embodied throughout his Chelsea career. Life had also come full circle for John Terry as it was his missed penalty at Moscow four years ago that deprived Chelsea of the title against Manchester United.

This was perhaps the greatest victory in Terry as well as Chelsea's history.

#1 Winning the Premier League Title in 2014-15

Chelsea v Sunderland - Premier League
Champions in the 2014-15 season

Chelsea recaptured the Premier League title in 2014-15 under the leadership of Jose Mourinho and John Terry. Terry played every minute of every game and formed a rock solid defensive partnership with Gary Cahill maintaining the best defensive record of the division. He also scored 5 goals showing he still had a few years of fight left in him.

This was also a vindication for Terry after being marginalized by the previous manager Rafael Benitez who said he could not stand up to the rigours of two matches in a week.

This was John Terry's second coming at Chelsea and he was better than ever.

Also read: 5 things that come to mind when you think of Chelsea

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Edited by Shambhu Ajith