Terry: "I've been accused of many things but never racism"

John Terry has given evidence in court in relation to allegations he levelled a racial slur at fellow professional Anton Ferdinand.

Mr Terry stood in the dock at West London Magistrates Court this afternoon, and spoke softly to the court. He said that 'verbals' were a frequent aspect of both training sessions and football matches, and that he had become accustomed to it.

“Its unfortunate,” he said, “its a common thing that happens on the football pitch.

“Its part and parcel of the game, and you get on with the game.”

He also said references by 'press, fans, players' to an alleged relationship with the ex-partner of former team-mate Wayne Bridge came about 'more or less every game' since the claims surfaced two years ago, and that he 'just laughed it off'.

Video of the contentious moments of the QPR v Chelsea game of 23 October last year was shown to Mr Terry, and he took the court through incidents as he saw them.

Following an 84th minute penalty appeal by Mr Terry in the QPR box, he ran back up to his Chelsea defending position.

He said: “I turn round and face Anton (Ferdinand). We're looking at each other. He's doing a pumping action and saying 'shagging Bridgey's missus'.”

He said he responded to the comment and action by saying 'f--- off, f--- off'. And then: “I said 'yeah, yeah', indicating that I've heard it all before, basically.”

He claimed Mr Ferdinand accused him of calling the QPR player 'a black c---'.

He continued: “I responded by saying 'a black c---? you f---ing knobhead'.” He said the intention of this was simply to repeat what had been said to him, without malice.

Mr Terry said he had been accused of many things in his career, but never racism, and that this angered him.

He said: “I was angry and upset. I said something to Ashley Cole (on the pitch while the game continued). That was minutes after.”

He said he used words to the effect of 'Anton has just accused me of being racist', but could not recall Mr Cole's response.

Once the game was finished and Mr Terry showered, some 15 to 20 minutes after full time, he asked for Mr Ferdinand to come to the Chelsea dressing room.

“I said very first thing: 'were you accusing me of calling you a black c---?'

“There was no small talk, I wanted to get straight to that point, and that's what I did.”

He repeated the question, and received a response of 'no, no, no' from Mr Ferdinand.

“As far as I was concerned, that was the end of it,” said Mr Terry.

He said it was not until the team bus arrived back at Stamford Bridge that he was aware of Youtube footage of the events, and later issued a statement clarifying his actions and words.

During cross-examination by the prosecution, Mr Terry said there were some areas of on-pitch discussions that could be considered 'handbags', and others that were 'no go areas'.

The latter included references to a player's mother, or to his race.

Asked directly if, in the circumstances, Mr Ferdinand had levelled an accusation of calling him 'the n-word' (a word the prosecutor descried as 'so offensive I wouldn't even say it in court') whether he would repeat it back to the QPR player. Mr Terry said: “I probably would have repeated it.”

The court adjourned, and Mr Terry will continue to give evidence tomorrow morning.

Mr Terry, of Oxshott in Surrey, denies a racially-aggravated public order offence.

The case continues.