THE VITALS:

Team: AS Roma

Brand: Kappa

Era: 2002-03 (Used for the 2002-03 Serie A season)

Name/Number: -

CONDITION: VERY GOOD

At nearly 20 years old, it is my pleasure to report that this shirt is still very good condition! Granted, there are signs of wear and bobbling that are to be expected, however, the sponsor and embroidery and shirt material in general have still been wonderfully maintained!

DIMENSIONS:

Size: Large Boys

Pit to Pit Measurement: 19 inches

Shirt Length: 25 inches

Made by Kappa as part of their now legendary series of shirts they released in 2002; this shirt may possibly fit a size small given the stretchy material that these shirts were synonymous for having!

DESCRIPTION: 

Roma’s classic first Kappa cycle would conclude following the 2002-03 season, and both the domestic and European shirts would be a fine send off! For the first time during their fine 3 seasons working together; Kappa would produce an all-black strip for Roma, and the result was every bit as spectacular as one would imagine! The shirt would be all black, however the grey stitching around the panels does a fantastic job of breaking up the shirt to create yet another classic in the first pantheon of shirts made by Kappa for Roma between 2000-2002! This season would also be the first season that Roma used Mazda as their main shirt sponsor, and this would be Gabriel Batistuta’s final season with the club as he departed mid-way through the campaign!   

THE SEASON:

After the incredible title race for the 2001-02 Scudetto; Roma would fall short in their title defence by just a single point! Fabio Capello would see the likes of: Luigi Sartor, Josep Guardiola, Traianos Dellas and Olivier Dacour added to his squad as they looked to unseat Juventus and reclaim their title!

It became apparent early on that the consistency which defined their previous 2 seasons had betrayed them as they only won 6 of their 15 games in the 2002 portion of the season! 2003 would begin with the 3 straight defeats, however, results would improve as the year progressed and they would play a part in derailing the title bids of: AC Milan, Inter Milan and Lazio, but would still ultimately only secure a disappointing 8^th place finish.

In the cup competitions, Roma would again bow out of the UEFA Champions League in the 2^nd Group Stage; along the way however, they would enjoy defeating Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on Match-Day 5 of the 1^st Group Stage, but only 1 win in a super competitive 2^nd Group Stage would ultimately be their undoing. The Coppa Italia would be the shining light of ‘I Giallorossi’s season as they reached the final, notably, eliminating Lazio in the semi-finals before being beaten 6-3 over 2 legs by AC Milan in the Finale.

The notable players that season were:

Gabriel Batistuta, Vincenzo Montella, Francesco Totti, Antonio Cassano, Marco Delvecchio, Daniele De Rossi, Gianni Guigou, Alberto Aquilani, Damiano Tomassi, Olivier Dacourt, Emerson, Francisco Lima, Diego Fuser, Vincent Candela, Traianos Dellas, Christian Panucci, Walter Samuel, Leandro Cufre, Aldair, Jonathan Zebina, Luigi Sartor, Cafu, Ivan Pelizzoli, Francesco Antonioli