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This season’s FA Cup campaign marks 50 years since Chelsea’s first ever triumph in the competition, and the club and/or Nike have decided to honor that by releasing a special fourth/Cup kit for the occasion.
You may of course call it a money-grab, if you’re of the more cynical persuasion, though at least the heart and the design are in the right place this time.
As we’ve seen in the impressive teasers and leaks, and the less than impressive first shots in the wild, the kit is an all-blue number — including both sponsors, Yokohama on the chest and Hyundai on the left sleeve, as well as the Nike swoosh — with yellow accents for the ‘70s style stripe on the shorts, the ‘10s (that’s 2010s) stripe on the nape of the neck, and the old school massive shirt numbers on the back. The pièce de résistance is of course the badge, which is a throwback to the one from the replay of the 1970 FA Cup final, where we triumphed over Leeds United.
The kit’s complete with matching socks with two blue stripes. Overall it’s a fantastic look, even if the materials may not be as impressive in person as they are on the players — but that’s generally true with most performance materials (“a modern silicone execution”, as Nike put it).
Hopefully some similarly fantastic training and lifestyle gear will accompany this release, as we’ve seen teased as well.
The kit will be worn for the first (and hopefully not last) time in our FA Cup third round match against Nottingham Forest on January 5, and it will go on sale in the Megastore as well as Nike.com on January 2.
