John Terry 500: Chopper and Desailly pay their tributes.

Following on from Jose Mourinho's tribute to JT ahead of his 500th game as Chelsea captain this afternoon in my last post, Ron "Chopper" Harris and Marcel Desailly (both former Chelsea captains themselves) have paid their own special tributes.

First up is Chelsea legend Chopper Harris who said:

"The saying has always been that when the going gets tough, the tough get tougher
.
John’s always been in the thick of things, putting himself about and leading from the front. What more can you say about the fella?

I can’t speak highly enough of John and everything he has done for Chelsea Football Club.

It’s a proud moment for me to see him making his 500th appearance as captain.

Like me, he has come through the ranks and gone on to captain the club to win major honours."

Marcel Desailly, Captain of Chelsea at the time JT came into the side as a youngster has also spoken of his fantastic achievement and said:

"I had the privilege of seeing him arriving on the scene as a very young player, He was very motivated and was already ready to become an elite player.

Every day he was first at training. He would talk to the older players. He was young, but he was a leader. He was already a captain."

It's only when the likes of John Terry, Didier Drogba, Petr Cech and Frank Lampard retire from the game that everyone will realise just what they have achieved in the last decade at this club.

For some of you of a certain age, you are privileged to have seen TWO players come through the ranks and become influential captains, become genuine leaders and legends (Chopper and JT).

For those of the younger generation, you may only ever see that happen once in your lifetime in JT and it really is something special when you think about the modern game now.

It's a vision the club and the manager has, to bring more players through the ranks to become established in the first team and even to become leaders in the future. What better role model as a captain of this club than JT!