Paul Scholes column: Rio Ferdinand and John Terry row was bad but they could have kept playing for England

EXCLUSIVE: My view is that Hodgson should have taken Rio to Euro 2012

Rio Ferdinand (left) and John Terry during England training in 2011 (GETTY IMAGES)

The relationships between players in football teams, even between long-standing team-mates, can be more fractious or distant than many people on the outside would believe, but the one thing that binds them together is the team and what happens out on the pitch.

I was reminded of this as I read Rio Ferdinand’s book serialisation, where he told of his feelings towards John Terry over the allegation he made a racially charged remark to Rio’s brother Anton in 2011.

It struck me that despite what had happened, and the strength of Rio’s feelings about it, he said he would still have played alongside John at Euro 2012.

What happened between Anton and Terry at Loftus Road was a bad situation, and its fall-out was enormous. I would never for one moment trivialise racism. Terry was cleared in court of racial abuse and found guilty of a racial remark by an independent Football Association commission. Yet it was an issue Rio would have laid aside to play at Euro 2012.

There are many who play alongside one another every week but are not friends. I grew up as an apprentice at United with lads who would become my team-mates in the first team. They did become friends. But there were many others over the years who I barely saw outside of training and games. We spent so much time together, we hardly saw the need to socialise as well.

There were the occasional team nights out organised but our busy playing schedule made them rare. There are some players in a squad who have everyone’s phone number. There are some who have no one’s.

John Terry and Anton Ferdinand during the incident in October 2011 (PA)

My view is that Roy Hodgson should have taken Rio to Euro 2012. Rio wanted to go. He was among the best English defenders at the time. Both men wanted the best team on the pitch. Both could have put their differences aside for that.

At United, it was no secret that Teddy Sheringham and Andy Cole did not get on. There have been different reasons offered for why that was the case. Coley has said his resentment grew from the moment he came on to make his England debut as a substitute for Teddy and did not get a word of encouragement as they crossed on the touchline. I remember a half-time row between the two when Teddy accused Coley of not tracking back.

Either way, we knew at United that they did not like each other and it was left at that. Most people had forgotten why or when it started.

As players, we left the situation to Sir Alex Ferguson to handle as he saw best. He may well have got Teddy and Coley in his office and tried to hammer out the problem. But generally he managed it by not making a big deal of it, and allowing everyone to get on with it.

No one would underestimate the seriousness of the issue between Rio and Terry. But if Rio told Hodgson he could handle being in the same team as Terry, that is all that matters. He should have been in that England squad.