Why is the England captaincy such a big issue?

Yesterday, Fabio Capello reinstated John Terry as England captain at the expense of Rio Ferdinand. This has outraged many in football, but at the end of the day, does it really matter who wears the armband?



Terry is looking to repay the England faithful

 Once again John Terry is in the headlines and again they concern the England captaincy. England boss Capello removed Terry as captain after off the field problems that Terry suffered before the World Cup last year. Capello then appointed Rio Ferdinand as permanent captain, which too many seemed the logical choice. Sadly, Ferdinand was injured before the World Cup and missed out on captaining his country in the tournament which left Vice-captain Steven Gerrard the job of captaining the side through the dismal campaign. 

It was assumed that Ferdinand would continue to be England captain, despite his current injury problems and that Terry's days as captain were long gone. However, Capello has taken a massive u-turn and re-appointed Terry as the permanent captain after believing he had taken his punishment after a year of not being the captain.  

Although, there are now concerns over this sudden re-appointment, as the rift between Terry and ex Chelsea team mate Wayne Bridge caused massive splits between team mates in the England squad and in club sides. John Terry's profile has been hugely tarnished because of his personal issues and a lot has been exposed about his personality. This does have the potential to upset harmony within the England camp before the huge Euro 2012 qualifying clash against Wales this Saturday.

You can only feel for Ferdinand who has hardly had the chance to captain his country properly with injuries hampering his oppotunity to succeed and before he had the chance to, the title has been stripped from him for no apparent reason.



Ferdinand is left wondering what he did wrong

With all that said, does it really matter who wears the armband? No it really shouldn't, although, the English press has a tendency to make the England captaincy more of a drama than it ought to be. An armband and a title should not mean that they are any different to the other players on the pitch. Other leaders such as Ferdinand and Gerrard can still have their say on the pitch as their opinion is just as valid as their 'captain's'.  

It is about time that the England captaincy stops being a soap opera and becomes something that is cherished by the person who holds it, as it does carry a certain amount of responsibility, with young kids constantly looking up to their heroes and modelling themselves and aspiring to be the next England captain.