John Terry Wants To Fund New Roman Abramovich Banner At Stamford Bridge
Former Chelsea captain John Terry has offered to help pay for a new banner of Roman Abramovich to be displayed at Stamford Bridge.
Terry won 17 trophies during his Chelsea career. All but one of those triumphs occurred after Abramovich purchased the club in 2003.
In total, the Blues have won 21 team trophies since the Russian arrived. That haul includes five Premier League titles, five FA Cups, two Champions Leagues, two Europa Leagues and one FIFA Club World Cup.
But Abramovich is expected to part ways with Chelsea soon as the club is the subject of an ongoing bidding war.
Chelsea owner Abramovich was sanctioned by UK government in March in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
It was alleged that Abramovich had been an ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin, though the sanctioned Chelsea owner denied this and has since attempted to assist in peace talks between the warring nations.
Days before he was sanctioned, Abramovich announced his intention to sell Chelsea after almost two decades of ownership.
In a statement, Abramovich had vowed to pass on "all net proceeds" from the sale to a new charitable foundation to help "all victims of the war in Ukraine".
Reacting to that statement in March, Terry tweeted a picture of himself and Abramovich, along with the words: "The Best".
Terry was criticized by politician Chris Bryant at the time.
Labour Party MP Bryant said of Terry: "He has posted a photo with Abramovich, who is one of Putin's cronies. What will the people of Ukraine think of the former England football captain?"
Bryant told Terry to delete his tweet but the ex-Chelsea skipper hit back at Bryant by bringing up his voting record and expenses history.
And Terry has now doubled down in his defense of Abramovich by pledging to fund a tribute to the 55-year-old.
A Twitter user representing the 'cfcuk Fanzine' wrote on Friday: "I don't usually ask for contributions but I'm looking to raise £3200 for a 100ft x 50ft crowd surfer to thank Mr Abramovich for all he's done for Chelsea.
"I'll put £500 towards it. If you feel you can contribute, please PayPal fanzine@cfcuk.net. Any money over will go to charity."
Terry replied: "I'm in. The best owner."
Should this Terry-backed plan come to fruition, it would not be the first time that a banner showing support for Abramovich has been flown at Stamford Bridge.
A Russian flag reading "THE ROMAN EMPIRE" has been displayed at the stadium for more than a decade and was still present at Chelsea's most recent home game.