John Terry and Anton Ferdinand had quiet games in their first meeting of Chelsea and QPR since the allegations emerged
In the end there was no handshake on offer and none to be accepted. There was no pre-match lineup at which opposing centre-halves could eyeball each other, and no penalty area wrestling or even skull-juddering aerial challenges as the pair went head to head. In fact, there was barely any contact at all between Anton Ferdinand and John Terry. Rivals caught up in the depressing fallout from October’s derby merely busied themselves in their own lonely duties as the storm raged all around them at Loftus Road.
This had felt like an incendiary occasion. Collisions between these clubs are traditionally spiky but the legacy of their last meeting, on 23 October, had inflamed the build-up to this rematch. Terry’s legal counsel will deliver a plea of not guilty at West London magistrates court on Wednesday, when the England captain faces a charge of committing a racially aggravated public order offence in an altercation with Ferdinand during the hosts’ 1-0 win here three months ago. The QPR defender has endured death threats since, with a package containing a letter and a spent cartridge sent to Loftus Road for his attention 24 hours before this contest.
That was a dismal backdrop to which this fixture was played. Football felt like an afterthought, an irrelevance while insanity set in all around. That both Ferdinand and Terry, who has consistently and vehemently denied directing the comments at his opposite number, offered such cool, calm professionalism in the face of provocation was admirable. This was a scruffy, unappealing game but both defenders emerged with credit for maintaining their focus. André Villas‑Boas described Terry as “excellent”; Mark Hughes his own centre-back as “tremendous”. There was relief to be had that neither needed to collide in direct confrontation.
The decision to abandon the pre‑match handshake felt sensible, even if it effectively meant the Football Association suspending their Respect campaign in an effort to maintain some level of respect. As childish as the whole formality can appear, it had felt an unnecessary distraction here. Talks had been held at each club over the preceding 24 hours, and with the FA, once it became clear Ferdinand was not inclined to accept Terry’s hand and that QPR’s players were anxious to deliver a show of solidarity with their team-mate. Had the hosts all blanked the visiting captain as players drifted down the line, any sense of acute embarrassment might have been lost amid the fury descending from the stands. The FA confirmed in a statement the desire to “further diffuse [sic] tensions”. The lack of a flash
