chelsea-shirt-2012It has been no secret that there seems to have been some kind of rift over the past couple of months between Chelsea's John Terry and Chelsea Interim manager Rafael Benitez. Terry has been playing in a Chelsea shirt since 1998 when he joined the youth team from West Ham United. In 1998 he then went on to play for the senior Chelsea squad where he has made approximately 500 appearances with 384 of these being in the league, the rest cup competitions. So far Terry has scored a total of 32 goals. During his career he has also played a large part in the England squad, he started in 2003 when he was picked by Sven-Goran Eriksson, so far for England he has made 78 appearances and scored 6 goals. He was made England captain in 2006 up until 2010 and then again in March 2011 to February 2012. He was also made Chelsea captain by Jose Mourinho when he became manager and during his time as team captain John Terry led the Chelsea team to three Premier League title wins, two league cups, four F.A cups and the UEFA Champion's League. John Terry plays centre back in the Chelsea squad and has done for a very long time, wears the number 26 on his Chelsea shirt.

It had all gone so well over the years with many successes during his time at Chelsea, however since interim manager Rafael Benitez took over Chelsea as interim manager in November 2012 and since he has chosen to keep Terry out of a lot of the matches, Terry did have an injury but even when he had recovered he couldn't seem to get a place in the squad. John Terry has only worn his Chelsea shirt three times in 2013 but has since made a public speech stating that he accepts Benitez's squad rotation policy. Terry's team mates Luiz, Ramires, Ivanovich and Cahill have all been used much more than him. Some of the comments he made included "Naturally, everyone is disappointed if they don't play football matches. We all want to be on the field, but unfortunately with a big squad that's not always the case''. With some of the comments made by Terry many reports and forums have suggested that it was all a cover up and John Terry was secretly very sour about the way Benitez has chosen not to give him a starting place in the side. Terry went on the say how he thinks squad rotation is different but he said that he understands and he will continue to keep his sharpness up in training ready for when he is called upon. Before this numerous reports were released describing the two men's relationship as rocky.

However during the match between Chelsea and Fulham on 17th April 2013 Terry was surprisingly included in the squad from the start of the game and so was Frank Lampard, another player who has played for Chelsea for many years. Both players were left out of the F.A Cup Semi-Final match against Manchester City on Sunday where they lost 2-1. Terry went on to score two goals, both coming from headers and must have felt happier in himself to be not only on the pitch back in his Chelsea shirt but scoring in it too. John Terry saluted the Chelsea fans and Rafael Benitez spoke out after the match and said how pleased he was with Terry's two goals. The 3 points from that game has moved Chelsea up in to third place past Arsenal, Chelsea will be hoping for a Champion's League spot at least. With Benitez due to leave Chelsea at the end of the season will Terry have better luck with the next manager? Or is it time for him to admit that his form is not as good as it used to be and move on? Let us know what you think.

Emily Millington writes exclusive articles for Soccer Box. You can get your own Chelsea shirt from our Chelsea shop. More exciting news is that we are now taking orders on the brand new Chelsea 2013-14 home shirt, pre order yours now!