‘This is really uncomfortable’ – John Terry and Chelsea legends refused to board plane after Andre Villas-Boas power play

André Villas-Boas’ ill-fated spell at Chelsea seemed doomed before it even began.

John Terry revealed the 46-year-old lost the dressing room during pre-season in 2011, leading to a boycott by Blues legends.

Villas-Boas has been hailed as the second coming of José Mourinho after leading Porto to league, cup and Europa League glory in the 2010/11 season.

But he stayed less than a year at Stamford Bridge, with the west Londoners winning the Champions League and FA Cup in the months following his dismissal.

Speaking to talkSPORT host Simon Jordan on the former Crystal Palace owner’s Up Front YouTube channel, Terry recalled an incident in which Villas-Boas sought to assert his authority over the club’s senior players .

He said: “When AVB came along we went to Hong Kong. I think when he was first manager we got on the plane and I’m sitting in economy class on a 13-hour flight.

“And we have Josh McEachran, Nathaniel Chalobah, a few other young players, all first class.

“And that was part of the AVB principle: ‘No player is bigger than me, everyone is the same.’

“It turns out Lamps (Frank Lampard) is going first class and I’m coming back first class, so if you go home first, you go back economy.

“But basically it wasn’t good enough, so I said, ‘No no, we’re not going anywhere until these young players go back into the economy and the first team players who built this club to where we are today’ go home first.

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“And we’re on the plane, people are getting on and off, AVB comes, ‘What’s the problem?’, I say, ‘Well, we’re not going anywhere until the young players move.’

“And to be fair to the younger players, they say, ‘Listen JT, this is really uncomfortable, we’ll go back.’

“I say: ‘No no, it’s not your decision, he (Villas-Boas) has to own it’, so it’s one of his first things in front of everyone.

“At the end of the day it turns around, so all the first team players fly first, the younger players go back to economy, that’s how it should be.

“These young players are striving to be where we are, and he tried to make a statement from day one and he failed instantly.

“Because I promise you, the plane wasn’t leaving, and if it did leave, it would have left without me, Frank and Didier (Drogba).”

With Chelsea outside the top four, Villas-Boas was knocked out just eight months into his reign after winning just 19 of his first 40 matches in all competitions.

His assistant manager, Roberto Di Matteo, took over on an interim basis, where he guided the Blues to FA Cup glory and their first Champions League title.

Villas-Boas then replaced Harry Redknapp in July 2022, but he was fired in December the following year, before joining Zenit Saint Petersburg, Shanghai SIPG and Marseille.

In a wide-ranging interview with Jordan, Terry also spoke about his relationship with legendary Chelsea manager Mourinho.

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He said: “When José Mourinho first arrived, all the players were petrified.

“We were on the phone and we didn’t know what to expect because his confidence was so intimidating.

“Even now he still scares me, he FaceTimed me the other night and I started sprucing up my room and fluffing the pillows because the boss was calling – he makes me so nervous.

“However, I would do absolutely anything for this man and I have so much respect for what he has done for me individually and for us as a team. I love him.

“I always tried to be the first to arrive at training, but when I got there on the first day, he was already on the field, taking out the cones and walking through the session.

“He was very clear in telling us and everyone that we were the best in the world, it made us feel so special. From a tactical point of view he was at a level that I don’t I still haven’t seen anything like it today.

“If anyone was underperforming in training he would absolutely grill them and he was constantly pushing people to try and get the best out of them.

“I never challenged José. He expected me to do certain things, including playing through my injuries, but I never challenged that. I never thought he was wrong.

“He ended up getting sacked after a draw in the Champions League. I’ve never seen a dressing room of grown men cry other than when he went to shake everyone’s hands to say goodbye.

“It shows the affection we had for him and it was a great loss. I thought Roman Abramovich was wrong to get rid of him. When you look at what he accomplished, if anyone deserved a little of time, it was really him.”