John Terry's 5 best and 5 worst Chelsea moments - as defender announces he's leaving the Blues
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So farewell then, John Terry. For real this time.
Everyone's favourite fist-pumping, boot-heading force of captaining, leading and legending masculinity will depart Chelsea at the end of the season , leaving behind plenty of happy memories. And sad ones. And angry ones. And funny ones. And pretty much everything in between.
Terry has undoubtedly been Mr Chelsea during 19 seasons in the Blues first-team, and whatever your opinion of him you have to admit that he's been an outstanding centre-back during that time.
(Photo: Getty)
(Photo: Reuters)
"His time" has also been very eventful too, with plenty of highs and lows.
Like this lot, for starters.
Best
Captaining the Blues for the first time
He wouldn't become the full-time Chelsea captain until 2004, but Terry's first step towards the status he'd go on to relish came when he was given the armband in a game against Charlton in 2001, which he spoke about when given control of the Blues' official Instagram account last year.
Presumably this was the moment that that piece of elastic fused together with Terry's skin, knowing that they would be together forever one day.
Roman Abramovich buying Chelsea
(Photo: Getty)
The Russian billionaire's decision to purchase the Blues in 2003 suddenly changed everything on the Chelsea horizon, with challenging for honours now expected rather than just hoped for.
It had a big impact on Terry too, with the defender going from calling the likes of Enrique de Lucas, Winston Bogarde and Mario Stanic his teammates in 2002/03, to sharing a dressing room with Claude Makelele, Hernan Crespo, Juan Sebastian Veron and Joe Cole the following year.
The modern Chelsea was born.
Meeting Jose Mourinho
(Photo: AFP/Getty)
So you want to become one of the very best centre-backs in Europe, and be regarded as one of the best in Premier League history then do you John? Well, meet Jose.
Chelsea's appointment of Mourinho in 2004 began an unprecedented era of success in the club's history, with Terry acting as the rock upon which that success was built as he gradually became one of the very best at what he does in Europe.
Getting booted in the face by Abou Diaby
(Photo: PA)
Yes, this is in the right category, trust us.
Getting booted in the face is never nice for anyone, but when Arsenal's Abou Diaby kicked Terry in the face in the 2007 League Cup final it provided the Blues skipper with the chance to prove to us what we now all take for granted. That he is as hard as nails.
Despite going off, he still returned later to join in with the celebrations after Didier Drogba scored the winner.
He probably drank everyone under the table, too.
That whole full kit thing
Cringey? Yeah. Funny? Definitely. But just a little bit brilliant? Of course.
JT getting into his full kit in Munich might be something which he'll be remembered for by rival fans for years and years, but be honest now. You'd have done the same, wouldn't you?
Worst
Losing to Liverpool in the 2005 Champions League semi-final
(Photo: REUTERS/Ian Hodgson)
At least that's according to the man himself, who wrote in his book:
"Everybody assumed we would beat them in the Champions League semi-finals. They were supposed to be just another stepping stone on our route to Istanbul. No one was really talking about the Champions League being Liverpool's destiny yet.
"If anything, most people thought it was our year.
"We were the ones who had beaten Barcelona and Bayern Munich. We had knocked out the favourites. We were steaming along. We felt unstoppable. We had the best players. We had the best manager. It was our year. Not someone else's.
"But at 80 minutes I started to panic and when I saw the clock going to 88 minutes, my eyes started filling up with tears.
"I wanted to run straight back down the tunnel when the final whistle went."
What might have been, eh?
*That* slip in the 2008 Champions League final
(Photo: Shaun Botterill)
Imagine the scenario.
All you've got to do is find the net from 12 yards to make the club - YOUR club - the kings of Europe for the very first time. Just put it in, John. Just knock it... oh.
It hasn't helped that Manchester United fans have been singing about it pretty much ever since, either.
The whole Wayne Bridge affair
(Photo: Getty)
Hmm, yeah, not good all this was it?
Claims that Terry had had an affair with teammate Wayne Bridge's girlfriend came to light when Bridge refused to shake his hand before a Chelsea v Man City game in 2010, causing huge embarrassment for all concerned.
Terry eventually lost the England captaincy over it all, while Bridge ended up with Frankie out of The Saturdays.
The Anton Ferdinand case
There was an even bigger spat on the horizon in 2011, when Terry was accused of racially abusing QPR's Anton Ferdinand during a clash at Loftus Road.
After the case rumbled on and on, he was eventually banned for four games and fined £220,000, with his England place effectively becoming untenable after he was stripped of the captaincy for a second time, leading to Fabio Capello resigning.
Being sent off in Barcelona
While the final in Munich would prove to be one of his greatest nights when he didn't actually do anything, things would have been so different if Terry had behaved differently in the semi-final in Barcelona.
Quite what persuaded him to thrust his knee into the back of Alexis Sanchez only he knows, but it was very weird and very costly.
As is pretty evident though, its never dull with JT.