Today, an English football legend decided to hang up his boots. John Terry waved goodbye to the football world after announcing his retirement on social media. The Englishman made a total of 492 Premier League appearances, which certainly makes him a veteran of the game.
John Terry Announces His Retirement From Football
A career of highs and lows
But how successful was John Terry’s career? We will be looking at his career highs and lows, and will analyse his international career. Firstly, One of Terry’s greatest statistics in the Premier League was his contribution to 214 clean sheets. That means in 43% of games where he appeared Chelsea didn’t concede.
The most obvious career highs for Terry was the medals he has collected over 22 years as a Blue. He is the most successful Chelsea captain ever, collecting 5 Premier League medals, 4 FA Cup and 3 League cups. This tally extends to European competitions, picking up one Europa and Champions league medal.
Additionally Terry also made 50 appearances in the 2009/10 season where Chelsea won the double and became part of the elite group of 7 teams to have managed the accomplishment. He played a key role in the heart of a solid defense that season. Terry also managed to pick up a fair amount of goals for a defender. He was on the score sheet 41 times in the Premier League and picked up 12 assists too.
Terry littered with bad press and Champions League curse
Despite this, Terry had many lows in his career. The biggest low point in his career and arguably the Premier Leagues history was when he was fined £220,000 and banned for 4 matches for racially abusing Anton Ferdinand. It was a dark time for football and John Terry.
On the pitch, John Terry had career low points too. Despite claiming two European trophies, he seemed to have a Champions League final curse. The most famous of all was the slip in the 2008 penalty shootout against Manchester United that contributed to the trophy going to Manchester instead of London. It was an embarrassing moment for the player and all the fans that had to listen to their United friends at work the next day.
More frustratingly, Terry missed the Champions League final of 2012 altogether through suspension. He had to watch from the sidelines as his team mates fought to overcome Bayern Munich. Despite the fact that he still got a medal, personally he was devastated not to have been a key role in the final.
Personal highs but team lows for England
His international career also had highs and lows. The 2006 World Cup was a personal high for Terry, despite being a World Cup to forget for England fans after a controversial Quarter Final against Portugal. In the group stage Terry had an amazing game against Trinidad and Tobago where he cleared the ball off the line with a bicycle kick. It was a dramatic moment in the tournament and is a personal achievement for the centre back. This fantastic display amongst others meant that Terry was entered into the all star XI for the World Cup. He was the only Englishman to make the cut.
In contrast to this, Terry’s biggest low point on the pitch was for England. He was part of the ‘Golden generation’ England squad that never managed to win a trophy. It is a bad memory for any England player of that era which left all fans puzzled to how it didn’t happen. Terry was a huge part of the England squad from 2003-2012 with 78 appearances.
The final goodbye of an amazing defender
John took to Instagram to thank his supporters and family. He said “As a 14-year-old, I made my best and biggest decision: to sign for Chelsea Football Club. Words will never be enough to show how much everyone at the club means to me, in particular, the fans.”
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