Tales of the tassels

Saturday 8th August 1992

A 9 year old me enjoying the school summer holidays was excited at the prospect of going to watch Chelsea at Bristol City in a pre season friendly. It was also just one week before the launch of the newly named Premier League. Chelsea had already signed John Spencer, Robert Fleck, Mick Harford, Joe Allon and Mal Donaghy and we lived in hope we finally had some fire power up front.

Me, my dad and my brother Steve were on route to Ashton Gate. The journey was disastrous in all honesty with terrible traffic and we got to the ground at 3:50pm missing the entire first half with the score 1-1. As we found our spot on the away terrace I remember my brother eagerly whispering to me, “Chris, Chris, look, look the man behind us has the new away shirt.”

The Official Chelsea Home & Away Kit Advertisements for the 1992/93 and 1993/94 seasons.

I turned around and there it was, white with red pin stripes and a red lace collar with the classic commodore sponsor across the middle. It was a time when I never got my own shirt and I was still getting Steve’s hand-me- downs being the younger brother. The game finished 2-1 to Bristol City. The 1992/93 season in all honesty wasn’t one to remember. We started well but soon fell away finishing in eleventh place with David Webb replacing manager Ian Porterfield later on in the season.

As we know football kits lasted two seasons in those days and by the summer of 1993 I finally got the away shirt I so desperately wanted.

Summer 1993

It felt like we were heading into a new era as the 1993/94 season approached. Glenn Hoddle was announced as the new player manager that saw attacker Gavin Peacock arrive soon after. There was a new home kit that now had the ‘AMIGA’ logo across the front instead of ‘commodore’. Although they were the same company it was thought that the away kit (now entering its second season) would also change sponsor. Out and about in my local town centre with my mum and brother we went into our local sports shop. We couldn’t believe it! The away shirt was being sold for just £5! We asked the shop keeper why? He told us that it would be re-released with ‘AMIGA’ across the front and he needed to get rid of the old stock. Inevitably my mum bought the shirts for me and Steve, my very first Chelsea shirt that was mine and not one of Steve’s hand-me-downs. To make things even sweeter the shirt remained having ‘commodore’ across the shirt throughout the whole 1993/94 season.

’SHOOT’ Magazine Poster & Official matchday programme from the classic encounter against Tottenham.

Chelsea had struggled for consistency in the league and at times flirted with relegation. We did however make it to our first F.A Cup Final in 24 years. There were some memorable victories as we did the double over Manchester United (the only team to do it that season) and beat Tottenham 4-3 in an epic match at Stamford Bridge. A team was being built around very likeable players including Dennis Wise, John Spencer, Mark Stein and Gavin Peacock. The personal highlight for me was being the mascot for the day when we beat Liverpool 1-0 at Stamford Bridge in September 1993. Although it wasn’t always straight forward during this time, the general consensus amongst supporters was Glenn building something at Chelsea and on reflection thirty years on it was him who laid the foundations for the success that came in the late 1990’s. This would eventually lead to the Roman Abramovich takeover in 2003.

It’s fantastic to see the re-release of the 1992/94 away kit that brings back many childhood memories. I’ll certainly be looking forward to the next release, perhaps the black and yellow 1993/94 third kit? I have story about that one as well…..

Written By Chris Wright

Twitter: @chriswrightzz

Instagram: @chelsearewind