As Chelsea have unveiled their new home football strip for next season today, it got me thinking about the Blues football kits from the past. We have had some great kits and some pretty dreadful ones as well (who could forget our grey and orange disaster from 1995), but I want to look at my personal top 5 Chelsea FC football kits.
I will be focusing on the home strips since the Premier League began way back in the 1992/93 season, as before this period the kits remained less controversial and were kept much simpler. I have not only chosen my favourite’s due to the design of the kit, but what they represent for me, some of them holding great memories of the players and our triumphs.
5. 2003/05
I was a big fan of this kit, simply because it was so simple. A classic white collar with the white Fly Emirates name on the front, with the Chelsea blue colouring. This was also the last kit to have our old badge on, which we wore when we won our first League title in 50 years in 2005.
4. 2008/09
A lot of people might by pass this kit, simply because it was not flash or in your face but a smart kit, with a smart design. It had a big white collar, making the traditional football kit more of a polo shirt. It also featured a line of yellow strip around the bottom of the short sleeves, which complimented the yellow in our badge.
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3. 2010/11
This is the kit that Chelsea have been wearing throughout the duration of this season, which has seen the return of the colour red in the shirt. Many people did not like this because of our main rivals Arsenal and Manchester United traditionally wearing red as their own kit colour, however I really like it because it is a connection to the Chelsea pensioners and a credit to our history. As we know this has been changed in preparation for next seasons strip, which features absolutely no red apart from the badge.
2. 2005/06 – Centenary Season Kit
Not only was this the Double Winners new kit to celebrate our hundredth year of existence, this kit also saw a brand new badge to celebrate the occasion as well. I rarely keep my old shirts but I still have this one simply because I see it as a special remembrance shirt of reaching our hundredth year, as well as winning the League for the second time in a row becoming back to back Premier League winners.
1. 1997/99
This is my favourite kit of the Premier League years for one reason and one reason only; this was my first football kit ever. I was just 4 when I received this shirt and still to this day it has remained by far my favourite. As soon as I think of this strip I immediately think of Blues Legend Gianfranco Zola wearing it, arguably The Pensioners best player ever. It wasn’t the best-designed shirt, especially when compared to the slim-fit, flash kits of today but it remains a Chelsea favourite of mine and forever will.
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