Aston Villa captain, John Terry has announced that he will no longer be playing for the club after the disappointing loss to Fulham in the Championship playoff final.
In his message on Instagram, he wrote: “Today I part ways with Aston Villa Football Club. I’m very proud to have had the opportunity to play and captain this great and huge club. I have given my everything this year both on and off the pitch and I’m still hurting today that we never managed to get back to the Premier League, where this club 100% belongs.
“I would like to thank Steve Bruce who was instrumental in me joining Villa, I have learnt so much from him as a manger this season that will stay with me forever”
He added; “Also, I’d like to thank all the staff and players and our owner Dr Tony, who it was a real pleasure and honour to work with everyday. Finally, a special thank you to the Villa supporters who have supported us both home and away in their thousands, up and down the country and have been amazing to me on a personal level.
“Villa will always have a place in my heart and I will look back on my time here and think about how close we were to reaching our goal. But now going forward, I would like to wish the management, staff, players and supporters good luck for the future. @avfcofficial.”
Aston Villa’s boss in his statement said, “I am extremely disappointed we’re not in a position to keep John. As you might expect, he was fantastic both on and off the pitch. He will be a massive miss.”
John Terry made 492 league appearances across 19 years for Chelsea and was the captain of Aston Villa, where he made a total of 36 appearances.