Wise 90-91 (3rd)

Chelsea wearing a red kit, surely not?! No, your eyes aren't deceiving you, and there is no mistake, back in the 90-91 season Chelsea did wear this kit. For any Premier League era supporters it may seem unlikely, but it is in fact only in the last 30 years or so that the club haven't had a red away kit for any extended period of time.

This particular kit was only worn on two occasions as far as I'm aware, both of which ended in defeat!

Stepney 66-67 (GK)

It's pretty rare you can repaint figures from this far back in time (especially if you don't support Man Utd or Liverpool), but here is Alex Stepney who played just a solitary match for Chelsea back in 1966 against Southampton.

Stepney was originally signed to play in alternate weeks to Peter Bonetti, but that clearly didn't work out as Stepney was sold to Manchester United just a few weeks into the season. It's safe to say it wasn't a bad move for either parties as Stepney went on to win it all, whilst Bonetti cemented his place as a Chelsea legend.

Of course Corinthian collectors may not be too pleased that I have painted over a pretty rare figure taken from the 1968 European Cup winners pack but, on this occasion, I'm happy to report I'm not the guilty party! I actually purchased this figure in an already repainted state, albeit not very well, which perhaps that was why I managed to get it so cheap!

It's a very simple repaint, the kit was all green back then with just the badge and number on the back. Unfortunately the old Chelsea badge of the time does not come out too clearly on the decal with the "CFC" being in such a fine font style.

Makelele 06-08 (h)

This kit may look familiar to Corinthian collectors as a team pack was actually released in 2007 which contained most of Chelsea's first team squad. A notable omission was Claude Makelele who is depicted below.

Makelele was one of the most important, yet least heralded, players of the Chelsea team during the mid 2000s despite having a position named after him! As well as his breaking up of play; positioning; and quick and simple passing of the ball, I particularly remember Makelele for his extraordinary jumping ability for a fairly short player. In our numerous tussles with Liverpool during Makelele's time at Chelsea it wasn't uncommon for him to outleap Peter Crouch and win the ball in the air.

Zenden 01-03 (h)

Bolo Zenden is another player from the Middlesbrough League Cup winners pack that I've repainted, with Mark Schwarzer being the other. I misjudged the size of the name and number of the back of the shirt, but other than that I'm pleased with this one.

Zenden's time at Chelsea didn't really work out as he was often injured, but I recall he did manage to score a good goal at home to Man Utd at the start of his second season with us. He was loaned out to Middlesbrough the following season before joining permanently a year later.

By the middle of the 2000s Zenden was a squad member of the Liverpool side we were seemingly constantly battling in cup competitions. He obviously struck up a good relationship with his manager, Rafa Benitez, as by the 2012-13 season he ended up back at Chelsea as assistant to Benitez whilst the Spaniard took on a fractious few months as "interim" manager.