On 9 May 2010 Chelsea beat Wigan 8-0 at Stamford Bridge to win the title, finishing the season on 103 league goals. No side had reached a hundred in a Premier League season before. Six days later they beat Portsmouth in the FA Cup final and became the first English club to do the double since Arsenal in 1971. The shirt they did it in was an adidas home shirt with SAMSUNG across the chest, and it is the shirt people are looking for when they type chelsea 2010 kit into Google.
The complication is that there are two. The 2009-10 shirt won the double. The 2010-11 shirt that replaced it is the one most often sold as the 2010 kit. They look similar in a thumbnail and they are easy to tell apart once you know where to look.
Which Chelsea kit is which
- 2009-10 home, adidas, Samsung. Royal blue, plain blue collar, no red on the front. The double-winning shirt.
- 2010-11 home, adidas, Samsung. Royal blue with a red and white V-neck collar and red trim inside the cuffs.
- 2010-11 third, adidas, Samsung. The alternative kit from the same season, and the rarest of the three.
2009-10: the season the shirt is famous for
Carlo Ancelotti's first season in England produced numbers that still stand up. Chelsea finished on 86 points, one ahead of Manchester United, with a goal difference of plus 71 and 68 goals scored at home, which remains a Premier League record. Didier Drogba scored 29 in the league and took the Golden Boot.
The shirt itself is understated for its era: royal blue, a simple collar, the adidas stripes kept to the shoulders and Samsung in plain white capitals. Nothing on it dates as badly as most 2009 football shirts do.
Two prints from that squad account for most of the demand we see. The 2009-10 home shirt with Essien 5 is the midfield of that team in one object, and the 2009-10 home shirt with Drogba 11 is the season's top scorer. The full run of Didier Drogba shirts covers both of his Chelsea spells.
2010-11: the kit most people mean by 2010
The shirt that arrived for the following season is the more decorated of the two, and it is the one that turns up most often in searches for the 2010 kit because it was on sale through most of that calendar year.
The giveaway is the neck. The 2010-11 shirt has a deep V-neck in red and white with matching red inside the cuffs, and adidas used their bodymapped panelling through the torso. Put it next to the 2009-10 shirt and the difference is obvious in a second. A 2010-11 Chelsea home shirt without a print shows the design clearly, while the same shirt with Lampard 8 is the version most buyers want. The wider set of Frank Lampard shirts is small, because they sell quickly.
The 2010-11 third shirt
Third kits from this period were produced in far smaller numbers than home shirts, which is exactly why they are worth attention now. Chelsea's 2010-11 third shirt is the hardest of the three to find in good condition, and it almost never turns up with a squad print.
How to date a Chelsea shirt from this period
Four checks, in the order we use them:
- The collar. Red and white V-neck means 2010-11. Plain blue collar with no red on the front means 2009-10.
- The sponsor wordmark. Samsung ran on the shirt from 2005 to 2015, so it narrows the decade but not the season. Use it to rule out, not to confirm.
- The wash tag. The adidas article code on the inner label is season-specific and is the only detail on the shirt that cannot be argued with.
- The name and number font. Premier League printing changed several times across these years, so a print that does not match the season is usually a later reprint rather than a fake shirt.
That last point matters commercially. A genuine shirt with a reapplied modern print is worth noticeably less than one with the original flock, and the two are easy to confuse in a listing photo taken from the front.
Why these shirts hold their value
Chelsea have won more since 2010, including two European trophies, but this is the team supporters describe as the best they have had. That combination of a record-setting season and a restrained, well-made shirt is unusual. Most kits attached to a great side are loud. This one is not, which is why it still looks wearable fifteen years later rather than like a costume.
If you are building a set from that period, the rest of the 2010s shirts gives you the wider context, and the Chelsea collection runs from the Zola years through to Hazard. Our piece on the most iconic football shirts you can own applies the same test across other clubs.
Frequently asked questions
What kit did Chelsea wear in 2010?
Two. The 2009-10 adidas home shirt was worn until May 2010 and won the league and FA Cup double. The 2010-11 shirt, with a red and white V-neck, replaced it for the rest of the calendar year.
Who made the Chelsea 2010 kit?
adidas, with Samsung as the shirt sponsor. adidas supplied Chelsea from 2006 until 2017.
What was special about Chelsea's 2009-10 season?
They scored 103 league goals, the first Premier League side to reach a hundred, set a league record of 68 goals at home, finished with a goal difference of plus 71 and won the double. Drogba scored 29 league goals and won the Golden Boot.
How do I tell the 2009-10 and 2010-11 Chelsea shirts apart?
Look at the neck. The 2010-11 shirt has a red and white V-neck collar and red inside the cuffs. The 2009-10 shirt has a plain blue collar and no red on the front.
Are Chelsea shirts from this era hard to find?
Home shirts turn up regularly. Third shirts from 2010-11 are much scarcer, and any shirt from these seasons with an original period print rather than a later reprint is harder again.