John Terry has revealed he led a mutiny at Chelsea against a manager’s decision to seat him in economy on a long-haul flight while the club’s younger players were placed in first class.
Terry captained Chelsea through one of the most successful periods in their history between 2003 and 2017 as they won five league titles and the Champions League.
However, with former owner Roman Abramovich at the helm, Terry also witnessed a lot of upheaval at Stamford Bridge, with managerial changes occurring frequently throughout the Russian’s tenure.
And Terry has claimed in a previously untold story that Andre Villas-Boas made a controversial decision ahead of a pre-season tour of Asia that began in Malaysia which turned senior players including himself, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba against him shortly after the Portuguese boss joined the club in 2011.
‘We get on the plane and I’m sitting in economy on a 13-hour flight,’ Terry said on Up Front with Simon Jordan.
John Terry has revealed how he led a mutiny against former Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas
Terry was furious with the seating arrangements put in place by Villas-Boas (second front) for Chelsea’s flight to Malaysia in 2011
Terry (front) claimed he was initially told to sit in economy for the 13-hour flight
John Terry was furious that Josh McEachran (left) and Nathaniel Chalobah (right) had been seated in first class while he was in economy
Terry said he had no problem with the young stars including Chalobah (pictured challenging Terry in Malaysia in 2011), and called for Villas-Boas to ‘own it’
Terry also insisted McEachran (second front) and the other young players were happy to move
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‘And we’ve got Josh McEachran, Nathaniel Chalobah, a couple of other young players all in first class. And this was part of AVB going “no player is bigger than me, everyone’s the same”.
‘It turns out Lamps is flying out in first class and I’m flying back in first class. So if you fly out in first, you come back in economy, but basically it wasn’t good enough.
‘So, I’m going on the plane “no, we’re not going anywhere until these young players go back in economy and the first team players, that have built this club to where we are today, go back in first”.
‘We’re on the plane, people were up and down, AVB comes up “what’s the problem?” I go, “well, we’re not going anywhere until the young players move”. And to be fair to the young players, they’re going “this is really uncomfortable, we’ll go back”. And I’m going “no, it’s not your decision, he has to own it”.’
Terry was adamant that he and the other senior stars would not have allowed the plane to take off with them on it, and admitted Villas-Boas ‘failed instantly’ to make a positive first impression.
‘This is one of his first things in front of everyone,’ Terry continued.
‘In the end, it spun. First team players go first, younger players go economy. That’s how it should be. These younger players are striving to be where we’ve got, and he tried to make a statement.
‘He came in and he failed instantly, because I promise you the plane wasn’t going. If it was going, it would have gone without myself, Frank and Didier.’
That incident proved to be a sign of things to come for Villas-Boas at Chelsea as he lasted just eight months at Stamford Bridge.
Terry claimed he, Frank Lampard (front) and Didier Drogba (back) would not have allowed the flight to take off if they hadn’t eventually got to move to first class
Villas-Boas held a press conference alongside senior stars Branislav Ivanovic (centre) and Lampard (right) during the pre-season tour just days after the mutiny
Villas Boas pictured alongside Drogba as Chelsea’s pre-season tour moved on to Thailand
Villas-Boas’ reign at Chelsea proved disastrous as he was sacked after just eight months
Villas-Boas, then aged just 33, arrived in west London after winning four trophies with Porto the previous season.
But he won just 20 of his 40 matches in charge of Chelsea, losing 10 times.
Following a run of one win in seven games, he was sacked in March 2012.
His replacement, former Chelsea player Roberto Di Matteo, made a far better start, guiding Chelsea to Champions League and FA Cup triumphs in his first three months in the dugout.
He was also fired after just eight months, though, after Chelsea began the 2012-13 season poorly.
Yet he left on far better terms than Villas-Boas did, who appeared destined to fail at Chelsea, especially after his early confrontation with Terry.
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