On October 28 1998 began the first team career of the most successful captain in Chelsea history.

This week chelseafc.com will mark the 10th anniversary of John Terry's debut, beginning with details of that first appearance.

The occasion was a Worthington Cup (as the League Cup was titled that season) third round tie against Aston Villa, a 17-year-old JT introduced just a minute after player/manager Gianluca Vialli had added the final goal in a 4-1 win, completing a hat-trick.

The substitution was for an unimpressed Dan Petrescu who went straight down the tunnel without shaking the debutant's hand. The incidents kept coming as a minute later, captain Dennis Wise was shown a straight red card.

Team (4-1-2-1-2) Kharine; Petrescu (Terry 86), Duberry, Lambourde, Babayaro; Wise; Morris, Nicholls (Clement 76); Poyet; Flo, Vialli (Harley 90).
Unused subs Zola, Hitchcock.
Scorers Vialli 3, Flo

The club newspaper at the time Onside, reported that 'the 17-year-old cruised through his first five minutes.'

It was also the day the news broke that big summer capture Brian Laudrup, an unhappy new recruit, was to return to play in his native Denmark after just a few months in London.

Away from football, the Poet Laureate Ted Hughes died and the film Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels was released, making a movie star out of former Chelsea midfield enforcer Vinnie Jones.

Terry would have to wait until Boxing Day for his next sub appearance, this time for 20 minutes at Southampton, and then two days into the New Year came his full debut.

He was handed an unfamiliar place on the right of defence at Oldham in an FA Cup match, the occasion most remembered for an early glimpse of the famous Terry character. He was the one player warming up in a t-shirt on a bitter afternoon at the most exposed ground in English football.

'That's the first time I've played right-back ever,' he said afterwards. 'Doobs [Michael Duberry] and Ed [de Goey] helped me through the game. I got a bit of abuse from the crowd, but it was good.'

Before the end of that debut season, JT showed mental strength to overcome his first on-pitch set-back, Dean Windass having out-battled him for an Oxford goal in the next FA Cup round (the match pictured above).

Chelsea survived, as did Terry, selected to start his first European game away to Valerenga (pictured below), again at right-back. Capping an impressive performance, he crossed for Vialli's opening goal. By the end of that first season he had started three games and made four sub appearances. The rest, as they say, is history.

Terry in Norway

John Terry
Born: Barking, 7.12.80
Chelsea scholarship: July 1997
Turned pro: March 1998
Loan since signing: Nottingham Forest (1999/00 5+1 games, 0 goals)

Chelsea honours:
Premier League winners medal 2005 and 2006
FA Cup winners medal 2000 (as unused substitute) and 2007
League Cup winners medal 2005 and 2007
FA Community Shield winners medal 2005
Champions League runners-up medal 2008
FA Cup runners-up medal 2002
League Cup runners-up medal 2008
FA Community Shield runners-up medal 2006

Awards:
Chelsea Player of the Year 2001 and 2006
PFA Player of the Year 2005
Uefa's most valuable defender 2005 and 2008.
Named in the FIFPro World Team of the Year 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008
FWA Footballer of the Year runner-up 2005 and 2006
Chairman's Award 2002
Chelsea Young Player of the Year 1998

Chelsea milestones:
100th appearance v Southampton (h) 26.12.02, Drew 0-0
200th appearance v Tottenham (a) 15.1.05. Won 2-0
300th appearance v Arsenal (Millennium Stadium) League Cup Final 25.2.07. Won 2-1
100th game as captain v Arsenal (Millennium Stadium) FA Community Shield 7.8.05. Won 2-1
200th game as captain v Hull City (a) League Cup 26.9.07. Won 4-0.

International honours:
Named in FIFA's 2006 World Cup All Star Squad.

International recognition:
47 England caps, 4 goals
9 England Under-21s caps, 1 goal
Played at Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup finals.

International caps won with Chelsea:
England 47 caps, 4 goals
England Under-21s 9 caps, 1 goal.

Chelsea career appearances:
League 233+13
FA Cup 29+5
Europe 61
League Cup 23+1
Community Shield 2
Total 348+19

Chelsea career goals:
League 16
FA Cup 9
Europe 7
League Cup 1
Total 33

Captain: 243 games
Emergency goalkeeper: 1 game (2 minutes, shared clean sheet)
Reserve appearances: 34+11 games, 5 goals
Youth appearances: 36+5 games, 4 goals

Statistics by Paul Dutton