John Terry’s dad was furious he rejected Man Utd for Chelsea and refused to join him as he signed first deal

John Terry’s father was so angry with his decision to join Chelsea instead of Manchester United that he refused to join him when he signed his first deal.

As a youngster, Terry started out at West Ham and at the age of 14, he had the chance to join either Chelsea, United or Arsenal.

In the end, Terry decided to join the Stamford Bridge club against his dad’s wishes.

The former England international went on to play 717 times for Chelsea, scoring 67 goals and winning a host of trophies including five Premier League titles.

However, back in 2020, Terry revealed that his dad was so angry about his decision to join Chelsea, he did not join him when he signed his first contract.

He told the Footballer’s Guide to Football podcast: “My dad never wanted me to sign for Chelsea. Actually, on the picture of me signing my schoolboy form at the club, my dad refused to go on the pitch with me.

“I’m in the tunnel, the players are coming off the pitch and I’m waiting in the tunnel, Glenn Hoddle goes past and my dad’s going, 'You’re not signing for this football club, we should sign for Man United'.

“Again, me being me at the time I’m going, 'I’m 100 per cent I’m signing here, if you don’t come out with me I’m going out to sign’.”

Terry continued: “And you needed a parent, so my mum said she would come and sign it with me, my dad’s going mad at my mum, 'No you wont'.

“There’s a picture of my mum and Graham Rix signing my contract, but my dad refused and absolutely kicked off that night. Again, me being the character I was, I knew Chelsea was right for me.

“One night that was probably supposed to be one of the best nights of my life turned out to be a tough one for a young 14-year-old to be honest.”

Alamy

Terry went on to reveal he was close to joining United and visited the club with David Beckham.

He said: “I actually went up to Man United for a year, so I was kind of travelling up in school holidays, I went up with David Beckham when he signed his first pro contract.

“We went up in the car together, I was there on a two-week training camp. I went up, stayed up for a couple weeks every school holiday really on my own, which was tough to be fair, being away from home.

“Then I had the option between Arsenal, Chelsea and Man United and to be fair all of them went above and beyond. The moment I walked into Chelsea, it just felt right, I know that’s going to sound really bizarre.”