Micah Richards has joked that he "never forgave" former England teammate John Terry for giving away his bonus.
The former Manchester City and Aston Villa defender, who made 13 appearances for the Three Lions between 2006 and 2012, recently opened up about his early days in the England squad.
And one particular story involving ex-England captain Terry made it onto the most recent podcast episode of The Rest Is Football.
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On the subject of bonuses – a topic Richards has previously spoken about, with Scott Carson getting a strong mention – the Sky Sports and CBS pundit recalled Terry calling a meeting to discuss money.
"You used to get bonus that would go straight to charity," Richards began.
"I remember there was one time when I was in the England squad. It was early on, when there was the golden generation. JT was on £100,000 a week. Rio [Ferdinand] was on £100,000 a week. Ashley Cole was on £100,000 a week."
Richards continued: "I was only 18-years-old at the time. I hadn't signed my big deal yet. I think I was on £5,000 a week. And I remember JT [John Terry] sits us down. We had a little meeting before one of the games and he goes, 'Lads, we know the money doesn't mean that much to us, so what we're going to do is give all of our bonuses away.'
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"I'm thinking to myself, 'He's on £100,000 a week. I'm on £5,000. You can give your f*****g bonus away. I want to keep mine!
"I just remember you had to sign a waiver and everything. I never forgave him after that."
Years later, when John Terry joined the coaching staff at Aston Villa during Richards' four-year stay at Villa Park, the discussion of that bonus was brought up again.
"I mentioned it when he came to Aston Villa," he said. "I said, 'JT, you absolutely killed me with that man' and he replied, 'I know but it was the right thing to do.'"
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As mentioned earlier, Richards still blames former England teammate Scott Carson for a goalkeeping error that lost him £1 million in bonuses.
Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast with Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer, Richards recalled the infamous 3-2 defeat to Croatia at a ran-soaked Wembley, when England failed to qualify for Euro 2008.
"All we needed was a draw and we'd have qualified for the Euros," he recalls. "It's as simple as that."
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Things, however, were far from simple. Steve McClaren's side went 1-0 down in the early stages after Scott Carson fumbled Niko Kranjcar's shot into the net, before Ivica Olic made it two with 14 minutes played.
Goals from Frank Lampard and Peter Crouch levelled the score but a 25-yard strike from Mladen Petric meant England had failed to qualify in a result that was labelled the worst in their history.
In fact, 16 years later, Richards called it the worst feeling he had as a player – and later explained how the defeat cost him £1 million.
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After Lineker reminded Richards of Carson's goalkeeping error, Richards replied: "The team we had that day...we didn't have Rio [Ferdinand] or John Terry. It was a mixed bag team. Beckham was on the bench as well. It was just all over the place. But we thought we could get a draw."
Richards added: "I think my player rating after that game, at best, was a two. BUT I blame Scott Carson. I blame him. I'm sorry. He's at Man City now, taking all the accolades, winning the treble, picking up medal after medal. And he cost me a million quid. He cost me a million pounds!
"...that was my bonus. If I got to the Euros and earned enough appearances for England, I'd have got more money on my contract at Manchester City."
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Topics: Micah Richards, England, Premier League, John Terry
Jack Kenmare