EFL club nearly signed John Terry before Chelsea career took off

Updated: 22 Jun, 2025 • 0 • min read

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EFL club nearly signed John Terry before Chelsea career took off

Photo: EMPICS

John Terry may be remembered as Chelsea's greatest ever captain, but his storied Stamford Bridge career almost never happened.

The 44-year-old, who won a record 17 trophies and made 717 appearances for the Blues, came shockingly close to joining Huddersfield Town as a teenager.

In the year 2000, Terry was on loan at Nottingham Forest, having made just nine first-team appearances for Chelsea.

Then-Huddersfield boss Steve Bruce spotted the young centre-back during an FA coaching course at the City Ground and was instantly impressed.

Recalling how the Terriers almost pulled off the sensational transfer, Bruce said in 2010:

It was a cold miserable afternoon and I saw John Terry in his short sleeves rolling his shirt up - he was on loan there.

I thought, "Christ, he'll do me at Huddersfield. I like him." I bid £750,000 for him, it was a lot of money for me then, and Chelsea accepted it.

But the boy didn't want to leave Stamford Bridge at the time. I was close, but at the death he didn't want to go.

Vialli the Game-Changer

According to Terry himself, the transfer didn’t go through thanks to intervention from Gianluca Vialli, then Chelsea manager.

Speaking in a 2020 Instagram Q&A, Terry said:

Chelsea accepted a bid and Vialli said no, which obviously I'm very thankful to Luca for. He gave me my debut - great man, great manager.

Vialli had played alongside Terry in the 1998/99 season and clearly saw potential in the young defender.

Sliding Doors Moment

The story is one of football's ultimate "what ifs".

Had Terry moved to Huddersfield, he might have missed out on becoming the club icon he is today, lifting five Premier League titles, five FA Cups, a Champions League, and more.

Ironically, Bruce did eventually sign Terry - but not until 2017, when he brought the veteran to Aston Villa on a free transfer.

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