Deschamps 98-00 (a)

Deschamps only played for Chelsea for one season (1999-2000), which saw us compete in the Champions League for the first time and win the FA Cup in the last final at the old Wembley.

Corinthians made Deschamps figures in both the home and third kits of that season and so I decided to repaint this one in the yellow away strip. It is the second figure I have repainted in this strip with Tore Andre Flo being the other. This example demonstrates that seen in Champions League games with the distinctive font used on the name and number.

The Corinthians sculpt is not particularly good in my opinion. For a start it doesn't actually resemble Deschamps very well facially. Secondly, the figure is taller than most of the others Corinthians produced which is weird considering Deschamps was only 5' 8"!

Deschamps is pictured before the Hertha Berlin game below in the front row, fourth from the left.

Lampard 08-09 (3rd)

This is the second Lampard figure I've done. The first can be found here. Again, the more common Lampard sculpt has been used, this time for the 2008-2009 third kit.

Chelsea didn't use the kit too often during the season, but being drawn away to Everton in the FA Cup Final required a change strip to be used. Of course, the yellow third kit was much more aesthetically pleasing than than the fairly boring black away kit, hence the decision to wear it in the final.

The season had been fairly disappointing. For the first time in six seasons Chelsea would not finish in the top two having slumped during the winter fixtures. Scolari's era had started positively with some good football and strong results but this faded and, furthermore, the proud 86 match home unbeaten league run was lost.

Being out of contention in the league meant a shift in focus to cup competitions under the stewardship of caretaker Guus Hiddink. Had it not been for a certain Scandinavian referee the elusive Champions League might have finally been won, but I prefer not to talk about that! Instead Chelsea had to settle for an enjoyable FA Cup win over Everton at a sunny Wembley.

Lampard was at the height of his powers during the season, though struggled during the winter - coinciding with the club's poor form. As the end of the season drew closer it looked as though Lamps might miss out on scoring 20+ goals for the season for the first time in four years. However, he netted in the final to bag his 20th goal (he also finished the season with 19 assists)!

The goal will be remembered for repeating his father's corner flag celebration as shown in the video.

Cudicini 05-06

Corinthians didn't release any figures of Chelsea goalkeepers during the 2005-2006 season, which was the club's centenary year. To mark this, a new badge had been created and the home kits had a gold trim for the season.

Cudicini had been at the club for a while in 2005, but was second choice goalkeeper following the arrival of Cech the previous season. In the seasons prior to Cech's arrival Cudicini had been one of, if not, the best keeper in the league and so it was unknown who new manager Mourinho would choose in 2004. Ultimately decideding on the younger Cech was of course the right decision, if a little unfair on Cudicini.

Carlo was happy to fight for his place in the team which was a good situation for Chelsea, who were left with what was probably the best number 1 and 2 goalkeepers in the world at the time.

Not the tallest of keepers, Cudicini is remembered by supporters as an excellent shot stopper, superb in one-on-one situations, especially penalties! In fact, of the 13 penalties he faced in blue, he saved 6 of them!

Here are some of Carlo's most memorable moments:

During the 2005-2006 season, Carlo played 11 times, the majority of which were in the FA Cup run which ended against Liverpool in the semi finals.

A biography of Cudicini's time at the club can be found here.

John Terry 14-15 (a)

As I've been working on these repaints I have tried to work out which kits I could paint with the spare figures I have. Naturally, as the years pass only the older players will have been produced by Corinthians. For last season, there were only two players made by Corinthians: John Terry and Cesc Fabregas. Fortunately I have plenty of John Terry figures going spare!

This yellow away kit is one of my favoured versions in recent years (Chelsea away kits should always be either yellow or white!).

John Terry had one of his best seasons with the club last year playing every single minute in the Premier League as we won the title comfortably (happier times!).

Here's his exquisite shinned goal that effectively secured us the title away at Leicester in April. I'll be hoping, rather than expecting a similar outcome this weekend when we travel to the King Power this weekend!

Dan Petrescu 97-99 (h)

Corinthians didn't release too many players in the 97-99 home shirt for Chelsea. There was meant to be a team pack of 12 released as part of a Match of the Day promotion but it didn't materialise. You can compare my effort with the unreleased Corinthians figure below.

I was a bit disappointed to have messed up the transfer on the back. The shirt and skin colours also required the use of some gloss paint which produces the shiny effect!

Petrescu was a very talented player: technically gifted and defensively sound he would have been a brilliant modern day full/wing back. That being said, he was also very talented in his time, initially playing wing back before converting to right midfield for an improving Chelsea side. Biographies of Petrescu's time at Chelsea are given by the club and Sporting Heroes.

Ashley Cole 11-12 (a)

The latest addition to my collection is this Ashley Cole figure which has been repainted into the 2011-2012 away kit. I can't say Chelsea have particularly fond memories of the kit, in fact I can barely remember a game in which we used it!

The one that does stand out is away at Napoli in the Champions League - a game we lost 3-1. It could have been worse though, had Cole not cleared a shot off the line in the latter stages shown at 0.47 here.

He went on to repeat the trick against Barcelona in the semi finals.