John Terry and Wayne RooneyWayne Bridge has announced today that he will not be going to the World Cup after his position in the squad has been made untenable by John Terry, who as captain of England and Chelsea, had an affair with Bridge’s then girlfriend and mother of his child. The couple broke up in December after Bridge learnt of the affair.

Whilst I’ve found it hard to believe that Chelsea fans could offer up their wholehearted support for Terry, despite the fact he was getting off with a former Chelsea player’s bird (can you imagine your feelings for Gary Neville is he was doing the mother of Nicky Butt’s kid? Or if Giggsy was getting off with Phil Neville’s missus? I certainly wouldn’t be wearing a ‘Team Giggs’ t-shirt!), the general feeling amongst England fans seems to be that Terry is a cunt. Fair enough. It took the country long enough! But how will they feel about Bridge’s withdrawal from the England set up?

“I have thought long and hard about my position in the England football team in the light of the reporting and events over the last few weeks,” said Bridge. “It has always been an honour to play for England. However, after careful thought I believe my position in the squad is now untenable and potentially divisive. Sadly therefore I feel for the sake of the team and in order to avoid what will be inevitable distractions, I have decided not to put myself forward for selection. I have today informed the management of this decision. I wish the team all the very best in South Africa.”

Now, Bridge isn’t a great player and stood no chance of a starting place in the World Cup because of Ashley Cole, who would obviously would be picked ahead of him (if he recovers from his injury in time!). Whilst his decision not to play for England, which has been more or less forced upon him by Terry’s scum bag antics, will only add to Terry’s unpopularity, I can’t imagine there will be much of a public outcry.

But sticking with the same scenario, how would the country react if Terry had been knocking off Coleen Rooney?

Can you imagine what the reaction of people would be if Wayne Rooney said he wasn’t going to the World Cup because of Terry? It’s hard to imagine any reaction other overwhelming pressure for Terry not just to kiss goodbye to the captaincy, but his plane tickets to South Africa too.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not some massive fan of Bridge, but I find the situation he has been put in is absolutely disgusting. Not only has Terry broken up the relationship between Bridge and the mother of his baby, but now he has denied him what will almost certainly be his last ever opportunity to play in the World Cup.

How can anyone can rate Terry as a human being, let alone a good captain, is beyond me. He makes the likes of Ashley Cole look like a good bloke! Credit to Bridge for putting the team first though, something that clearly didn’t matter to Terry when shagging a team mate’s woman and then making no moves to pull out of the squad, meaning everyone else would have to tolerate the tension and ill-feeling. 

This isn’t just about morals, god knows that enough footballers shag around on their birds, and as Terry’s wife has proven, they often let it happen anyway. But this is about doing the dirty on your mate and on your team mate, which is made more powerful by the fact Terry was Bridge’s captain at Chelsea and England. As a man, he has sunk lower than most, but in terms of his sport, if JT cared about England and Chelsea as much as he constantly claims to, he would never have got involved in such a nasty situation.

Best case scenario: Cole doesn’t return to fitness in time for the World Cup, meaning someone like Gareth Barry has to play at left back, much to the detriment of the team, as well as Terry continuing his poor form and being at fault for the goal that knocks England out. Saying that, I wouldn’t mind Rio Ferdinand lifting the World Cup this summer, just to leave Terry with something else to keep him awake alongside that penalty miss in Moscow.

Terry is the one at fault here and Terry is the one who should be be paying the price. If it was Rooney who was talking about leaving the England squad, then Terry certainly would be the one paying the price. Funny how principles don’t matter when it’s a crap player who is totally fucked over!