John Terry is the 'king of the place' at Chelsea, says former Blues youth captain Conor Clifford

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Vaishali Bhardwaj22 February 2017

Former Chelsea youth team captain Conor Clifford has revealed just how influential John Terry is at Stamford Bridge - calling the defender the "king of the place".

Clifford, now 25, came up through Chelsea's academy and led their youth team to the FA Youth Cup in 2010 after scoring the winning goal against Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge.

Then-Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti and Blues captain Terry were in the stands to see Clifford's late goal, which ensured the club won the trophy for the first time since 1961.

The midfielder went on to be released by the club however and, after a number of moves, he signed for Dundalk last month.

Clifford still has fond memories of his time at Chelsea, and admitted Terry - who also came up through the club's academy - is very much the main man there.

"When Ancelotti was there I was training with the first-team every day. Lampard, John Terry, all of them," Clifford told RTE.

"Lampard really took me under his wing when I was there. I looked up to him and I used to speak to him and ask him a lot of questions.

"We'd sit down together at lunch. I'd try to get in his ear and talk to him. I did a lot of staying back with him and finishing and all of that stuff. It was a brilliant experience to have that. I was telling my friends back home and they would think I was having them on.

"John Terry was the main man there. Even down eating his lunch he would have a brand new knife and fork brought over to him every day.

"He was the king of the place."

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