John Terry: The ups and downs of the Chelsea captain's career

John Terry celebrates victory over Ukraine (Reuters)

Footballer John Terry was today cleared of hurling a racist obscenity at Anton Ferdinand.

Here, we take a look at some of the highs and lows of his career...

1980:

December 7 - Born in London.

1998:

October 28 - Makes Chelsea debut against Aston Villa.

2001:

September - One of four players fined two weeks' wages by Chelsea after their behaviour at a Heathrow hotel is criticised on the day after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

2002:

Terry and Chelsea team-mate Jody Morris are cleared after being charged with assault and affray in connection with a nightclub incident. Terry, uncapped at the time, is ruled out of the World Cup after the Football Association decides he should not be considered for international duty with England until the legal case is completed.

2003:

June 3 - Makes England debut as substitute against Serbia and Montenegro.

2004:

June 24 - Penalised for foul on Portugal goalkeeper Ricardo, denying Sol Campbell a winner in the Euro 2004 quarter-final.

August 15 - Appointed Chelsea captain, succeeding Marcel Desailly.

2006:

August 10 - Chosen to replace David Beckham as England captain by head coach Steve McClaren.

November 30 - Charged with improper conduct by the Football Association for comments about referee Graham Poll. Later admits the charge and is reprimanded and fined £10,000.

2008:

May 21 - Misses penalty in shoot-out against Manchester United which would have won Chelsea the Champions League.

August 19 - Named as permanent captain of England by Fabio Capello.

2009:

July - Manchester City have two bids for Terry turned down.

December 20 - Chelsea defend Terry after allegations that he took secret cash payments to lay on a behind-the-scenes tour of the club's training ground.

2010:

January 29: Named as the sportsman behind a gagging injunction involving his private life. A court order had previously been in place, covering an alleged relationship between married Terry and French model Vanessa Perroncel, a former partner of team-mate Wayne Bridge.

February 5: Axed as England captain following a meeting with Capello.

February 27: Bridge refuses to shake Terry's hand before Chelsea's match with Manchester City.

2011:

March 19 - Restored to the role of permanent England captain by Capello.

October 23 - Releases a statement denying he made a racist slur against Anton Ferdinand during Chelsea's defeat at QPR after videos had circulated on the internet.

October 25 - Scotland Yard announce they are assessing allegations of racist abuse of Ferdinand by Terry after a complaint from a member of the public.

November 1 - The Metropolitan Police confirm they have launched a formal investigation.

November 5 - Capello confirms Terry will be selected for friendlies against Spain and Sweden.

November 28 - Terry is interviewed under caution.

December 1 - Scotland Yard announce they have passed a file towards to prosecutors.

December 21 - The Crown Prosecution Service announce Terry will be charged with racially abusing Ferdinand and is due to appear before West London Magistrates' Court on February 1, 2012.

2012:

January 28 - The FA cancels the pre-match handshakes before the FA Cup fourth-round tie between QPR and Chelsea "to defuse further tensions" relating to the Terry-Ferdinand situation.

February 1 - District Judge Howard Riddle orders that Terry should stand trial in the week beginning July 9 - following Euro 2012 - after hearing that a number of other Chelsea players would not be able to appear as witnesses until the end of the football season.

February 3 - Terry is stripped of the England captaincy for a second time. The decision was taken by members of the 14-strong FA board, without consulting Capello.

February 8 - Capello resigns as England manager two days after criticising the decision to strip Terry of the captaincy.

April 18 - Terry captains Chelsea to a famous 1-0 victory over Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final encounter at Stamford Bridge.

April 24 - Chelsea's hopes in the second leg at the Nou Camp are hit when Terry is shown a straight red card for inexplicably kneeing Alexis Sanchez from behind in the first half. But they go on to draw the game 2-2 and reach the final with a 3-2 aggregate score.

June - Terry competes at Euro2012 where England were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Italy.

July 9 - The player's trial begins.

July 13 - Terry is cleared at Westminster Magistrates' Court.