John Terry has guided Aston Villa into the Championship playoff final, one year after he arrived on a free from Premier League giants Chelsea.
If anyone was wondering why Aston Villa signed a 36-year-old John Terry last summer and handed him a £60,000-a-week contract, you now have your answer.
There were plenty of critics when a Villa side restricted by Financial Fair Play rules decided to spend a substantial portion of their transfer budget on handing the former England captain a massive year-long deal.
Terry, after all, had just been released following two decades of loyal service at Chelsea and, as with most players his age, it seemed that his best days were consigned to the distant past.
But while the veteran centre-back can no longer claim to be Europe’s very best, he is still a hugely influential figure who will do anything to win a game of football.
And the fact that Aston Villa will contest the Championship play-off final against Fulham next week has a fair bit to do with Terry’s peerless performance over two legs against Middlesbrough.
Tony Pulis’ side boasted some of the league’s most dangerous attacking talent in Adama Traore, Britt Assombalonga and Patrick Bamford.
But the 37-year-old Terry rolled back the years, rolled up the sleeves, and delivered a masterclass in positioning, man-marking and determination as Boro failed to lay a glove on Steve Bruce’s victors over 180 minutes separated by a single Mile Jedinak header.
Terry is a legend at Stamford Bridge. And, should he lead Aston Villa back to the Premier League, he will be fondly remembered in the Midlands too.
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