Chelsea signed former Ballon D'Or winner George Weah on loan in January of 2000. Over the course of his time at the club he played 15 games and scored 5 goals.
Weah is always fondly remembered at the club, which is almost entirely down to the goal he scored on his debut! A late winner at home to Tottenham is always going to go down well!
Here are Weah's thoughts about his goal against Spurs:
This repaint depicts Weah in the home shirt and sporting the stitching detailing the FA Cup final for that season. Weah started the final against Aston Villa, which we won 1-0, having helped us get there with a winner against Leicester in the 5th round.
Unfortunately, the Corinthians figure has short sleeves, but Weah only wore long sleeves during his time at Chelsea. Perhaps the weather was a little too cold for him!
I must admit I have mixed feelings about this figure. I'm very happy with the repaint including the white boots, but the figure itself bears little resemblance to Weah. Not only does it not look like Weah, but the skin shade is far too pale.
I have already done a Lampard repaint in the 2012-13 third kit. Now I have completed the away kit for that season, also on a Lampard figure.
A fairly straightforward repaint, though one I'm really pleased with. The fade of dark to light blue on the Adidas stripes came out very nicely.
I've already spoken a lot about Lampard in this particular season. This kit was perhaps most memorable for his two goals away at Everton at the back end of 2012. The 2-1 win ended Everton's unbeaten home run for the season and took Lampard closer to Bobby Tambling's record of 202 goals for Chelsea. At the time it was still touch and go as to whether Lampard would break the record before his contract expired in the summer, with the club seeming uninterested in renewing it.
By sheer coincidence I also painted a John Barnes figure in the Watford kit worn in their last final in 1984, which they lost 2-0 to Everton. Unfortunately Watford lost to Crystal Palace yesterday, but this feels as appropriate a time as any to share the Barnes figure!
I was really pleased with this figure and was also able to sell it on Ebay.
Not a Chelsea repaint this time! I painted this Ian Wright figure as he was one of a number of England figures I had from the Euro 1996 collection.
Following on from Crystal Palace making the FA Cup final yesterday it seems an appropriate time to share this figure of Ian Wright in the 1989-90 home kit. This was the kit worn in their last final, which also happens to be against Manchester United.
Ian Wright had a great final in 1990, coming off the bench to score twice - initially to make it 2-2, and then 3-2 shortly after the game had gone to extra time. Unfortunately for Palace, Mark Hughes scored to level things up and force a replay which United won 1-0.
This was one of the first repaints I did and that is quite evident! I did not quite get the colours of the kit right, although the transfers came out nicely considering I haven't done many striped kits before.
Nevertheless, I managed to sell it on Ebay to a Palace fan which I was very pleased with.
After a disappointing 2012-2013 season (albeit one that ended in success in the Europa League), the return of legendary manager Jose Mourinho gave the club a real boost and cause for optimism for the following year. However, having failed to replace Didier Drogba with a worthy successor, it was obvious that a new striker was needed, though this was easier said than done though!
Having failed to land Wayne Rooney from a recently Alex Fergusonless Manchester United, Mourinho turned to a striker he knew well from Inter Milan, in Samuel Eto'o.
Eto'o played an important role during the season as both Fernando Torres and Demba Ba failed impress. By the middle of the season it looked like he had cemented his place as the first choice striker scoring goals against Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal. However, his most important contribution came against Manchester United where he scored a hattrick - only the fourth player to do so against them in the Premier League era.
His goal against Tottenham was where he produced the "old man" celebration after Mourinho's comments on his strikers were captured and broadcast by an undercover reporter.
As the season entered March and April, Eto'o stopped scoring as frequently and Mourinho opted for Demba Ba as the main striker for the remainder of the season.
With the arrival of Diego Costa the following season, Eto'o departed having scored 12 goals in 26 starts. Remarkably all of his goals had come in home games!
The failure to replace Drogba for a second season running was perhaps the ultimate reason the title was not won upon Mourinho's return. Chelsea led the league in March and this continued into April despite defeats at Aston Villa and Crystal Palace.With 5 games to go Chelsea were still top (although both Man City and Liverpool had games in hand), but a defeat to Sunderland and draw with Norwich, both at home, meant they finished the season empty handed.
After an extended winter break I have started my repaints again! The cold weather and short hours of daylight meant I was unable to finish some of the repaints I had been working on last year, but having found some time over the past week to complete them, I should be able to produce some regular posts.
Not a repaint, but for Christmas I was lucky enough to receive the Petr Cech Prostar from the 2008-2009 season, one of the last Prostars ever made. These are rare and usually only available for over £70 on Ebay and often over £100 if still in the original packaging. However, I was lucky enough to get it at a bargain price!
My camera has altered the colour slightly, it is more of an orange than the red shown in the picture, and can be compared to Cech in action below.
