THE VITALS:

Team: Chelsea

Brand: Adidas

Era: 2016-17 (Used for the 2016-17 Premier League season)

Name/Number: -

CONDITION: EXCELLENT

This article is in near mint condition, demonstrating very little signs of wear or use, with the material and applications standing in exceptional stead!

DIMENSIONS:

Size: 15-16 Yrs

Pit to Pit Measurement: 18.5 inches

Shirt Length: 26 inches 

Made by Adidas in their ‘ClimaCool’ template which they introduced ahead in 2016; this shirt lends itself to wonderful dimensions for a size small football shirt!

DESCRIPTION:

Adidas’ final home shirt that they made for a Chelsea would be remembered as a classic both on and off the field! Masterfully utilising their new template; this shirt would include the use of the Adidas 3-stripes down the side panel, however, the salient features of the shirt would be the use of a white v-neck collar; almost creating a throwback to the home shirt Umbro made for the 2003-05 seasons, and the use of the lion from the clubs emblem adorning the shirt! On the field, this would be the shirt synonymous with Antonio Conte’s phenomenal debut season in charge as he guided the club to their 5^th Premier League title and the FA Cup Final! This would also be the last Chelsea home shirt to be worn by their legendary captain – John Terry, as well as modern club legends: Nemanja Matic, Diego Costa, Branislav Ivanovic, Mikel and Oscar.

THE SEASON:

Nobody, absolutely nobody, could have predicted the demise of Chelsea in 2015-16; finishing in 10^th place 12 months after winning the Premier League title! However, in a season that saw Leicester City stun the world to win the title; the club were prepared to write the season off as an anomaly and get back on the horse again in 2016-17; especially with Pep Guardiola arriving in the division and one – Jose Mourinho, now taking the reins at Manchester United!

In this unprecedented season that seemingly lured the best of the world’s managerial genius to the Premier League; ‘The Blues’ sure weren’t going miss out on their place at the table as they drafted Antonio Conte from the Italian National Team post to guide the club in 2016-17 and beyond.

Michy Batshuayi would be entrusted in succeed where Radamel Falcao and Pato failed in the previous season, while N’Golo Kante, Marcos Alonso and the returning David Luiz complete the most notable of the clubs new signings in the summer of 2016.

The season would begin with 3 wins, however after a draw with Swansea and then back to back defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal; the vultures were already swooning around Conte and his side. The latter defeat would spark the catalyst of change as Conte unearthed his tried and trusted 3-5-2 formation and instigated a consciousness change in the division as his side set a Premier League record of 13 straight wins between October 1^st to December 31^st!

A defeat to Tottenham on January 4^th 2017 did nothing to derail the trajectory of Chelsea as they reeled off another 6 wins in their next 8 games to make it a matter of when, rather than if, they were going to be crowned as champions. Michy Batshuayi’s 82^nd minute winner against West Bromwich Albion on May 12^th would be the day that they were confirmed as champions, and the Belgian would net a lat brace in their 5-1 win over Sunderland on the final day of the season, in what was John Terry’s final game in a Chelsea shirt!

The vintage of 2016-17 would end with Chelsea equalling the Premier League records for consecutive wins in a season (13), fewest draws in a season (3), fewest home draws in a season (0), and home and away wins against different sides (12). They also managed to break the record for number of wins in a season (30), as well as record the second-highest points tally in Premier League history (93)!

In the FA Cup, Chelsea looked unstoppable en-route to the Final as they defied: Peterborough, Brentford, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur; however, they would be upset 2-1 by Arsenal in the May 27^th finale, as Conte came just short of Carlo Ancelotti’s feat of completing the league and FA Cup double in his debut season in charge. This game would also prove to be Nemanja Matic and Diego Costa’s final game’s for Chelsea as they moved on to Manchester United and Atletico Madrid respectively.    

The notable players that season were:

Michy Batshuayi, Diego Costa, Pedro, Charly Musonda, Nathaniel Chalobah, Eden Hazard, Kenedy, Willian, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Oscar, N'Golo Kanté, Mikel, Nemanja Matic, Cesc Fabregas, Nathan Ake, Cesar Azpilicueta, Gary Cahill, David Luiz, John Terry, Kurt Zouma, Marcos Alonso, Thibaut Courtois, Asmir Begovic