John George Terry (born December 7, 1980 in Barking, London) is an English professional footballer. Terry plays as a centre back and is the captain of Chelsea in the English Premier League and officially for the England national football team. He has an older brother, Paul, who is also a professional footballer with fellow London club Leyton Orient.
Terry was voted best defender in the 2005 UEFA Champions League, PFA Players' Player of the Year in 2005, and was included in the FIFPro World XI for 2005, 2006 and 2007. He was also named in the all-star squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the only English player to make the team. He wears the number 26 shirt for Chelsea,
In 2007, he became the first captain to lift the FA Cup at the new Wembley Stadium in Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Manchester United, and also the first player to score a full international goal there, scoring a header in England’s 1-1 draw with Brazil.
Terry was voted Player of the Year by his fellow professionals in England and scored eight goals, including a late winner against FC Barcelona, in the UEFA Champions League. He was voted the best defender in the latter tournament.
Along with Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Claude Makélélé and Petr Čech, Terry is regarded as a part of the «spine» of the Chelsea team. Being an English player who came through the club’s youth system, he is especially popular with Chelsea fans. In September 2005 he was selected as a member of the World XI at the FIFPro awards. The team was chosen by a vote of professional footballers based in 40 countries.
John Terry is the main face alongside Michael Owen for the Umbro sportswear brand often introducing new brand lines and products as well as new England kits. He has also appeared in adverts for Samsung, Nationwide and Swedish betting company Svenska Spel, as well as being in a sponsorship deal with football gaming series Pro Evolution Soccer. On the UK version of Pro Evolution Soccer 6, he appears on the front cover with Brazil international Adriano.
In the July 2007 edition of World Soccer Magazine, players from a variety of clubs were asked who they thought was the perfect captain. The following are a selection of quotes from players who chose John Terry.
- «Even from the outside the game you can appreciate that John Terry is the boss of the Chelsea side in all ways.»-Cesc Fabregas, Arsenal.
- «You can see that everybody always looks for John Terry on the pitch. He is vital for Chelsea.»-Gabriel Heinze, Real Madrid.
- «…what you need is a good communicator and organizer, such as John Terry, who obviously cares deeply about his club.»-Christoph Metzelder, Real Madrid.
- «John Terry is the perfect skipper. It’s obvious Chelsea means everything to him. When he makes those last ditch blocks, team-mates can’t help but be inspired.»-Kasey Keller, Fulham FC.
- «»He has surprised us all, Maybe he is a bionic man. He recovers very quickly. Maybe he will be on the bench or even start, but we haven’t decided yet. Each injury depends on the person and he is very strong, not just mentally but also physically." — Avram Grant. Chelsea FC
