Chelsea 95-97: 

 

Achievements 95/96:

Premier League: 11th

FA Cup: Semi-Final (2-1 loss to Manchester United)

League Cup: R2 (1-0 replay loss to Stoke City)

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Achievements 96/97:

Premier League: 6th (Qualification for Cup Winners Cup)

FA Cup: Winners (2-0 win against Middlesbrough)

League Cup: R3 (2-1 loss to Bolton Wanderers)

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1995 marked the beginning of a new era for Chelsea as Manager Glenn Hoddle drafted in dutch midfielder maestro, Ruud Gullit. Gullit was runner-up in the Premier League Player of the year (with Eric Cantona actually winning the the award) and took the helm when Hoddle left to manager the England National Team. Chelsea's made the Semi-Finals of the FA Cup, beaten by 2-1 by Manchester United although they struggled in the Premier League and had a round 2 exit from the League Cup at the hands of replay loss to Stoke City. Chelsea began to bring in the likes of Roberto Di Matteo, Gianluca Vialli, Frank Leboeuf and Gianfranco Zola as they looked to become genuine title contenders. The result of this was a 6th Place finish in the league and an FA Cup win - a 26 year trophy drought ended and Gullit went into the history books as the first foreign manager to win a major trophy whilst in charge of an English club. Unfortunately their League Cup exit to Bolton Wanderers was a tragic day for the club as vice chairman Matthew Harding was killed in a Helicopter crash whilst returning from the match. Matthew's investment in the club enable them the rebuilt new areas of the stadium and the North Stand is named The Matthew Harding Stand in his memory.

Kit: The new strip debuted on "date" and was worn against "team" resulting in a "score" win/draw/loss. It was worn until "date" in which Chelsea played "Team" in which they "won/draw/loss" "score" Chelsea's strip was made by Umbro and Coors sponsored them. The kit itself is very accurate and doesn't miss any of the finer detailing, the only slight flaw was that the blue was a few shades too dark and needed to be royal blue, aside from this it is one of the most accurate Corinthian produced.
Rating: 9/10