John Terry’s confused political fumble

John Terry is confused. Of the innumerable things which confuse him – rainbows, boiling water taps, laser pointers, etc – perhaps most confusing is why no club will hire him as manager, especially Chelsea, where he has appointed himself captain emeritus. In a recent TikTok he seemed somewhere between baffled and hurt that “I’ve not had a call, not had a message” about replacing Liam Rosenior, while he actively put himself forward after Enzo Maresca’s exit in January. For what it’s worth, Chelsea are reportedly less confused about the matter, effectively telling him he should consider more realistic career paths. Maybe Spider-Man?

BlueCo, Chelsea’s owners, let him work as a part-time academy mentor at Cobham, although really this is busy work a few days every month to keep him inside the tent pissing out, a fake steering wheel to convince him he’s driving. He can post pictures in a club-branded tracksuit and feel like he still belongs in a game desperately attempting to scrape him from its sole. Last year he declared himself “done in terms of coaching”, and would no doubt call the League One clubs who turned him down “frigid anyway”.

For a while the former Guangzhou ambassador of football culture also seemed confused about his political views: last month he commented in support of Rupert Lowe’s post advocating for a national burqa ban, but later deleted that comment. And yet he appears confused no longer – on Tuesday he commented “100% yes” on Lowe’s post calling to “ban foreigners from claiming benefits”, “remove migrants who are incapable of financially supporting themselves”, and “put our own people first”. Dennis Wise, another Chelsea “legend”, followed with a “200%”.

It is useful to establish exactly what Terry and Wise are advocating, contingent on the word “foreigner”. Is that anyone not born in the UK? Anyone who has been here less than 10 years? Five? One? Anyone not white? And at what point do you stop being a foreigner and become one of “our own people”?

Terry’s repeated support for Lowe, an MP expelled from Reform who once said English football’s greatest advantage was the strength of its “bloodstock” and who tried to deport a crew of charity rowers last August, is just another reminder of who he is. And given he is in the process of becoming Colchester United part-owner, this still matters.

What does football do about a problem like John Terry, both almost totally marginalised and yet still an influential voice? Of the starting XI in England’s 2006 World Cup quarter-final, he is one of only two players not currently either managing or doing regular punditry. The other is David Beckham, who is busy being David Beckham and does actually co-own two football clubs. Most people seem to be doing everything they can not to employ Terry.

Yet he maintains a significant and loyal audience: 8.6 million Instagram followers and 140,000 likes on his TikTok about Rosenior’s sacking. He’ll wish you a Happy Mother’s Day for just £167.40 on Cameo, where he has 233 five-star reviews. Dazn used him in its Club World Cup coverage and he “managed” a team in the first two seasons of Baller League. Terry’s greatest use of this popularity appears to be his role as co-founder and “head coach” of Ape Kids Club FC in 2021 – an NFT which lost 90% of its value and yet the brain of the blockchain continued to promote.

How far does Terry have to go before people either stop listening to him or stop wanting to hear more? We are already almost 14 years on from the Anton Ferdinand affair. Perhaps more pressingly: how do we reconcile sporting excellence with personal failings? How can someone be so big on pitch and so small off it? Children who never watched him play still idolise him, as do those whose childhoods he defined. Thousands still wear his shirt around Stamford Bridge and beyond. Football trails behind basically every other field in making sense of its art/artist debate. Southampton recently rehired Matt Le Tissier as a board adviser, even if little bits of brain fall out of his ears every time he sneezes. The sport’s bar for irredeemability is so high as basically not to exist, which makes Terry’s relative pariah status almost impressive.

Lowe now runs Restore Britain, a party attempting to outflank Reform by promising to reclaim Great Yarmouth, and perhaps – one day – its surrounding areas. As the British far right continues its creep on football, it’s sad to see Terry reduced to a useful idiot for some far less useful idiots, but that’s only if you’re remotely surprised. Chelsea must be debating whether even their minor continued association is worthwhile. As we reflect on how Terry got here, perhaps the real lesson is that, yes, people can change. It’s just that they don’t tend to.

Photograph by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images