Distinct colour, good styling, comfortable, good build quality .
Disadvantages:
Colour is not to everyones taste . Plain back if it's not got a name and number .
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
The 05/06 season was the last one that Chelsea had Umbro shirts, before switiching to Adidas. This, the last away shirt they designed, could have been an opportunity to go wild and create something spectacularly good, bad or indeed ugly. Instead, Umbro restrained themsleves and produced a very simple shirt that proves plain doesn't have to be dull.
The basics are:-
Baby blue in colour with a very dark blue trim. Embroidered Umbro log on the right of the chest. Cloth Chelsea club badge on the left of the chest. Printed Samsung Mobile sponsor across the middle. Item code, for the short sleeve version, is 735718JAP. Manufactured in the Umbro X-Static material. Official product hologram near the lower left seam.
Personally, I think this is a great shirt although the baby blue colour won't be to everyone's tastes. I think it's a gret choice as it's different from most other blues used in shirts but is muted enough to be classy.
The styling is, again, simple but works very well. The dark blue trim detail is just enough to give it something extra. Without, it would have been a very plain shirt and not worked nearly as well. The short, flat collar looks great as well. It's just enough to add more interest to the design but doesn't look out of place. (See Liverpools 06/07 home shirt by Adidas for a poorly designed collar and you'll know what I mean.)
The back of the shirt is very plain indeed, the same baby blue all the way over with no trim or detail. It's no big fault but if you can get an official name and number put on then it enhances it greatly.
The sleeves and lower hem, areas that shirt designers sometimes like to play around with, are very plain but in keeping with the shirt design. Overall, I like the styling a lot. The only change I would make, would be to add more of the dark trim in the lower half of the shirt but I'm being very picky.
As for comfort, the X-Static material is very nice to wear. The X-static material is an amazing innovation. It is a layer of pure silver that is adhered to the polyester fabric of the shirt. It's manufactured in such a way that it acts exactly as the material does. The benefits of the silver are that it reflects heat, for cooling, and best of all it is anti-bacterial, which reduces odour. The outside of the shirt looks ever so slightly rough, like it would be a bit distracting to wear, but once you put one on you hardly know that it's there. The fit is very nice, fitting quite closely but without leaving you feeling restricted. The neck width is good, making both wear/removal and playing in it problem free. (Some other manufacturers shirts suffer from a neck that feels too tight or makes putting the shirt on a bit of a struggle even though it's the correct size.) The underarms and side panels are mesh so that you feel cool and the inside of the shirt stays airy, this also helps remove persperation quickly.
The material stays comfortable even when wet so on a particularly hot or rainy day, you won't feel like it's glued to your skin (a problem with the Kappa skin tight shirts) and it dries very quickly. It is also very durable and not as prone to nicks and pulls, unlike many Nike, Adidas and Reebok shirts.
Care of the shirt is quite straightforward. From my experience, simply wash at 30 degrees on a gentle cycle with your normal washing powder. I don't bother with conditioner unless it's a 2-in-1 detergent. DO NOT tumble dry your football shirts, instead hang them on a rack in a warm room or line dry them. Tumble drying of football shirt material usually results in shrinkage and a lot of printed decals peel away in the heat of a dryer, even set at low heat. I usually wash a dozen or so of my football shirts together, all different makes, colours and materials and have never had a problem when following these guidelines.
I've included some pictures with the review fo a couple of key features that should help you spot fakes(As well as the shirt with a name and number so you can see how good that looks). If it's still got the original swing tags, those tags should consist of a black X-static tag describing the material and a blue Chelsea tag with the club badge, year of the shirt printed on. The opposite side of that tag should have the white Umbro label with the product details on, including the size. Running a short way up from the lower, left hem there should be a rubber strip that's a few inches long with the club details printed on.
The back of the neck should have a close up of part of the Chelsea badge's lion printed with the X-Static and Umbro logos printed on top. The small size tag is just off to the side, although on used shirt this may be missing as it's designed to be removed. If it's new with original bag, the shirt should be nicely folded around a cardboard insert and held in place with plastic clips The lower right (as you look at it) of the bag should have a white printed label with the size, item code and name of the shirt.
Sizing is pretty standard with the following approximate chest sizes:-
Small 34/36" Medium 38/40" Large 42/44" Extra Large 46/48" XXL 50/52"
You may still see these shirts in the odd sports shop but your best bet is to go online. Many online stores should have them and I would expect to pay no more than £15 plus postage. They don't come up for sale on eBay too often so they may go quite high in auction but, as always, it's worth trying as you may just grab a bargain. Long sleeve versions of this shirt are quite rare so will probably go for much more than the short sleeve.
