The former Chelsea defender has had spells coaching at Aston Villa and Leicester but was unable to get a managerial job, although he hasn't given up hope of doing so in the future despite taking a "step back" from the game.

Terry told FourFourTwo magazine: "I spent three years coaching at Villa, firstly in the Championship, then in the Premier League for a year.

"I felt it was time to start my own journey. But I'd sit down with clubs and we'd have great chats, and then I'd be told I didn't have the experience as the main man. That was frustrating. You can take it once or twice, but then it wears you down."

The former England captain continued: "I thought I just needed to step back for a while. I've been in the Chelsea academy a lot, helping younger players. But I'm really enjoying my padel, my golf and spending time with my family.

"My dream is still to manage Chelsea one day. Will I ever get that chance without doing the lower-league hard stuff? Probably not. But I'm in a really good place right now."

Terry famously donned a full kit to lift the Champions League trophy for Chelsea in 2012 – even though he was suspended for the final against Bayern Munich – but says he did so at the behest of UEFA.

He said: "I've taken the full brunt of this! I absolutely don't regret wearing it.

"And people need to know: we had a letter from UEFA about it. When Man Utd won it in 1999, Roy Keane and Paul Scholes were suspended and wore suits to the game. UEFA didn't like that. Their direct message to us was that every player, regardless of whether they were in the team that night, had to be in full kit.

"Branislav Ivanovic and Paulo Ferrera were also suspended and they did, too. But I take the stick, as always.

"I was in full kit: boots, shinpads, captain's armband – the lot. And I'd do it again."