THE VITALS:

Team: Manchester City

Brand: Umbro

Era: 2009-10 (Used for the 2009-10 Premier League season)

Name/Number: Tevez #32

CONDITION: EXCELLENT

This shirt remains in wonderful condition with the cotton texture revealing very little bobbling or wear, while the sponsor decal, club crest and name and numbering print are nothing short of immaculate.

DIMENSIONS:

Size: 38

Pit to Pit Measurement: 20 inches

Shirt Length: 27.5 inches

Made in the ‘Tailored by Umbro in England’ range crafted by Umbro ahead of the 2009-10 season; the dimensions of this shirt would probably be better suited to size medium than a size small.

DESCRIPTION:

One season following the start of the Mansour-era of ownership of Manchester City, the City home shirt would undergo a complete makeover, with Umbro taking over from Le Coq Sportif as the club’s shirt supplier, while Mansour owned Etihad Airways became the club’s main shirt sponsor. You are going to be hard-pressed to find a shirt that combined simplicity and class so wonderfully than this effort by Umbro! Using a cool shade of sky-blue and a white collar; this shirt was the antithesis of the more elaborate designs used be Le Coq Sportif in what was a fine debut offering from Umbro.

THE SEASON:

One of the most ambitious projects in world football would have an ultimately disappointing debut season, as Manchester City finished 10^th at the 2008-09 season. To facilitate the rate at which City would bridge the gap between themselves and the division’s elite; the powers that be at Eastlands would give Mark Hughes a eye watering transfer kitty to bolster his squad with ahead of the new season. Teams from rivals to the Europa League, to top 4 incumbents, to the champions Manchester United themselves felt first-hand, the extent of City’s financial might! Jolean Lescott, Roque Santa Cruz and Gareth Barry were signed from Everton, Blackburn Rovers and Aston Villa, Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor were signed from Arsenal; however, the statement signing was no doubt the procurement of Carlos Tevez who was left unattached following his refusal to join Manchester United on a permanent basis. Adebayor quickly started to repay his transfer fee as he scored in all 4 City’s opening league wins, the fourth of which was a stunning 4-2 win over Arsenal on 12/09/09. After a controversial 4-3 defeat to Manchester United on September 20^th, they would embark on a 10-match unbeaten streak; the asterisk was that 8 of those games ended as a draw. A 3-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on December 16^th would spell the end of Mark Hughes’ tenure as the City manager, and Roberto Mancini would replace the Welshman. Hughes would leave the club having guided them to a Carling Cup semi-final, however, the new regime signalled a 4 match winning run that bled into 2010, with Carlos Tevez really taking off under his new manager, netting 6 goals in those 4 wins. City would win the first leg of their Carling Cup semi-final against Manchester United but would fall just short in their quest to reach Wembley. From the end of January to their 5-1 win over Birmingham City on 11/04/10; City would go 7-2-3 in their 12 league games and would be in a shoot-out with Spurs to claim that 4^th and final Champions League place. Failure to defeat either Manchester United and Arsenal in their next two games would see Aston Villa overtake them in 5^th place, however, they would beat Villa 3-1 to reclaim 5^th, and in their next game, they’d meet Spurs in the game dubbed the “Champions League Play-Off Game”, unfortunately, they’d fall 1-0 to Harry Redknapp’s side, and would have to ultimately settle for a 5^th place finish.

The notable players that season were:

Emmanuel Adebayor, Carlos Tevez, Craig Bellamy, Benjani, Roque Santa Cruz, Robinho, Shaun Wright-Philips, Adam Johnson, Martin Petrov, Stephen Ireland, Michael Johnson, Gareth Barry, Nigel De Jong, Patrick Vieira, Vincent Kompany, Dedryk Boyata, Sylvinho, Javier Garrido, Micah Richards, Joleon Lescott, Kolo Toure, Pablo Zabaleta, Nedum Onouha, Wayne Bridge, Shay Given