Why Rio Ferdinand Would've Been a Better Choice as England Captain

Fabio Capello announced his new England captain today, with Chelsea's John Terry retaining his captaincy, beating off competition from Steven Gerrard, and my favourite for the role—Rio Ferdinand.

At first, it didn't bother me who got the captaincy, but then as I began to compare Terry and his centre-back partner Rio Ferdinand, it would seem that Ferdinand should've been the obvious choice.

No doubt Terry will be a good captain for England however, having captained the national side in the McLaren era, and been captain for Chelsea in the Mourinho era, guiding them to two Premier League titles.

But for me, it would just seem obvious that Ferdinand should be the new captain. He is now a far more mature player than he was two or three years ago, more so than his fellow centre-back partner John Terry, who has developed some bad habits, both on the pitch with his harassment of referees, and off the pitch with excessive partying, etc.

If you asked anyone three years ago who should be England captain, nearly everyone would say no to Rio Ferdinand. The drugs test fiasco, rumours of brawls outside nightclubs, and the World Cup wind-ups (which I found rather amusing actually) on TV would send a clear message to everyone that Rio Ferdinand clearly wasn't captain material.

But three years later, having been in fantastic form for Manchester United, and with nearly two years experience as their stand-in captain, he guided them to two successive Premier League titles, and a Champions League title.

It has been completely different story for Ferdinand, and one that should've seen him named England captain.

To further his appeal as England captain, Ferdinand does numerous activities for several charities both domestically and across the globe, and probably does far more for charity than any other high-profile England player, John Terry included (who probably does hardly anything for charity).

So it would seem that Rio Ferdinand would be the perfect choice for England captaincy. But if it was a six-month "audition" to see who the best England captain would be, how could Ferdinand not be picked ahead of Terry?