In Defence of John Terry

Posted by William Whistle in Featured Articles, Premiership on February 3rd, 2010 | one response

1. Neither John Terry, his wife Toni, Wayne Bridge or his former partner Vanessa Peroncel have spoken publicly.

2. There are some torrid stories in the tabloids, and for purposes of this discussion let’s assume that most of them are true.

3. Fabio Capello has not spoken, and he is the one that will make the final decision on the England role.

4. Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti supports Terry and points out the distinction between Terry’s ”professional life” and private life.

5. Last but not least, for decades there have been (true) stories of footballers antics with gambling, drinking and sex. It goes with the territory.

At Footy Factor we believe in freedom of speech. But we also believe that there are exceptions to the basic rule. You don’t, for example, cry “fire” in a crowded theatre. We believe that people’s private lives generally should be kept just that, private. But now that the Terry story is out there, we do have to consider the implications.

John Terry has made many mistakes in his non-professional life. We are told he is a role model, and should resign the England captaincy. Yes, he is a role model. But he is an on-the-field role model, and that is where he excels. He is hard as nails on the pitch, has unlimited energy, never gives up, shows great leadership skills. That is what the youngsters are using as their role model. They never have, and never will, look at his off the field behaviour (even an 8-year old knows better than to do that).

Now that the story is public, John Terry needs to apologise to his wife (which he has probably done already), to Wayne Bridge, to Chelsea Football Club and his teammates, to his England teammates, and to us. Then he needs the support of all of us to be able to move his life on, and hopefully on to a more acceptable moral plane.

The other issue is the England captaincy. We are sure Terry wants to hold on to it. If Capello says okay, then we’re okay with Terry keeping the armband. More likely Capello says no, which is probably the right decision and will be part of the contrition and renewal process.