THE VITALS:

Team: Chelsea

Brand: Adidas

Era: 2011-12

Name/Number: -

CONDITION: EXCELLENT

This polo shirt comes to you in nothing short of excellent condition with the shirt material and club crest standing impeccably! The Samsung embroidery does also have a small pull at the base of the ‘M’, however, it takes nothing away from the glory of the presentation!

DIMENSIONS:

Size: 42/44 (Large)

Pit to Pit Measurement: 20 inches

Shirt Length: 29 inches 

Made by Adidas in their ‘ClimaLite’ range which they introduced in 2011; the dimensions of this shirt lend themselves to a fine size large fitting shirt!

DESCRIPTION:

This polo shirt was made part of Chelsea’s range of team-wear that Adidas produced for them ahead of the 2011-12 season. Made in both black and white variants; each colour featured yellow trims down the side panel of the shirt, while the Chelsea club-crest was also altered to black and white so as to replicate the colour scheme of the shirt. The black variant would use white for the Adidas 3-stripes down the arms and Adidas and Samsung embroidery.

THE SEASON:

After a 2010-11 season that ended empty handed for Chelsea, Carlo Ancelotti would pay the price as he was relieved of his duties. The powers that be at Stamford Bridge looked to repeat the Jose Mourinho masterstroke as they returned to FC Porto to acquire his former assistant and now Porto manager – Andre Villas-Boas.

Affectionately referred to as ‘AVB’; the Portuguese was just 33 years old as he guided Porto to an unbeaten Primeira Liga title win and to the 2010-11 UEFA Europa League; becoming the youngest manager in history to win a European competition! In a change of policy, Chelsea’s transfer policy was predicated upon signing some of Europe’s most promising talents as: Thibaut Courtois, Oriol Romeu and Romelu Lukaku were brought into the club. Juan Mata and Raul Meireles would also follow before the close of the transfer window.

Chelsea would get the season underway with a tepid goalless draw away to Stoke City, but would win 6 of their next 7 games. A stunning upset against newly promoted Queen’s Park Rangers on 23/11/11 would set the wheels in motion for the eventual dismissal of Villas-Boas on 04/03/12. With the club sitting in 5^th place with 11 games to spare; club legend – Roberto di Matteo would be employed to guide the club for the remainder of the season. He would pick up 5 wins from those 11 games as Chelsea finished in 6^th place; their lowest league finish during the Roman Abramovich era.

The disappointment of the league season was offset by Chelsea’s spectacular performances in the cup competitions; namely the FA Cup and UEFA Champions League. ‘The Blues’ would win the FA Cup for the fourth time inside of 6 years when they defeated Liverpool 2-1 in the 05/12/12 Final at Wembley Stadium!

The holy-grail of Europe had always been the dream of Roman Abramovich and while qualification from the Group Stage was simple enough, a Last 16 tie with Napoli had Chelsea on the brink following their 3-1 defeat in the 1^st Leg at San Paolo. A galvanised Chelsea would win the 2^nd Leg 4-1 at Stamford Bridge, with Branislav Ivanovic scoring the winning goal in extra time. Benfica were eliminated in the quarter final before they were paired with Barcelona in an epic semi-final. Didier Drogba would score the only goal in 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge in the 1^st Leg. The 2^nd Leg at Camp Nou was a thrilling encounter that saw John Terry dismissed in the first half as Barcelona went 2-0 ahead. Ramires would score a fine goal just before half-time to give Chelsea the advantage on away goals.

Lionel Messi would miss a penalty, and with it, the opportunity to make it 3-1 and with Barcelona chasing the winner; Fernando Torres would score his now legendary equaliser at the death to send Chelsea to the Champions League Final! With the final taking place at the Allianz Arena, their opponents would be none other than the hosts - Bayern Munich!

Chelsea would ride their luck until Thomas Muller’s 83^rd minute goal gave the hosts the lead! Chelsea would be down, but certainly not out, as Didier Drogba sprang to deliver an 88^th minute equaliser! With extra-time evoked; Bayern would win a 95^th minute penalty, however, former Chelsea man – Arjen Robben, would miss the chance to give Bayern the lead! Penalties would called upon to decide the victor, and Didier Drogba, in his final stand as a Chelsea player, would score the winning penalty in the shoot-out as Chelsea became champions of Europe for the first time in their history!             

The notable players that season were:

Fernando Torres, Nicolas Anelka, Salomon Kalou, Daniel Sturridge, Romelu Lukaku, Yossi Benayoun, Eden Hazard, Marko Marin, Florent Malouda, Juan Mata, Raul Meireles, Ramires, Jon Obi Mikel, Oriol Romeu, Michael Essien, Ryan Bertrand, Alex, Gary Cahill, John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic, David Luiz, Ashley Cole, José Bosingwa, Paolo Ferreira, Petr Cech