Chelsea 1991–1998: Early years As a boy, Terry was part of
West Ham United's youth system, joining them as a
midfielder in 1991. He moved to Chelsea at 14, playing for the club's youth and reserve teams. It was due to a shortage of central defenders that he was moved to centre-back, the position he played throughout his career. After finishing school, he joined the club on a
YTS at age 16 and signed professional terms a year later.
2000: Loan to Nottingham Forest Terry spent a brief period on
loan with
Nottingham Forest in 2000 to build up his first-team experience and was the subject of interest from both Forest manager
David Platt and
Huddersfield Town manager
Steve Bruce.
2000–2002: First-team breakthrough In 2002, Terry was involved in an altercation with a bouncer at a West London nightclub with Chelsea teammate
Jody Morris and
Wimbledon's
Des Byrne, which led to him being charged with assault and
affray. In August 2002, Terry was acquitted of the charges in court. During the affair, he was given a temporary ban from the
English national team by
The Football Association. Previously, along with Chelsea teammates
Frank Lampard, Jody Morris,
Eiður Guðjohnsen and former teammate
Frank Sinclair, in September 2001 Terry was fined two weeks wages by Chelsea after drunkenly harassing grieving American tourists in the immediate aftermath of the
September 11 attacks. During his early days at Chelsea, Terry shared a flat with
Andrew Crofts. Terry began to establish himself in the Chelsea first team from the
2000–01 season, making 23 starts and was voted the club's Player of the Year. He continued his progress during
2001–02, becoming a regular in the defence alongside club captain and France international
Marcel Desailly. On 5 December 2001, he captained Chelsea for the first time, in a
Premier League match against
Charlton Athletic. Chelsea reached the
FA Cup final, following wins against London rivals West Ham United and
Tottenham Hotspur in the fourth and six rounds respectively, and
Fulham in the semi-final – where Terry scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory. A virus denied Terry a place in the starting line-up for the
final, although he came on as a second-half substitute while Chelsea lost 2–0 to
Arsenal. In 2003–04 season, his performances led to him becoming vice-captain by manager
Claudio Ranieri when Desailly was out of the team. He played well in the absence of the French international, forming a strong defensive partnership with
William Gallas.
2003–2008: Captaincy and successes with
Chelsea Following Desailly's departure, new Chelsea manager
José Mourinho chose Terry as his club captain, a choice which was vindicated throughout the 2004–05 season as Chelsea won the Premier League title in record-breaking fashion with the best defensive record in
Football League history with the most clean sheets and the most points accrued. He was voted
Player of the Year by his fellow professionals in England He was voted the best defender in the Champions League for the season. 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. Chelsea defended their Premier League title in
2005–06, earning 91 points, and confirming the title with a 3–0 victory against
Manchester United. In a match on 14 October 2006 against
Reading, Terry had to take over in goal for Chelsea in the final minutes of the match after goalkeepers
Petr Čech and
Carlo Cudicini were injured and Chelsea had no substitutes remaining. Chelsea maintained a clean sheet and secured a 1–0 victory. On 5 November 2006, playing against Tottenham Hotspur, Terry was sent off for the first time in his Chelsea career after receiving two yellow cards as the Blues lost at
White Hart Lane for the first time since 1987. Terry was charged with misconduct by the FA for questioning the integrity of match referee
Graham Poll after the match. On 10 January 2007, Terry was ordered to pay £10,000 for the inappropriate conduct after he changed his mind and pleaded
guilty to the FA. In the
2006–07 season, Terry missed matches for Chelsea due to a recurring back problem. On 26 December 2006, Mourinho stated that his captain might require surgery to fix the problem. In Terry's absence Chelsea drew 2–2 at home to both Reading and Fulham over Christmas, draws that were to prove crucial in the destiny of the Premier League title for that season. On 28 December, Chelsea released a press statement saying Terry had had back surgery: "The operation to remove a sequestrated lumbar
intervertebral disc was successful." Although he was expected to return in the match against
Wigan Athletic, which Chelsea won 3–2 thanks to a late goal from winger
Arjen Robben, Terry was missing once again, due to the recurring back problem. He made his return in Chelsea's 1–0 victory over Charlton Athletic on 3 February 2007 coming on in the 88th minute for Claude Makelele. Terry played his first 90 minutes of football for nearly three months in Chelsea's 3–0 victory over
Middlesbrough and received much applause from the Chelsea faithful. Didier Drogba scored two goals for Chelsea in that match, while the other goal came courtesy of an own goal from
Abel Xavier of Middlesbrough. Playing in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 away against
Porto, he suffered another injury, this time to his ankle, and was set to miss the
2007 League Cup final against Arsenal, but managed to recover from the injury within days and played in the final. During the second half of the match, at an attacking corner, he threw himself at the ball with a diving header; Arsenal's
Abou Diaby, in an attempt to clear the ball, kicked Terry in the face. Terry was unconscious for several minutes, at which point he nearly swallowed his tongue. He was carried off the field on a stretcher and immediately transferred to the
University Hospital of Wales. Terry discharged himself the same day and returned to the
Millennium Stadium to celebrate his team's 2–1 win. The only recollection he had of the second half is walking out onto the pitch and he did not remember the ten minutes he played prior to his injury. He went on to lead Chelsea to the
semi-final of the
UEFA Champions League, the third time in four years that Chelsea had made it to the final four of the competition. In May 2007, Terry captained Chelsea in the
2007 FA Cup final, in the first FA Cup final at the new
Wembley Stadium. Despite failing to agree terms to a new contract immediately following 2006–07, Terry stated on several occasions that he had no intention of leaving Chelsea. In late July, he signed a new five-year contract with a base salary of between £131,000 and £135,000 per week, making him the highest-paid player in the Premier League at the time. He was expected to be out for at least three months but made a speedy recovery and managed to captain Chelsea to the
2008 League Cup final against Tottenham, which Chelsea lost 2–1. On 11 May 2008, whilst playing in the last league match of the season against Bolton, he collided with goalkeeper Petr Čech and suffered a partially dislocated elbow, which was eventually put back into place en route to the hospital. This injury did not prevent him playing in the
2008 UEFA Champions League final against Manchester United. The match went to
penalties, and Terry missed a penalty which would have won Chelsea the match (and the Champions League). His standing leg slipped as he took his kick, and the ball missed the goal. Chelsea lost the shootout 6–5, which Terry reacted to by breaking down in tears. On 28 August 2008, Terry was awarded the Defender of The Year award from
UEFA at the Champions League group stage draw in
Monaco, together with Frank Lampard and Petr Čech, who received the award for their respective positions. On 13 September 2008, Terry received the first straight
red card of his career against
Manchester City for rugby-tackling
Jô. However, this was later rescinded on appeal. Despite being a defender, he occasionally scored important goals for Chelsea, such as in the
Champions League Group A home match against
Roma. However, Chelsea went on to lose the away leg 3–1.
2008–2012: Double and Champions League In July 2009, Manchester City made a third bid for Terry, but Chelsea coach
Carlo Ancelotti insisted Terry would remain at Chelsea. He made his debut for the new season against Premier League team
Hull City, a match Chelsea won. On 8 November 2009, Terry scored the decisive goal in Chelsea's match against Manchester United at
Stamford Bridge to preserve their perfect home record for the season. On 9 May 2010, Terry captained Chelsea as they won their fourth Premier League title after an 8–0 win against Wigan Athletic at Stamford Bridge. A week later, on 15 May 2010, Terry captained Chelsea as he won his fourth FA Cup medal, defeating
Portsmouth in the
final by 1–0 at Wembley Stadium. On 31 December 2011, in a home match against Aston Villa, Terry captained the Chelsea team for the 400th time of his career, a record for the club. In 2011, Terry ranked third in pass accuracy among players who attempted over 1,000 passes, completing 91.6% of his attempts. Only Barcelona player
Xavi (93.0%) and
Swansea City player
Leon Britton (93.3%) were better. triumph On 24 April 2012, Terry was sent off for violent conduct after driving a knee into Barcelona's
Alexis Sánchez in an off-the-ball incident in the
2011–12 UEFA Champions League semi-final at the
Camp Nou. Chelsea's 3–2 aggregate victory over the holders qualified them for the
final against
Bayern Munich, for which Terry would be suspended. Terry later apologised for letting his teammates and Chelsea fans down. Terry scored his sixth league goal of the season, seventh in all competitions, in the final match of the season, a 2–1 victory over already-relegated Blackburn. The goal meant that it was Terry's most prolific season and he told the Chelsea website, "I am delighted with seven... It's always good to end a league season with a win." Even though Terry was suspended for the Champions League final, along with teammates
Ramires,
Branislav Ivanović and
Raul Meireles, he took part in celebrations at the final whistle after Chelsea triumphed 4–3 on penalty kicks, with striker
Didier Drogba netting the decisive penalty.
2012–2017: Later career Queens Park Rangers defender
Anton Ferdinand did not shake hands with Terry before the match against QPR. Terry was banned for four matches when he was found guilty of racially abusing Ferdinand. On 11 November 2012, in his first match back from the four-match ban, Terry scored his 50th goal for Chelsea against
Liverpool. He went off injured in the 39th minute of the same match and was suspected to have ligament damage on his right knee, but a scan the next day showed that there was "no significant damage". On 7 December 2012, new Chelsea manager
Rafael Benítez confirmed Terry would not be back from injury in time to play in the
2012 FIFA Club World Cup. Terry's knee injury kept him out of action for 16 first-team matches in total, including the Club World Cup defeat. He made a 45-minute comeback for Chelsea's under-21 team on 10 January, before returning to the first team in a 2–2 draw away to
Brentford in the
FA Cup, that was his third match since he last played since November; 3 months prior. On 17 April 2013, Terry scored twice in the
derby match against Fulham that ended 3–0. On 13 May 2014, Terry signed a new one-year deal with the Blues. On 18 October 2014, Terry captained Chelsea for the 500th time against
Crystal Palace. In the next match, on 21 October, Terry scored in Chelsea's record Champions League win against Slovenian team
Maribor. Later, he scored Chelsea's fastest-ever goal in the Champions League by heading in a goal after 90 seconds against
Schalke 04. trophy In the
League Cup final on 1 March 2015, Terry opened the scoring and was named Man of the Match in Chelsea's 2–0 victory over Tottenham. On 26 March, Terry signed a one-year extension to his contract. On 26 April, Terry, along with five of his Chelsea teammates, was voted into the PFA Premier League Team of the Year. On 29 April, Terry became the joint highest-scoring defender in the Premier League with 38 goals, having scored the second goal in a 3–1 win over
Leicester City. On 10 May, Terry surpassed
David Unsworth as the highest-scoring defender in the Premier League after scoring his 39th in the opening five minutes against Liverpool, an eventual 1–1 draw. On 23 August 2015, Terry received his first league red card for over five years, being dismissed for a foul on
Salomón Rondón in a 3–2 win at
West Bromwich Albion. On 15 January 2016, Terry scored an own goal in the 50th minute as well as his first goal of the season in the 98th minute, earning a 3–3 draw against
Everton. On 1 February 2016, Terry announced that he would leave Chelsea in the summer of 2016, saying "It's not going to be a fairy-tale ending." Although Terry announced in February that there were no talks held to discuss a new contract, on 18 May 2016, Terry signed a new one-year contract to remain at Chelsea until the end of the
2016–17 season. Ten days previously, Terry had been sent off in a 3–2 loss to
Sunderland at the
Stadium of Light in what was widely believed to have been his final appearance for the club. During
Antonio Conte's first press conference as the new Chelsea manager, Conte confirmed that Terry would remain the club captain. On 11 September 2016, during the closing minutes of the match against Swansea City, Terry suffered an ankle injury and required crutches to leave the pitch after the final whistle. On 8 January 2017, making his first start for Chelsea since an
EFL Cup defeat to West Ham United in October 2016, Terry was given a straight red card for a foul on
Lee Angol as Chelsea beat
Peterborough United 4–1 in the
FA Cup third round. On 17 April, he announced that he would be leaving Chelsea at the end of the 2016–17 season. After Chelsea celebrated their Premier League victory, Terry played his 717th and final match for Chelsea on 21 May in a 5–1 home win over Sunderland, coming off in the 28th minute (the substitution board went up in the 26th minute, the same as that of his shirt number), and received a guard of honour from his teammates. In December 2019, Terry was voted in Chelsea's team of the decade as voted for by its fans.
Aston Villa in the
2018 Championship play-off final On 3 July 2017, Terry signed a one-year contract with
Championship club Aston Villa on a free transfer. He was appointed as the captain for the
2017–18 season. He made his debut for Aston Villa on 5 August 2017 in a 1–1 home draw with Hull City in the Championship. Terry scored his only goal for Aston Villa in a 2–1 victory over Fulham in the Championship on 21 October. On 30 May 2018, Terry left Aston Villa after the club failed to gain promotion to the Premier League as they lost 1–0 against Fulham in the
Championship play-off final. In September 2018, Terry underwent a medical with
Spartak Moscow, but declined their offer of a contract, citing family reasons. He announced his retirement from playing on 7 October. ==International career==