John Terry admits Jose Mourinho spied on another team while at Chelsea in shock revelation

Aug 10, 2026 - 11:45
John Terry admits Jose Mourinho spied on another team while at Chelsea in shock revelation

John Terry has revealed that Jose Mourinho obtained footage of a Bolton Wanderers training session to aid Chelsea’s Premier League title chances.

The Portuguese manager ended Chelsea‘s 50-year league-title drought during his first stint at Stamford Bridge after guiding the west London outfit to the trophy in 2005.

Jose Mourinho posing with the Premier League trophy in 2005
Mourinho heavily relied on Terry during Chelsea’s golden era
AFP

Terry became the Blues’ permanent captain under Mourinho, going on to lead the team to five English top-flight titles during his 13-year reign as skipper.

He had two spells at Stamford Bridge, with the first ending in 2007 before re-joining in 2013. Mourinho even reneged on an agreement to join Man United to head back to west London.

The legendary captain spoke in Netflix’s new documentary on Mourinho’s golden era at Stamford Bridge, and claimed how his former manager used unusual methods at Cobham.

Years prior to Southampton‘s infamous ‘Spygate’ scandal, details have now emerged on how video analysis played a part under Mourinho’s regime.

The tactic was spearheaded by a young Andre Villas-Boas, who would later go on to manage both the Blues and Tottenham.

Villa-Boas said: “That was something of a quantum leap in the field of match analysis.

“Not many people were doing it at the same level we were doing it at the time.

“That was in the era of the old DVD players, which would sometimes malfunction, and Jose would smash the projector or the DVD player out of sheer passion!”

Did spying on teams help?

Terry detailed one specific incident prior to a meeting against Sam Allardyce’s Bolton Wanderers.

The former defender shared: “We were watching a video, and suddenly Sam Allardyce appeared in Bolton’s training, saying: hit Gallas, he’s not good in the air.

Jose Mourinho shouting on the sideline
Mourinho is regarded as Chelsea’s greatest ever manager
Getty

“He was spitting and talking in that way through the microphone. It was like, my goodness, who gets footage from someone’s training ground? I still don’t know where Mourinho got this footage!”

Allardyce managed Bolton for eight seasons, securing their promotion back to the Premier League after a three-year absence.

The former England boss even achieved European football with the northern club, as Bolton went on to finish sixth place in 2005.

However, despite that successful era for the Wanderers, they were still unable to beat Mourinho’s Chelsea – a run that included a 5-1 thrashing by the Blues in their second Premier League-winning season.

Mourinho’s managerial tactics

Terry confirmed he would have been prepared to be carried out in a ‘coffin’ for his former manager.

The duo spent five-and-a-half seasons together across two spells, winning three titles, three League Cups and one FA Cup.

The former England defender recalled how his boss would ignore him during training whenever he was injured, which led to the former Chelsea skipper to taking painkilling injections to continue playing.

John Terry has spoken out just hours after Jose Mourinho was sensationally sacked by Chelsea
Mourinho and Terry won eight trophies together over two spells at Stamford Bridge

Terry admitted: “For him [Mourinho], I would give everything. I would leave that pitch in a coffin for him.”

Behind Mourinho’s stern media image, Terry insisted there was a softer side and would often ask the players to bring their children to the training ground on Sundays.

Terry formed the backbone of Mourinho’s army and described playing under him as ‘going into battle.’

He concluded: “There was a picture of the Premier League hanging in the dressing room.

“From those first team meetings, to the very first game against Man United, the words and the terminology he would use in those meetings…like: ‘We are going to f*** them. We are going to win the league. We are going to take the trophy off them this year’. And we did.”

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