We often hear about the Roman revolution of 2003, where Abramovich’s spending elevated an ascending Chelsea into a European power.
But long before that there was another whole stage of growth, which saw the Blues go from no-hopers into a modern club.
John Terry, in quotes carried by the Metro, explains exactly when he thinks this was the turning point. After coming through the youth team, where players would tuck in to burgers and chips and not think much about their bodies beyond the end of a training session, he was there when three Italian players who changed the way the club thought about the game outside the pitch:
“We were lucky at Chelsea because we signed Zola, Gullit and Vialli and they turned up at the training ground and said, ‘where’s the food, where’s the protein? We need a bigger gym, we need to stretch more’.
“They took it to another level and I was really lucky to be around those players at that stage of my career.”
Coming through at just the right age to observe them, JT was able to learn a huge amount and continue his career to a ripe old age, despite taking a battering along the way.
If it hadn’t been for those three, Chelsea, and JT, might never have even been in a position to tempt Roman to take over.
