Chelsea shirt | Blue is the colour

A new shirt for a new era

It's been a difficult year for Chelsea FC. New manager, Maurizio Sarri, have had his trouble after taking over from Antonio Conte for the start of the 2018/19 season. After a brilliant start to the season, Chelsea experienced a dip in form and are currently not in the top 4. Sarri's guys still has a good chance reaching a top 4 spot and they are still competing in Europa League. They are into the quarterfinals and are going up against Slavia Prague. Sarri really influenced Chelsea's way of playing the game from his first day at the club and he's a character! One of the first things he did as a Chelsea manager was bringing in fan favourite, Gianfranco Zola, as his assistant. Will Sarri keep his job at Chelsea if this season ends in failure or will Roman Abramovich look for a replacement? So many questions surrounding Chelsea, but one thing is for sure; Chelsea is still considered one of the biggest clubs in the world! That's why we got our hands on this season's Chelsea shirt at took it for a review.

SportMember reviews: The new Chelsea shirt.

Here at SportMember, we took a look at the new Chelsea shirt and tested it thoroughly. Chelsea and Nike agreed to a 15-year shirt deal in 2016, which of course means that the Nike logo is on the chest of the new Chelsea shirt. They made the shirt in 100% reused polyester. The shirt has Nike's well-known 'Dri-FIT'-technology, which helps you stay dry and comfortable during the whole match or practice. The shirt also is produced with raglan-sleeves, which helps your arm mobility in the shirt. 

"BLUE IS THE COLOUR": The pride of the Chelsea shirt

Last season's Chelsea shirt was all blue, which is the colour we all associate with Chelsea. In the 2018/19 season, Nike gave the shirt a little extra with some added colours. They added "speed stripes" in repectively white and red from the side of the shirt and towards the middle in both front and back of the shirt. But red? A controversial choice of colour on a Chelsea shirt. 

Here at SportMember, we researched why Nike suddenly chose to switch up on the colours of "The Blues" in London. To find the explanation, we have to look back in the history books. Red has actually been a part of the colours back in the days. Also, Chelsea FC and the Chelsea Pensioners has always been closely connected since the founding in 1905. Chelsea Pensioners is a veteran home who always wore red jackets and was a part of the Chelsea logo through four decades. And in some way, red had it's place on the chelsea kit up untill the 90's. That's the reason Nike reintroduced the red colour as a part of the notorious blue Chelsea shirt.

The design of the shirt is also inspired by the past. Nike tried to emulate the shirt from the 1984/85-season in a more modern version. That shirt also had red and white stripes running across the shirt in a pin-striped pattern. A modern touch to a shirt where the new "speed stripes" symbolises the speed of the game, according to Nike. 

On the chest, the lion is embroidered as a regular part of the Chelsea logo since the start of the 1950's. On top of that, the Chelsea lion os also printed in the neck to examplify the club feeling of "The Blues". As a last, nice detail, the shirt has an emblem on the inside of the neck. The emblem has the number 1905 and is sorrounded by the words "Blue is the colour", the title of Chelseas own song. 

Final conclusions: Chelsea's shirt

• When you wear the shirt, you really feel how thin and nice the fabric is. It's incredibly light and it almost feel like wearing nothing.
• The ventilation of the shirt is good and really helps to keep you dry while using the shirt.
• The new design of the Chelsea really added extra life to the shirt. The "speed stripes" really added a little extra somthing.