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Chelsea supporters woke up this morning with a heavy heart at the news that John Terry and the Club have announced that he will be leaving Chelsea at the end of this season.

In truth we all knew that it was coming. In Antonio Conte’s new vision for the team, there appears to be no place for the old warhorse. Last Sunday seemed to confirm this when instead of using JT’s leadership and nous to shore up the defence in a tricky match against Man Utd, Conte chose Kurt Zouma.

With future game time likely to be sparse, perhaps this precipitated his decision to make the announcement now. Perhaps it was made to give the team and the supporters the fillip we need to get us over the line. A chance to win the league and cup in a last hurrah for JT and also a chance for an emotional farewell at the end of (hopefully) another trophy winning season.

There won’t be a dry eye at Stamford Bridge on May 21st when Terry strolls out to the pitch, chest puffed out, raising his hands to applaud the Chelsea faithful. What better way to end a remarkable career at the club than being able to savour this moment and lift the Premier League trophy, as Captain, for the fifth time in his career. And perhaps this thought lies behind the timing of the announcement.

JT will now have the chance to say good bye to his beloved supporters in a way that his brothers in arms, Frank Lampard in particular, were not. Petr Cech, John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba were the backbone of the greatest Chelsea team and the greatest era for Chelsea we as supporters have ever seen. JT is the last man standing and with him leaving we will truly come to the end of an unbelievable era.

John Terry’s career at Chelsea is beyond compare and there is a strong case to be made that he will leave as Chelsea’s greatest ever defender, greatest ever Captain and greatest ever player.

He is Chelsea’s most successful captain with 4 Premier League titles (hopefully 5 by the end of the season); 5 FA Cups (hopefully 6 by the end of the season); 3 League Cups; The Champions’ League and a Europa Cup. I will be amazed if we have another Captain at Chelsea who can surpass this. He is also Chelsea’s highest scoring defender with 66 goals and has made 713 appearances to date, third behind only Peter Bonetti and Ron Harris in Chelsea appearances. He has played for the club for 22 years - an old school throwback to the days of the one club man. It is highly unlikely that we will see his like again at Chelsea.

But there is a lot more to JT than some highly impressive stats. It is no accident that for many a year the Chelsea supporters have referred to him as ‘Captain, Leader, Legend’ and it is a cap that most definitely fits, in and around Stamford Bridge.

Arguably the thing we will miss most is his unquestionable leadership both on and off the pitch. There are many examples of this over the last 22 years such as taking a boot in the face and nearly breaking his neck in the League Cup final against Arsenal, highlighting his selfless desire to put his body on the line for the team, as well as coming up with crucial goals against Barcelona and Napoli in the Champions League or scoring in the Capital One Cup final against Spurs and the last minute equaliser against Everton which sent both JT and the Matthew Harding lower in to delirium.

One would have thought that the greatest centre back this country has produced since Bobby Moore would have been widely applauded and appreciated by supporters of all football clubs. After all, greatness and talent should transcend bitter and twisted club bias. Maybe I’m old fashioned.

There is no doubt that there can be no footballer in modern times who has been more demonised and vilified than John Terry. One has to ask why? Yes he has done some daft, and arguably appalling things, but certainly no more than many other Premier League footballers. I have always believed that ‘to err is human’. We all make mistakes; it’s how you respond to them that count – hopefully showing some contrition and humility along the way.

John Terry has been singled out to be the representative of everything that opposition fans and the media love to hate about Chelsea. He has become the pantomime villain of English football. Of course Chelsea supporters suspect that this is down to a bitter jealousy and envy of Chelsea and what we have achieved over the last 20 years.

John Terry and the Chelsea supporters have of course fed off this and in doing so have made each other stronger, and the more the opposition fans hate JT, the more we love him for it. He has been the glue that has bound us together. But behind the headlines and the shirt, there is a side to JT that only those who have been privileged enough to meet him understand.

I recall a trip to Cobham where I was chaperoning a group of teenage supporters. We watched the players train on a bitterly cold day. At the end of it the lads waited dutifully for the players to sign autographs, but were too timid and star struck to ask the players who dashed past them. I butted in, caught JT’s eye and beckoned to him that his signature was required. He immediately got it and then corralled the players making sure that each and every one of them stayed to sign the lad’s shirts.

On another occasion he sent a signed pair of boots and a grateful reply to a listener to the Chelsea FanCast who had written a letter in support of him on one of the many occasions he was getting stick from the media. There are many more examples of messages he has sent to supporters who have lost loved ones or are struggling with illness, mostly unreported.

Anyone who has met him or knows the real JT can regale you with many, many stories of the kind things he has done for the youth and academy players; the Chelsea staff; Chelsea supporters and the time and patience he is prepared to give to them, his general bonhomie and his financial generosity to various supporters and charitable works.

And whilst all of his achievements on the pitch for the last 22 years would probably be enough for him to be the greatest ever Chelsea player, it is, I would argue, the relationship and bond with the supporters which seals it.

The media taunt us with the meaningless fact that he is the last product of Chelsea’s academy to genuinely break through to the first team. It certainly endears him to us even more, but it is also the fact that we feel that he genuinely represents and understands us, the fans, that counts most. The passion and commitment he has shown throughout his career rightly led to him being called ‘Mr Chelsea’, but he remembers where he came from, and he remembers who the club really is – the supporters. JT is always the first to go to the supporters – home or away – to applaud their commitment and effort. He knows that we are here for ever whilst players and managers come and go.

Ultimately, no matter how talented a player may or may not be, supporters have always asked for one simple thing, that the player gives 100% commitment. JT has spent every second, minute and day of his 22 year career at Chelsea doing exactly that, so in return I would like to roundly applaud him and say thank you.

David Chidgey @StamfordChidge

David Chidgey is currently Chairman of the Chelsea Supporters’ Trust and presents the award winning Chelsea FanCast podcast which can be heard live every Monday at 19.00 at mixlr.com/chelsea-fancast/ or downloaded from Acast, ITunes, Soundcloud or chelseafancast.com @ChelseaFanCast