Soccer: Terry leads from the front to scoop players’ prize

Chelsea's captain John Terry (R) and team mate Eidur Gudjohnsen chat during a training session. Picture / Reuters

LONDON - In three seasons, Chelsea captain John Terry has risen from the ignominy of arrest over an incident in a nightclub to become the English Professional Footballers' Association's player of the year.

In that time he has challenged the established England World Cup pairing of Sol Campbell and Rio Ferdinand for a place in Sven-Goran Eriksson's central defence and helped Chelsea to reach successive Champions League semifinals.

He also enjoyed the frisson of lifting the first of what he hopes will be many trophies with Chelsea when his side came from behind to beat Liverpool 3-2 after extra time in the League Cup final in February.

Terry will get his hands on the Premiership trophy in due course, too, with Chelsea only needing two points or an Arsenal slip-up at home to Tottenham Hotspur to secure their first title in 50 years.

And the greatest club prize of them all could also be on the cards for the 24-year-old if the Blues can overcome Liverpool in their Champions League semifinal and go on to win the final in Istanbul next month.

Success would cap a glorious season for Terry - but it could all have been very different. He was acquitted of charges after a fracas in a nightclub in 2002 and the case almost certainly cost him a place in England's World Cup finals squad that summer.

The former England under-21 skipper went on to make his full England debut in 2003 and bag a place in Eriksson's side at Euro 2004 in Portugal.

Terry learned his craft playing alongside French World Cup winners Frank Leboeuf and Marcel Desailly at Chelsea, while coach Jose Mourinho did not hesitate to hand him the captaincy this season with his former mentors gone.

"He's inspiring and is a winner," Mourinho said. "He wants to fight every game and can influence people with his spirit."

Terry, born in London's East End, has been with a West End boy with Chelsea since he was 14. He made his debut as a teenager under Gianluca Vialli in October 1998, but opportunities were limited as Vialli's Chelsea became the first side in the Premiership to be full of foreign players.

However, Terry became a regular under Claudio Ranieri in 2001-02 and is now an immovable part of the team with England colleague Frank Lampard - his closest rival for yesterday's PFA award.

* Celtic striker John Hartson and Rangers midfielder Fernando Ricksen shared the Scottish PFA Player of the Year award yesterday. Wales international Hartson has hit 28 goals for title-chasing Celtic, who are also in the Scottish Cup final. Dutch star Ricksen has captained Rangers and scored in their 5-1 thrashing of Motherwell in the Scottish League Cup final.

- REUTERS