2026-03-01 12:33:29
John Terry claims that he was only fully fit for five games during his Chelsea career.
The former England defender made over 700 appearances for the Blues during a glittering career at Stamford Bridge but has confessed that he rarely stepped onto the pitch with a clean bill of health.
Terry told BetMGM: “I was very old school. If I was feeling ill or sick I would just go out and get on with it, I don’t think people should miss matches due to illness – it just doesn’t sit right with me.
“Everyone says, ‘Oh you won’t be at your peak if you’re ill’, but you don’t know that until you get out there and give it a crack.
“I can’t tell you the amount of injections that I had to get through the next game, but that’s because I wanted to play in every single one. I played 717 games for Chelsea and I could say, genuinely, I was 100 per cent fit for five of them.”
The former England captain continued: “When I went into a game, I rarely didn’t have a rib, arm, leg, ankle or some sort of injury – something always hurt. That was just part of being a professional footballer and you can’t sit it out because you’re ill.
“The games come so thick and fast and you can’t afford to miss one. The player who might come in to replace you might not be at your level and in order to win titles and constantly compete, you need to be there, no matter what.”
Meanwhile, Terry expressed his frustration about not being involved in Chelsea’s coaching team when Enzo Maresca was sacked last month – with Calum McFarlane overseeing two games as caretaker boss and earning a surprise draw against Manchester City.
The five-time Premier League winner said: “(I wasn’t annoyed), probably more frustrated because I was certainly part of that U-21s group that went over.
“So even if I didn’t take the team. Obviously, Calum took the team and did really well. Got a result out of the game. I feel like I should have been part of them.
“Now, listen. People have got to make decisions. I love it when people make decisions and they go yes or no. And clearly ownership or whoever made those decisions, the sporting directors have gone ‘no’, not to include me for whatever reason – I don’t know.”
Visit Bang Premier (main website)
