A powerful, authoritative centre-back who has mastered the basic arts of defending such as tackling, intercepting and heading the ball away to safety, John Terry is a crowd favourite at Chelsea FC. He has twice lost the England captaincy but his big-match experience could prove invaluable at UEFA EURO 2012.

• Born in Barking, east London – the birthplace of England's 1966 FIFA World Cup-winning captain, Bobby Moore – Terry joined Chelsea in 1995 and made his first-team debut in October 1998.

• Made his England bow in June 2003 against Serbia and featured prominently at UEFA EURO 2004 and the 2006 FIFA World Cup, reaching the quarter-finals in both before penalty shoot-out defeats by Portugal.

• Appointed Chelsea captain by incoming coach José Mourinho in 2004 and led the club to successive Premier League titles, winning the PFA Player of the Year prize in 2005.

• Also skippered the Blues to FA Cup wins in 2007 and 2009 but missed a crucial penalty in the 2008 UEFA Champions League final shoot-out as Chelsea lost on spot kicks to Manchester United FC in Moscow.

• Lifted the Premier League and FA Cup again in 2009/10 and in doing so became the first player to captain Chelsea to the domestic double.

• In May 2012 he skippered Chelsea to their fourth FA Cup triumph in six seasons but was suspended for the UEFA Champions League showpiece, which the Blues won on penalties in Munich, after being sent off in the semi-final second leg against FC Barcelona.

UEFA honours
UEFA Champions League: runner-up 2008, winner 2012
UEFA Club Defender of the Year: 2005, 2008, 2009
UEFA.com users' Team of the Year: 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009