John Terry revealed how a shock plane dispute with Andre Villas-Boas doomed his Chelsea career before it had even started.
Terry later came under-fire from former Premier League manager Martin O’Neill after he retold the story on leading a boycott of Blues legends.
The five-time Premier League winner revealed how Villas-Boas lost the dressing room during pre-season in 2011.
Villas-Boas was hailed as the second coming of Jose Mourinho having led Porto to league, cup and Europa League glory in the 2010/11 season.
But he lasted less than a year at Stamford Bridge, with the west Londoners going on to win the Champions League and FA Cup in the months that followed his sacking.
Speaking to talkSPORT host Simon Jordan on the ex-Crystal Palace owner’s Up Front YouTube channel, Terry recalled an incident where Villas-Boas looked to assert his authority over the club’s senior players.
He said: “When AVB came in, we went to Hong Kong I think when he was first manager, we got on the plane and I’m sitting on economy on a 13-hour flight.
“And we’ve got Josh McEachran, Nathaniel Chalobah, a couple of other young players, all in first class.
“And this was part of AVB going, ‘No player is bigger than me, everyone’s the same.’
“It turns out Lamps [Frank Lampard] is flying out first class and I’m flying back first class, so if you fly out at home in first, you come back in economy.
“But basically it wasn’t good enough, so I’m going, ‘No no, we’re not going anywhere until these young players go back in economy, and the first team players that have built this club to where we are today go back in first.’
“And we’re on the plane, people are up and down, AVB comes up, ‘What’s the problem?’, I’m going, ‘Well we’re not going anywhere until the young players move.’
“And to be fair to the young players, they’re going, ‘Listen JT, this is really uncomfortable, we will go back.’
“I’m going, ‘No no, it’s not your decision, he [Villas-Boas] has to own it’, so this is one of his first things in front of everyone.
“In the end it spins, so all first team players fly first, younger players go back in economy, that’s how it should be.
“These younger players are striving to be where we’ve got, and he tried to make a statement on day one and he failed instantly.
“Because I promise you, the plane wasn’t going, and if it was going, it would have gone without myself, Frank and Didier [Drogba].”
With Chelsea sitting outside the top four, Villas-Boas was axed just eight months into his reign having won just 19 out of his opening 40 matches in all competitions.
His assistant manager Roberto Di Matteo took over on an initial interim basis, where he guided the Blues to FA Cup glory and their first Champions League title.
Villas-Boas subsequently replaced Harry Redknapp in July 2012, but he was dismissed in December the following year, before moving onto Zenit St-Petersburg, Shanghai SIPG and Marseille.
Former Aston Villa boss O’Neill joined White & Jordan on talkSPORT shortly after the interview aired and lambasted Terry for leading a dressing room revolt.
He said: “If I put myself into that situation where I thought that the major players were going to rebel, I would have driven that plane myself and left them at the airport.
“I would have done that, absolutely. Because the moment that Villas-Boas decides that the players will have to be moved back up again then he’s lost the dressing room.
“If he loses the dressing room over that, he will lose it over tactics, he will lose it over everything, and that is the point.
“You had an ex-Chelsea player on here five or six months ago, John Obi Mikel, and he was saying the same thing, that the players ran it.
“Well they didn’t need a manager then if that was the case. Don’t get me wrong, they won and they won big and that’s great, delighted.
“But somewhere along the way, you have to still be managed. John Terry, I know Simon has a lot of time for him, has been a fabulous footballer, great, great centre-half and a great leader.
“But, at the end, I am sorry but you’re going to have to be led John and you’re going to have to listen to what I am saying.
“You might not necessarily agree with it, but I am going to win this and you are going to sit down at the back of that plane and you’re going to stay there or you’re going to stay at the airport.
“I’m not just saying that now because it sounds as if I’m really big. I would have done that, as a manager.”
