“Taken out of context, a football shirt is an unremarkable garment,” notes Alex Ireland in his book Pretty Polly: The History of the Football Shirt.
“But when put into the context of its on-pitch appearances, it is transformed into a precious, nostalgia-soaked relic.”
Ireland’s summation of a shirt’s meaning is spot on. Everyone remembers their very first football shirt - often a hand-me-down from an older sibling - the fuzz of static in their hair as they pull the expensively-priced garment made from cheap fabric over their head. Even those who don’t buy into the cult of the football shirt as a fashion accessory can tell you in minute detail the shirt their players wore during significant moments in a club’s history, or in their relationship with the beautiful game.
It's hard to argue that Chelsea isn’t a club of great significance in the changing face of English football, even if, arguably, that history and its legacy has not been entirely positive.
Despite a significant period without much to celebrate on the pitch, the club’s fortunes were turned on their head, and along with them the entire game, after Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich became its majority shareholder in July 2003.
While Abramovich no longer owns the club, he arguably opened a Pandora’s box of wealth and status attached to football clubs, the effects of which have not been reversed. Perhaps we are starting to see this manifest in more positive ways, like Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s ownership of Wrexham F.C., but for every Wrexham there will be a Newcastle United.
Culturally speaking, the club’s shirt – once associated with the hooliganism that blighted the game in the 1980s – had its image rehabilitated by thinking man’s Brit Pop legend, Damon Albarn, in the ‘90s, through to becoming a staple in US-based Premier League fans of the ‘10s.
Ups and downs at this club feel constant. With its recent sale leading to yet another period of turbulence, a managerial merry-go-round, and a group of hungry fresh-faced clubs challenging for those all-important top-four spots, who knows where their shirt will take them next.
Best Chelsea kits at a glance
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Chelsea Away 08-09
Best: away kit
Featuring the Samsung sponsorship that became synonymous with a golden era for the club, this bold yellow Adidas shirt had its day in the sun at the end of quite the rollercoaster of a season for the Blues.
Following the departure of Mourinho, Phil Scolari took over the reins at Stamford Bridge but was ousted mid-season after a bad start. The season was rescued by Guus Hiddink who took his team to a third-place finish but also managed to bag the FA Cup in that very same yellow kit.
Buy now £320.00, eBay
Chelsea Home 1970
Best for: golden oldies
A mere 15 years after their first major title, Chelsea found themselves in a replay of the FA Cup final against Leeds in 1970, after drawing 2-2 in the original fixture. The kit they wore for this second instalment, before the days of penalties, took on legendary status. With both teams forced to alter their kits, Chelsea opted for new yellow socks, trim and numbering, which saw them win 2-1 after David Webb scored the winner in the 104th minute.
Buy now £35.00, Chelsea Mega Store
Chelsea Home 81-83
Best: forgotten
A beautiful shirt, to be fair to the Blues, it nonetheless oversaw a bleak time on the pitch. In fact they narrowly avoided relegation to the third division in this shirt, before bouncing back the following season to gain promotion to the first. But look at the shirt! Pinstripes! Le Coq Sportif! A French fancy, even if the footwork couldn’t match it.
Buy now £50.00, eBay
Chelsea Home 95-97
Best: for hipsters
In 1996 Ruud Gullit became player-manager at the club after Glen Hoddle left to take up the vacant position of England manager. Gullit became the first black manager to win a major trophy in English football when he steered the club to victory in the FA Cup in 1997.
Although Gullit’s days at the club were numbered, it was Chelsea’s first FA Cup victory in over 25 years. Not only was Chelsea riding high in the football stakes, the Battle of Britpop was bubbling away in the background, with Damon Albarn, frontman of Blur, giving them an air of cool, often seen wearing this Coors-sponsored shirt.
Buy now £250.00, Vintage Football Shirts
Chelsea Home & Away 97-99
Best for: 90s babies
Classics of the era, by this point Chelsea were enjoying success under the stewardship of another player-manager, Gianluca Vialli. Worn by the likes of Gianfranco Zola, this was the first year of the club’s famous Autoglass sponsorship.
Featuring blue stripes down the front of the shirt, and white panels on the arms, this shirt saw them win the Cup Winners Cup and begin to establish themselves as a solid top four club.
The away kit was pretty tasty, too. A baby blue and yellow striped Umbro shirt with a V-neck and a collar, a huge central badge and the iconic Autoglass sponsorship, it’s fair to say there’s a lot going on here. It’s nonetheless something of a favourite among the modern-day vintage shirt brigade.
Buy now £45.00, Chelsea Mega Store
Chelsea Away 03-05
Best for: changemakers
A departure from the club’s many yellow away kits, this was the first of the Abramovich era, worn by the likes of Frank Lampard, who was the top scorer during the 04/05 season. By this time, the striking white top, with black and blue stripes down the front had been edged into the club’s third kit, but it did nonetheless oversee the club’s first top flight league title in 50 years following the arrival of the Special One himself, one Mr Jose Mourinho.
Buy now £32.99, Bargain Football Shirts
Chelsea Home 05-06
Best for: Special Ones
Off the back of their previous season’s Premier League title under Jose Mourinho, the Blues celebrated success with a special shirt. Also celebrating the club’s centenary that year, it felt fitting to add a little splash of gold to this Umbro design, embellishing the arms, crest and the Umbro logo itself. To make it even more special, they retained their title to make it back-to-back Premier League wins in this beauty.
Buy now £124.99, Classic Football Shirts
Chelsea Home 11-12
Best for: glory hunters
A big year for the Blues. This kit became iconic in a season that saw them win both the FA Cup and the Champions League. David Luiz, Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and Didier Drogba scored in a dramatic penalty shoot-out to see them win 3-4 against Bayern Munich. In terms of club royalty, truly it was a vintage year, with John Terry and Daniel Sturridge (yes, we’d forgotten he once played for Chelsea, too) donning this Adidas-Samsung collaboration.
Buy now £64.79, eBay
Chelsea Home 12-13
Best for: magpies
In November 2012 the club parted company with Roberto Di Matteo and made the not uncontroversial appointment of Rafael Benitez, a man heavily associated with Liverpool and some previous unflattering comments about the West Londoners, as interim manager. The season was something of a mixed bag for Chelsea, after they were knocked out of the Champions League in the group stages as the title-holders, lost the Club World Cup final to Corinthians, and lost out in the FA Cup semi-finals to Manchester City. That said, they secured a top-four finish in the league and the Europa Cup in this Adidas shirt with golden trim.
Buy now £34.99, Bargain Football Shirts
