John Terry has declared his pride over his infamous "full kit" celebration, disclosing that it was UEFA's instructions that led to the memorable scene. Terry has been unable to shake off the notoriety from the 2012 Champions League final when, despite being suspended, he donned his full Chelsea strip to join the trophy celebrations on the pitch.
The ex-England skipper, who experienced a bitter moment missing a penalty in the 2008 final Chelsea lost to Manchester City in a shootout, was adamant about being part of the triumph four years on, even though he and Branislav Ivanovic were banned from the final in Munich. With a chuckle, Terry said: "What are you going on about? ! It doesn't bother me at all. I will gladly take the stick if we win the trophies.
"Listen, first of all, it came from UEFA, they wanted all the players to dress the same, wear the shirt and I probably overeager it a bit because I had the boots, the shorts and the shinpads."
"They didn't say to everyone: 'put the boots and shin pads on!' So, yeah, I've gone a bit far but I'm very proud of it, I really am."
Terry embraced the humour: "It's part of it. The memes and stuff came out, but being the Englishman that I am, the Chelsea captain and so proud to lead the club, I was ready to take the brunt of it.
"But I wasn't the only one. Ivanovic was suspended and he was swinging on the crossbar at full time. No-one mentions that he had the full kit on, the scarf wrapped round and all of that."
Terry holds the 2005 Premier League title close to his heart as the pinnacle of his trophy-laden career, yet he can't help but marvel at the extraordinary European triumph in 2012, despite his absence from the final due to a red card in the semi-final.
He said: "In terms of one I didn't play in but still goes down as the best for me is the Champions League in 2012. And I say that because I'm proper Chelsea, everyone knows that.
"Seeing the heartache of 09/10, 08 against Man United and even 04/05 in the Champions League, we deserved to win that trophy. We'd been so close.
"We'd probably been better equipped previously to win it than the actual year we did it. It wasn't our strongest team, we were an ageing team in 2012.
"We had a few players suspended, myself included, but we went and won the trophy. We needed a bit of luck along the way which we had. I think it's an amazing trophy and one I'm so proud of that we won."
The former skipper says the 2005 title under Jose Mourinho which was the club's first league in 50 years remains the crowning achievement of his career.
Terry said: "I think the first one, the title in 04/05, the first Premier League, the first one at Stamford Bridge but also the first title in a very long time and we took that back to the Bridge."