John Terry Retires From International Duty On Eve Of FA Hearing – Does He Retire An England Legend?

Chris Wright

24th, September 2012

24 Comments

By Chris Wright

“Ta ra yer shitters!”

A bit of hot breaking news from 13 hours ago for you: John Terry has made the call to retire from international duty with England at the age of 31, admitting that the FA’s decision to bring about a disciplinary hearing into his fracas with Anton Ferdinand (which is currently getting underway at Wembley this morning), after having already been found innocent in a court of law, has made his position in the national team fold ‘untenable’.

The Artist Formerly Known As England’s Brave John Terry (TAFKAEBJT) phoned Roy Hodgson to inform him of his decision yesterday evening, before issuing the following statement:

“Representing and captaining my country is what I dreamed of as a boy and it has been a truly great honour. I have always given my all and it breaks my heart to make this decision. I want to wish Roy and the team every success for the future.

“I now look forward to playing for Chelsea and challenging for domestic and European honours, and I want to thank the fans and the club for their continued support.

“I would like to thank the England managers who have selected me for my 78 caps. I have had great pleasure in sharing that honour with all the players that I’ve played with.

“I would like to thank them, the fans and my family for their support and encouragement during my international career.”

It would appear obvious that Terry’s decision to call time on his England career is rooted solely in personal animosity toward the FA, given that the man himself would likely have played himself into the ground for his country – such was his footballing demeanour.

He famously said he’d ‘never turn his back on England’ – some may choose to be snippy and retrospectively snide about that defiance today – but it’s an inescapable truth that his circumstances have irrevocably changed since then. There’s also a school of though which suggests he’s jumped ship before he was pushed – robbing the FA of the chance to dishonourably discharge him by pulling the old “You can’t fire me, I quit” routine.

Anyway, there goes a truly great English centre-half who will, sadly, only ever be remember as a ‘c**t’ by the vast majority of fans people everywhere.

Yes, his two spells as captain ended in quagmires of hostility and turbulence, but Terry the England player was a fearsome combatant and a damn fine international centre-back for many-a-year. Alas, Terry the man was probably not nearly as reprehensible as you’d like to think he was either.

So does he retire an England legend? I expect almost every single different person you ask will have a different answer to that particular question.

Posted in Featured, International football, Opinion

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24 Comments

  1. syndex says:

    On the bright side he gets to retire being remembered leaving as a mostly competent player and not a knackered lag clinging on to the shirt for dear life as many have in the past. This could be a good time for Roy to clear out the weak, lame and lazy before the euros and start with a younger squad (cole, gerrard, lampard etc)

  2. No chance says:

    that he retires a legend, he retires in disgrace and is a reason why England never won anything, no team with any morals can be united with him as a captain.

    No doubt he used a threat to quit to try and blackmail the FA into dropping the charges but for once they did the right thing.

  3. Omar says:

    Despite the fact that John Terry didn’t win any trophies with England, his herotic performance in many matches makes him a legend for England, I think it’s enough that he was the best captain in the history of the team, so yes: John is a legend

  4. Mr Sensible says:

    No.

    He retires as a twat that no one likes or gives a shit about.

  5. lisa says:

    yes he is a footballing legend. tbh the whole thing has turned the haters…based on tribalism….into pompous moralizing bores (imho)
    his talent is hard to dispute and england have been fortunate to have him.

  6. Mr. Chopper says:

    EBJT – better than Jody Morris.

  7. Omar says:

    To syndex :

    Cole, Gerrard and Lampard are now considered weak/lazy ? Cole is the best left back in the whole world, and it has been that way for years, Gerrard is a legend and still performs very well, the only one who’s not playing that wel anymore is Lamps, and even with his current performance, he’s still way better than Henderson and Milner and other yonger midfielders

  8. Milkchew says:

    Cheated on his wife more times than I have fingers, sleeps with team mates girl friends, racist, pretty sure he beat up some student at some point (Horay!). Scream legend to me….yeah right.

    Disgrace as a human.

  9. Karan says:

    It takes more than ability to make a legend. A man of no character like Terry should never even be mentioned in the same breath as legend. He didn’t even have enough honour to come out and admit he made a racist remark.

  10. plops says:

    As an England player: good. As a person (only from what I’ve read in the media of course): bad.

  11. Stiopa says:

    JT- captain, leader, legend !!

  12. It is not easy to have a legend hence the decision to quit from international games is a big blow to England.

  13. Keano says:

    What a a load of shite, like Karan said, its much more than ability that makes a legend. He is and was a great player, but ultimately, scum.

  14. Andy says:

    He retires a coward, and ought to be remembered as a man who slunk away before he could be pushed out. I hope, if found guilty, that the FA still ban him from national selection and Chelsea strip him of the captaincy.

  15. Cornelius says:

    While it is undoubtably true that a number of the “haters” are motivated by tribalism, the same goes double for the (for want of a better word) lovers (witness that idiot Mellor on the radio this morning rabidly attacking the FA in a way he wouldn’t have dreamed of doing had it not been a Chelsea player he was defending).

    Personally, I don’t give a monkey’s about Chelsea (or any other Premiership team come to that), but I am old enough to remember routine “monkey chanting” on the terraces (and old enough to remember terraces too!) and if the FA are finally doing something about racism in football, I support them.

    And if John Terry considers that he has been driven out of the international game because the FA are investigating him for behaving in a racist way, then that’s his problem.

    Anyone who complains when someone tries to combat racism is either a racist themselves or an apologist for racism.

    And they certainly aren’t a legend.

  16. neymarsdroppedballs says:

    JT will retire an english legend in what is a very poor english international generation. i have a feeling the words “terry” and “c*nt” won’t be used to far apart while talking about his off-pitch shenanigans

  17. gilbert says:

    the man is a legend and a cunt. as funny as it was, his tears after that penalty miss put him in the legend bin for me; not only will that be folklore for a long time among all who aren’t of Chelsea, but he does actually give a shit about football, in fact he doesn’t seem to give a shit about much else. so, yes, a legend, unfortunately. (I AM NOT A CHELSEA FAN.)

  18. Gazza says:

    If we are saying off the pitch counts then a lot of players are not legends:

    Maradona
    Ronaldo (the fat one)
    Gascoigne
    Cantona
    Kahn
    Zidane
    Peter Crouch….

  19. sleeba says:

    Gilbert says a Cunty Legend
    Keano says Great Scum
    Plops says Good, Bad and he is Ugly
    Milkchew obviously believes anything he hears
    I remember an article on here about the way he treated a kid to a holiday who got injured.
    http://www.whoateallthepies.tv/…/former-chelsea-youth-players-candid-account- reveals-another-less-gimpish-side-to-john-terry.html
    Me myself, as a Chelsea fan, I wish he would fucking grow the same size fucking balls, off the pitch as he has on the pitch.

  20. Sanjay says:

    Hate him off the pitch, but on the pitch he was a LEGEND

  21. Chiqui Arce says:

    I’ll never forget how he heroically allowed Helder Postiga a free header in the last 10 minutes of the quarter final to take us to extra time against Portugal in 2004.

    Or how his excellent leadership took us to third place in our qualifying group in his very first campaign as skipper.

    Or how he bravely undermined the manager in 2010 and effectively went on strike against Germany, as their forwards took turns at going 1-on-1 with David James.

    JT: Captain, Leader, Legend

  22. Andy Pandy says:

    @Andy: you clearly know nothing about football with comments like that

  23. Ozzy says:

    What did he contribute to England to actually call him a legend?

  24. Wayne Bridge says:

    @Andy – He could rape a bag of puppies on national tv on a Friday and he would be Chelsea capatin on the Saturday. He is one of the best centre-backs to have ever played for England but as you said his legendary will depend on who you ask. A survey of English fans would say no, a survey of Chelsea fans would say yes. For me, no he isn’t but I’m not basing that on footballing ability. He’d shag your missus if he was given half a chance.

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