5 Times that John Terry courted controversy during his career

#5 The guard of honour

Terry's Chelsea career ended in 2017 - with a controversial guard of

honour

Perhaps the most downright bizarre controversial incident involving Terry occurred in May 2017 – as his storied career at Chelsea was coming to an end. Although Chelsea won the Premier League that season, due to his age and waning pace, the ‘captain, leader and legend’ made just 9 league appearances.

With the news that Terry was departing the club in the summer announced prior to Chelsea’s final league game against relegated Sunderland, the captain was chosen to start the game, but few could’ve predicted the scene that would occur next.

On the 26th minute of the game – as the number 26 had become synonymous with Terry due to him wearing it throughout his career – the captain was substituted for Gary Cahill, but this was no ordinary substitution.

Rather than just walk off the pitch, the game actually stopped outright – and both Chelsea and Sunderland’s players formed a guard of honour, allowing Terry to leave the pitch – and end his Chelsea career – in style.

Terry later revealed that the guard of honour was his own idea – explaining that he “kind of negotiated with the manager to play 26 minutes and then come off” – and that Sunderland boss David Moyes had agreed to it too.

Unfortunately, the idea didn’t go down well with pundits and observers alike. Both Alan Shearer and Garth Crooks criticized the incident on Match of the Day, with Crooks claiming it made him feel “uncomfortable” and Shearer stating that it may have undermined the integrity of the game.

And writing for the Guardian, Jamie Jackson called the “unedifying episode” “a farce that should never be repeated”.

For some Chelsea fans it was a moment of respect for their captain – but to most people it was yet another sign of Terry’s ego becoming out of control, and a sign of an already controversial figure once again causing needless debates.