It is unlikely our League Cup third round tie against Aston Villa on 28 October 1998 would have much resonance in the Chelsea history books were it not for the fact it was the game when John Terry made his Chelsea debut!
The Academy defender was brought off the bench by player-manager Gianluca Vialli in the 86th minute of the tie at Stamford Bridge.
Vialli had just completed his hat-trick to put Chelsea 4-1 up when Terry entered the fray, replacing Dan Petrescu at right-back. The Romanian did not take kindly to being withdrawn.
Within a minute of coming on, Terry saw captain Dennis Wise sent off for a bad tackle. That was a trait JT did not pick up when he wore the armband, thankfully!
The ten-man Blues had no trouble seeing out the closing stages, and Terry would go on to make six more appearances that season at the start of what would prove a glorious career, where he established himself as one of the greatest Chelsea players of all time.