John Terry to leave Aston Villa after one season at Villa Park
Former England captain John Terry will leave Aston Villa this summer, the Sky Bet Championship club have announced.
Terry signed a one-year deal at Villa Park last July and made 35 league appearances, the last coming in Saturday's play-off final defeat to Fulham.
A club statement read: "Aston Villa can confirm the club will part company with John Terry.
"We would like to place on record our most sincere thanks for the effort and professionalism he showed with us last season."
The statement on the club's website added: "John is a true leader and was everything and more that we hoped. Hugely popular and influential in the dressing room, he played a real captain's role in creating the incredible bond the players shared with our supporters, and vice-versa.
"We hope he looks back on his time with Villa fondly and we wish him the very best as his career moves forward."
Terry wrote on his Instagram page: "Today I part ways with Aston Villa Football Club. I'm very proud to have had the opportunity to play and captain this great and huge club.
"I have given my everything this year both on and off the pitch and I'm still hurting today that we never managed to get back to the Premier League, where this club 100% belongs.
"I would like to thank Steve Bruce who was instrumental in me joining Villa, I have learnt so much from him as a manger this season that will stay with me forever. Also, I'd like to thank all the staff and players who it was a real pleasure and honour to work with everyday.
"Finally, a special thank you to the Villa supporters who have supported us both home and away in their thousands, up and down the country and have been amazing to me on a personal level.
"Villa will always have a place in my heart and I will look back on my time here and think about how close we were to reaching our goal. But now going forward, I would like to wish the management, staff, players and supporters good luck for the future."
Villa boss Steve Bruce said on the club's Twitter feed: "I am extremely disappointed we're not in a position to keep John. As you might expect, he was fantastic both on and off the pitch. He will be a massive miss."