Blues guard: John Terry blameless

Security guard Steve Rowley insists he does not blame captain John Terry for the leg injuries he sustained in a car accident after Chelsea's Champions League defeat by Inter Milan.

Rowley, Chelsea's deputy security manager, issued a statement through the club in which he absolved Terry of any responsibility for the incident.

The 29-year-old's Range Rover hit the club official as he left Stamford Bridge last night.

Eyewitnesses said Rowley was caught under a wheel as he cleared a scrum of photographers and fans from Terry's slow-moving car.

It had been feared the guard had sustained a broken leg but Rowley has now confirmed it was left badly bruised.

"Contrary to media reports I've been reading I did not suffer a broken leg in the incident at Stamford Bridge," said Rowley.

"It is badly bruised. John was quickly in contact with me once he realised what had happened and there's no bad feeling at all on my part.

"It wasn't his fault at all, it was a complete accident. I won't be commenting further on the matter."

Terry was not aware of the accident until he was telephoned by the club shortly afterwards. He was later breathalysed by Surrey Police and found to be within the legal alcohol limit.


Photographs from the scene have shown the steward, smartly dressed in a dark woollen jacket, clutching his leg as paramedics attended to him.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman earlier on Wednesday said that officers were called at 11.13pm on Tuesday night "to reports of a collision between a car and a pedestrian".

The police spokesman said the pedestrian had suffered a broken leg and was taken to a local hospital, however Rowley has now contradicted that initial suggestion.

Terry's spokesman Phil Hall told Sky Sports News that Terry was unaware of what had occurred as he attempted to navigate his way past photographers.

Hall said: "The club made contact with John and put the police in touch. They breathalysed him but he hadn't had a single drop to drink so the breathalyser showed nothing.

"John answered any questions they asked and that was the end of the matter. Since then he's found out the name of person and called him.

"He's been to the doctors and has a sprained ankle and I think John's going to see him on Thursday."

Asked further about the injury, Hall added: "I think it was very swollen and the natural instinct from the uninitiated eye was that it was broken but the gentleman concerned spoke to John and said it's not. It's swollen and sprained but he's not blaming John.

"He (Terry) was really upset this had happened because the security guys were obviously trying to help him. He was very apologetic.

"He's upset this gentleman was injured. The security guys and players are very close because they work together all the time. So he's naturally upset about it."

Terry has endured a tempestuous 2010 amid rumours of an affair with lingerie model Vanessa Perroncel.

Reports about Terry's relationship with Ms Perroncel, the former partner of fellow England star Wayne Bridge, put pressure on team manager Fabio Capello.

The Italian stepped in to strip him of the England captaincy during a short private meeting at Wembley at the beginning of February.

Bridge has since ruled himself out of England contention, while Terry has received a fierce barracking from opposition fans and in the media.