Gianfranco Zola

Chelsea, with a little Parma

Around 44 Zola shirts are listed: roughly 39 are Chelsea and five are Parma. There is nothing from Napoli, where he played alongside Diego Maradona and won the Serie A title in 1989-90, and no Italy shirt in the range, though he was capped 35 times. The dates run from 1995-96 to 2002-04, covering the Parma years and the whole of his Chelsea career.

Twenty-five in London, ten in Parma

The number separates the two clubs at a glance. At Chelsea he wore #25, and the listings cover the 1997-99 home, 1999-2001 home, 2000-01 away, 2001-03 home and 2002-04 away shirts. At Parma he wore #10, on the 1995-96 third shirt and the 1995-97 home shirt. With Parma he won the Italian Super Cup and the 1994-95 UEFA Cup; with Chelsea the 1997-98 Cup Winners’ Cup, the UEFA Super Cup, two FA Cups and the League Cup.

Condition and other items

This is a well-kept range: around 28 items are graded Excellent and four Mint, with only two at Good and four unworn and still tagged. About 27 are home shirts, 12 away and three third, plus a pair of shorts and one A3 print rather than a garment. Zola was voted Football Writers’ Player of the Year in 1996-97 and, in 2003, the greatest Chelsea player ever.