THE VITALS:

Team: Chelsea

Brand: Adidas

Era: 2013-14 (Used for the 2013-14 Premier League season)

Name/Number: -

CONDITION: VERY GOOD

This shirt comes in very good condition, albeit with some signs of light wear and staining in parts. The material quality itself however remains steadfast as does the club crest, Adidas embroidery and Samsung decal.

DIMENSIONS:

Size: Small

Pit to Pit Measurement: 19 inches

Shirt Length: 28 inches 

Crafted in the ‘ClimaCool’ mould that Adidas introduced ahead of the 2013-14 season; these shirts went against previous baggier conventions, and as a result, we have a fine size small fitting shirt!

DESCRIPTION:

Much like the home shirt which Adidas went ‘back to basics’, they would install a white away shirt with a twist; the white was joined by blue and red accents. While it was always common for blue to be the secondary colour, red, which Adidas first introduced in the 2010-11 home shirt, now made an appearance on the away shirt! Make no mistake, blue is the secondary colour, however, the use of the red strip across the chest and around the sleeve does make for a fine finishing touch to this fine shirt! This would also be last season of Chelsea shirts to be worn by the likes of Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and Fernando Torres.

THE SEASON:

After all the speculation, it was a reality: Jose Mourinho was back! ‘The Special One’ returned to Stamford Bridge on June 3^rd 2012, 6 years after his acrimonious exit from the club he dominated English football with for 3 seasons’ winning every domestic title available to the club between 2005-07! Unlike his first stint, there would be no huge transfer outlay, instead, a few key players would be brought in, most notably in attack where: Andre Schurrle, Willian, and Samuel Eto’o all arrived.

The second Mourinho-era began with an opponent he missed out on facing during his first spell in England: Hull City. He would be successful in his winning the opening game of the season as Chelsea won 2-0, before going 2/2, when they defeated Aston Villa 2-1. The first big test would arrive on August 26^th when they visited the champions Manchester United. A drab 0-0 draw would play out at Old Trafford, before attention was focused on the UEFA Super Cup showdown with Bayern Munich on August 30^th.

Not only was this a rematch of the 2012 Champions League Final, but it reacquainted Mourinho with his most famous managerial adversary: Pep Guardiola. A thrilling 2-2 draw after 120 minutes would unfold, however, Romelu Lukaku’s missed penalty would give Bayern the 5-4 victory in the ensuing penalty shootout. 2 weeks later, Lukaku, now on loan Everton, would see his new side beat Chelsea 1-0 on September 14^th! Chelsea would then suffer back to back defeats as their Europa League semi-final opponents last season: FC Basle, stunned them 2-1 at Stamford Bridge in their opening game of the Champions League Group Stages.

‘The Blues’ would then embark on a 9-match unbeaten streak in all competitions; 3 wins out of 3 in the league during October culminated with an excellent 2-1 win over Manchester City on October 27^th, and then 2 days later, Chelsea defeated Arsenal 2-0 to reach the 5^th round of the League Cup. The game would see Juan Mata keep his incredible of scoring in every game he played against Arsenal as a Chelsea player, It would also prove to be the final goal of his Chelsea career.

Chelsea would visit Newcastle United on November 2^nd for the early kick-off, however, they would squander the chance to go top as they were beaten 2-0. That defeat would then be followed up with a 2-2 with West Bromwich Albion on November 9^th. A trio of wins over West Ham United, Southampton and Sunderland brought Chelsea within 4 points of league leaders Arsenal, however, a sensational 3-2 defeat at the hands of Stoke City would dent their upward trajectory. On the European front, they would successfully reach the Last 16 of the Champions League when they topped their group; their opponents when the competition restarted in 2014 would be Galatasaray. There would be disappointment in the League Cup sadly, as Sunderland stunned Chelsea 2-1 on December 17^th, ending their foray at the quarter final stage.

The new Mourinho machine would really come into its own in the league from mid-December as the win over Crystal Palace on December 14^th sparked a 14-match unbeaten tilt in the league. The December 23^rd meeting with Arsenal would end goalless at the Emirates, however, it was Liverpool who had taken 1^st position, Chelsea meanwhile, were just 2 points behind them with a meeting to come at Stamford Bridge on December 29^th! The ever-changing landscape at the summit of the division took its latest turn when Chelsea defeated Liverpool 2-1 and would go into 2014 in 3^rd place and just 2 points behind Arsenal.

The Winter Transfer Market saw Nemanja Matic return to the club and perennial thorn in the side: Mohamed Salah of Basle recruited, meanwhile the club bade farewell to Kevin De Bruyne, Michael Essien and Juan Mata.

The New Year began with a 3-0 win over Southampton and would have their 5^th league win in a row wrapped up as a Samuel Eto’o hat-trick decimated Manchester United 3-1 on January 19^th! The double would be completed over Man City and then not to squander the same opportunity; in the reverse fixture with Newcastle United on February 8^th, Chelsea would defeat ‘the Magpies’ 3-0 thanks to an Eden Hazard hat-trick and would move to the top of the table! The month of February would end with Chelsea leading the way by a point and with an away goal to bring back to Stamford Bridge in the 2^nd Leg of their Champions League meeting with Galatasaray.

Chelsea’s 14 match league run culminated with a statement making 4-0 thrashing of Tottenham Hotspur on March 8^th! Aston Villa would spring the surprise end to that run on March 15^th, but the defeat would be quickly forgotten as Chelsea reached the Champions League quarter final when they defeated Gala’ 2-0 3 days later. Next would be the visit of Arsenal and again, Chelsea would embarrass one of last season’s top-6 at home, when his side won 6-0! The win brought them 7 points of distance from ‘the Gunners’, and the final quarter of the season would be an intense 3-horse race between Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool.

The world watched eagerly on April 2^nd as Paris Saint Germain welcomed Chelsea to the Parc De Princes for the 1^st Leg of their Champions League quarter final clash. PSG would claim a 3-1 win, but in Eden Hazard’s away goal, there was at least something to inspire hope ahead of the 2^nd Leg in 6 days time. A Mourinho masterclass would unfold at the Bridge as Andre Schurrle and Demba Ba scored the 2 goals needed as Chelsea were in the Champions League semi-final thanks to a 3-3 away goal progression.

With City making up games in hand and Liverpool looking nothing short of irresistible; Chelsea lost their strangle hold on 1^st place, and then on April 19^th, Jose Mourinho would lose in the league for first time at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea when relegation-battling Sunderland stunned them 2-1. Before the trip to Anfield came the trip to the Vicente Calderon as Atletico Madrid welcomed Chelsea for the 1^st Leg of their Champions League semi-final, The game would end 0-0 with ‘The Blues’ knowing that victory, or simply not conceding at home would get them to the final in Lisbon on May 24^th!

League leaders Liverpool put their 16 match unbeaten league run, which stood at 11 consecutive win on the line against Chelsea where victory for Liverpool would have likely set them up for the capture of the title. Chelsea would have other ideas however, as Steven Gerrard’s now infamous slip set the tone for a 2-0 Chelsea win, and the chance for Chelsea to even steal the title! Before they could think about that, they’d need to ward off the challenge of Atletico Madrid, it would be a task too far however. Fernando Torres would score against his former club, however a 2^nd half collapse saw Chelsea lose 3-1 at home. A 0-0 draw with Norwich would then end the title dream, before the season finished with a 2-1 win over Cardiff City to seal a 3^rd place finish.

The notable players that season were:

Fernando Torres, Demba Ba, Samuel Eto’o, Andre Schurrle, Eden Hazard, Juan Mata, Mohamed Salah, Willian, Kevin De Bruyne, Oscar, Ramires, Jon Obi Mikel, Nemanja Matic, Cesar Azpilicueta, Gary Cahill, John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic, David Luiz, Ashley Cole, Nathan Ake, Petr Cech