Inside Wayne Bridge v John Terry ‘affair’ row from handshake saga to wife’s Dubai escape & players in ‘Team Bridge’ tops

IT IS 1 of the astir gripping sporting scandals successful memory. 

John Terry’s alleged matter with the ex-girlfriend of his erstwhile pal and team-mate Wayne Bridge, Vanessa Perroncel.

Fifteen years on, each 3 progressive stay unavoidably linked by the events that unfolded.

For Terry, his estimation would ne'er beryllium the same.

For Bridge, it arguably remains what helium is astir celebrated for. 

So overmuch truthful the feud has conscionable been thrown backmost into the forefront of the public’s consciousness.

YouTuber KSI trash-talked Bridge with taunts astir Terry to acceptable up a Misfits Boxing combat that the erstwhile defender has since withdrawn from due to the fact that the "deeply idiosyncratic comments crossed a line".

But speech from the allegations of the existent matter - ever denied by some Terry and Perroncel - the full saga led to a full load of huffy moments.

From chopper flyovers to T-shirts of support, from YouGov polls to a sociologist’s insubstantial -  present is the bizarre communicative of what went on.

Bridge started dating Perroncel successful 2005, the twelvemonth aft gathering the French exemplary and histrion erstwhile she was moving successful a Soho nightclub.

The mates had a lad together, Jaydon, successful 2006 and were bully friends with Chelsea team-mate Terry, who joined puerility sweetheart Toni successful June 2007. 

But Bridge and Perroncel divided up successful the summertime of 2009 pursuing his transportation from Chelsea to Manchester City successful the January.

Then Terry started visiting Perroncel and lad Jaydon astatine their Surrey location - though she has maintained it was purely “friendship” and “cannot beryllium described arsenic an affair”. 

Initially, the property were blocked from reporting connected the lawsuit aft Terry’s lawyers got an injunction imposed.

But it was lifted successful January 2010 erstwhile the justice claimed the injunction was enactment successful spot not to safeguard Terry’s privateness but “to support [his] reputation, successful peculiar with sponsors”. 

And with that, the floodgates opened. 

The saga truly was the speech of Britain.

As the communicative dominated the beforehand pages of the newspapers, Toni and the three-year-old twins flew retired to Dubai to get distant from it each - though she was soon snapped successful her decorator bikini relaxing by the swimming pool.

JT would yet articulation them erstwhile the particulate yet settled - but that would not beryllium for a while.

Toni faithfully stood by her antheral - contempt the views of the British public.

That is due to the fact that a YouGov canvass was launched to inquire what she should do, with conscionable SEVEN PER CENT supporting the thought of her taking him back. 

Within football, determination was a existent divided - adjacent wrong the Chelsea dressing country Terry inactive led and Bridge had already left.

Messages of enactment were sent to Bridge - some digitally but besides literally.

His City team-mates Carlos Tevez, Stephen Ireland and Nigel de Jong each wore ‘Team Bridge’ T-shirts nether their kits for a match.

Tevez himself was not acrophobic to marque his views clear.

The Argentine said: “If you acted similar [Terry did] successful Argentina, you’d beryllium dead.

“In my opinion, Terry has nary motivation codification for what helium did to Bridge. In my neighbourhood, if you bash that, you suffer your legs.”

On February 5, Terry was stripped of the England captaincy helium had inherited from David Beckham - and Sky News were determined to support connected apical of the melodramatic showdown with brag Fabio Capello.

A chopper with TV cameras followed Terry connected his travel each the mode to Wembley.

Once astatine the FA’s HQ, his gathering with no-nonsense Capello lasted conscionable 12 minutes and helium was shown the doorway having handed backmost the armband - which helium would person reinstated the pursuing year. 

Capello said: “It’s not normal, what happened betwixt Terry and Bridge. I person ne'er experienced it.”

And the large determination adjacent forced the Prime Minister to measurement into the row.

Gordon Brown was quizzed upon leaving a furniture gathering and replied: “He had to marque a determination quickly.

“He couldn’t fto it spell on. But helium unsocial tin cognize what effect this is having successful the dressing room.”

And the emergence of societal media meant plentifulness of fans and organisations could person their accidental with precise small repercussions. 

But 1 of the astir astonishing tweets came from the fashionable shot stats account, OptaJoe.

They wrote: “John Terry has scored much often distant from location than astatine home. Cheeky.”

Bridge discontinue the England squad connected February 25, citing his spot successful the squad was “untenable and perchance divisive”.

And that determination lone ramped up the excitement and anticipation for Chelsea’s location clash with City conscionable 2 days later.

'PECULIAR KIND OF NATIONAL TRAUMA'

For a lucifer that would person large implications connected some the rubric contention and City’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League, each of the pre-match speech was astir 2 men, 2 erstwhile adjacent friends acceptable to look disconnected for the archetypal clip since the ungraded broke.

One question was connected everyone’s lips: would Wayne Bridge shingle John Terry’s hand?

City chiefs were inactive urging Bridge successful the passageway to bash so, wanting to debar pouring much substance connected the fire.

Bookmakers were offering assorted likelihood connected the incidental - 1 having each City subordinate to garbage Terry’s manus astatine 7-2 and different having either subordinate to person a paper for a tackle connected the different astatine 10-1. 

A ‘Team Terry’ banner was displayed astatine the Shed End of Stamford Bridge arsenic the players walked retired and lined up - past came the cardinal moment.

In 1 of the astir celebrated snubs of each time, Terry enactment retired his manus and Bridge wholly ignored it.

It was the defining representation of the full narrative.

A communicative which - combined with Terry’s racism proceedings with Anton Ferdinand that was triggered by taunting implicit the Perroncel accusations - led to Dr Neil Ewen penning an full insubstantial connected the topic.

The sociologist labelled the 2 controversies arsenic a “peculiar benignant of nationalist trauma”.

Trauma seems the close word, too, for the idiosyncratic interaction and toll it took for everyone involved.

For Terry, contempt his undeniable footballing prowess, his estimation arsenic a bloke was shredded successful the eyes of the public.

For Perroncel, her beingness would ne'er beryllium the aforesaid - her sanction inactive intertwined betwixt the 2 ex-Chelsea defenders. 

For Bridge, his shot vocation remembered for thing helium did connected the Stamford Bridge transportation connected February 27, 2010 earlier the referee adjacent blew for kick-off to commencement the match.

And a decade-and-a-half of vile and hellish maltreatment and vitriol, astir precocious from KSI, contempt his champion attempts to determination connected and enactment it each down him, sharing 2 children with his The Saturdays vocalist woman Frankie Sandford. 

Bridge said: “The astir disappointing facet of it each is that I’m astir apt much celebrated for not shaking someone’s manus than I americium for playing football. 

“I get maltreatment walking down the street. I inactive don’t deliberation anyone knows the afloat story.”

Somewhat ironically, the Bridge family, the Terry household and Perroncel with lad Jaydon each inactive unrecorded successful adjacent proximity successful Surrey. 

But agelong gone are the days of relationship - instead replaced with an awkward ongoing silence some successful backstage and successful public.

The 2 erstwhile mates and team-mates inactive garbage to talk to each other.

And understandably, nary of Terry, Bridge nor Perroncel privation to speech astir the alleged matter that captured the nation.