Top Ten: John Terry Misdemeanours
Timothy Hamilton
Posted on: 24 June 2009 - 16:52
Football
The heart-on-sleeve Chelsea and England captain and recent recipient of the 'Father of the Year award', John Terry has a reputation for bravery and leadership and is a role model to thousands. However this hasn't always been the case for the no-nonsense centre back...
1. 9/11
John Terry was fined two weeks wages by Chelsea after a drinking session with team mates Jody Morris, Frank Lampard and Eidur Gudjohnsen at a Heathrow hotel which culminated in the harassment of American tourists at a Heathrow hotel in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks on New York. The players embarked on their binge after their game against Levski Sofia had been called off out of respect to the victims of the terrorist attack.
2. Assault and Affray
In January 2002 Terry was arrested for affray while out celebrating the birth of team mate Jody Morris' first child. The pair were held overnight at Belgravia police station and questioned over an alleged attack on a male receptionist, before eventually being cleared of all charges - and all this just thirty-six hours before an away game at Norwich City!
3. Gambling
The Chelsea captain was one of several high profile players exposed by numerous tabloid newspapers as being heavily involved in horse racing. Tabloids speculated that Terry, amongst others, was spending tens of thousands of pounds at a time on the horses at a bookmakers near the Chelsea training ground in Cobham. Although soon after the story broke, John Terry signed a new contract worth £130,000 per week with the West London club, somewhat dwarfing the severity of money laid down at the bookies!
4. Respect
Despite being a key figure in publicising the Premier League's new 'Respect' campaign aimed towards increasing the respect shown to referees by footballers on the field, John Terry has emerged as one of the key violators of it. Chelsea have been fined for failing to control their players a number of times in the past few seasons, and Chelsea's display of dissent against the famously incompetant referee Tom Henning Ovrebo after their Champions League exit to Barcelona did little to improve their public image.
5. Infidelity
The Chelsea ace has apparently been caught stepping out on his wife Toni Poole by the tabloid press a number of times despite being quoted saying "I've never cheated on Toni and I never would." John Terry was later quoted saying "I really regret what I’ve done to Toni. I’ve misbehaved and slept with girls behind her back and that’s not right. She knows about it all now and we’re moving on. I’m not going to cheat on her ever again."
6. Paparazzi Attacks
No good celebrity should go without a good paparazzi attack, and the same is allegedly true of John Terry and some Chelsea teammates who clashed with a photographer outside a restaurant on Fulham Road in October 2007. The photographer called the police claiming the Chelsea players had prevented him from taking photographs and damaged his scooter before disappearing before the police arrived.
7. Spitting?
An uncertain entry in to the John Terry hall of shame. Did he? Didn't he? No one really knows but we're not going to get 10 without scraping the barrel! After Didier Drogba's moronic red card for a slap on Nemanja Vidic in the Champions League Final in 2008, John Terry was seen delivering angry words and possibly more towards Carlos Tevez as the Argentinian was being booked.
8. Fraud
Well, not really, but according to the Sun the England defender was questioned over an expensive wedding gift given by a convicted fraudster who made hundreds of thousands of pounds by forging famous sports stars signatures and selling them on to unsuspecting supporters.
9. Speeding Fine
The England captain was caught by police speed cameras taking his Bentley for a spin at a despicable 63mph in a 50mph zone. The £130,000 per week defender was given three points on his license and had to pay a costly £300 in costs and fines.
10. Parking in a Disabled Bay
In 2008 John Terry, while taking his family out for dinner at a Pizza Express restaurant at Esher in Surrey, parked his Bentley in a disabled bay and was promptly fined £60. At time of press, the FBI and MI5 had no comment to make on this story.