I’ve always been a fan of football shirts. The designs, the history and the memories that specific jerseys can evoke are fantastic. As I have gotten older, and begun travelling to new locations, one of the souvenirs I aim to collect is the local football shirt and have formed a small collection alongside shirts from my own club. This football shirt collection craze is growing significantly in the online community, and has led to a new business idea, mystery boxes.

These mystery boxes are where you pay a set fee, and receive a random shirt in the post, a great idea and of course slightly risky. However, I decided to take the plunge and have a go at one of these boxes, and went to a seller I followed on Instagram, and offered a ‘Heroes box’, in which the shirt would be from a legendary player, or a top-quality player, which at least guaranteed I’d be receiving a decent shirt. And a few days later, it arrived. I couldn’t wait to open it, and was not disappointed when I did.

The website I purchased the shirt from was Post2Post – www.posttopostshirts.com. This piece is not an Ad or even a recommendation necessarily, I simply wanted to write about this new craze and here we are. There are lots of sellers of these items, and I had a good experience with this purchase and will probably buy again in the future, but you know… make your own mind up.

The Shirt

Upon opening the box I realised immediately what shirt this was, the 2007-2009 Bayern Munich home jersey. This shirt brings back plenty of memories from myself, as in this period I was massively into football already, and really discovering these other European giants of clubs, such as Bayern. In the 2007-2008 season, we had the retirement of Oliver Kahn, alongside the new arrivals of Ribéry, Luca Toni, Klose, Zé Roberto and a youngster called Kroos. This was a season of change and restructure for the German giants, however they still eased to their 20th Bundesliga title. Additionally, in this season they came up against Bolton Wanderers in the UEFA Cup, in which they played out a 2-2 draw at the Allianz.

In 2008-2009 the side still were in a period of adjustment, and this reflected in their results, finishing 2nd in the league, knockout out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals to the stunning Barcelona side, and also the quarters of the DFB-Pokal. This side was still outrageously strong, as the aforementioned new arrivals settled in nicely alongside greats such as Lahm, Podolski, Schweinsteiger and Lúcio. A great team on paper, that couldn’t quite settle quickly enough for success in this campaign.

The shirt itself is a beauty, as it is simple yet bold in it’s design, with the vertical stripes being quite striking for a Bayern shirt. It is an Adidas production which I love as it possesses the 3-stripes down the arms of the shirt. It’s simple, classy and a legendary jersey, and I love it.

On the back of the shirt, I was thrilled to see the hero name I had received was the French-winger who was always my first signing on FIFA Career mode thanks to his skill, pace and quality… Franck Ribéry.

Franck Ribéry 2007-2009

Franck Ribéry is a fantastic and legendary player for those like myself who grew up in this era of football in the mid/late 00s. His pace, skill and talent just struck fear into the opposition, and the eventual linkup with Robben on the opposite side was an attacking force made in heaven. In the years of 2007-2009, Ribéry became Bayern’s club record signing in 2007, after being named French player of the year for his time at Marseille. On arrival in Germany, he was immediately given the no.7 shirt, and in his first friendly match, scored 2 in an 18-0 victory over a youth side. On his competitive debut, he scored 2 and assisted 1 in a 4-1 victory. This was the start of things to come, as he went on to bag 19 goals in 46 games that season, earning himself the French player of the year again and Germany’s footballer of the year.

In 2008-2009, his season started later after an injury at the 2008 Euros, however in this campaign he netted 14 in his 36 appearances, and provided 19 assists. Although this injury slightly stuttered the start to the season, and Bayern underperformed in their competitions, Franck Ribéry earnt himself 3rd in the 2008 Ballon d’Or awards just behind Messi and Ronaldo, with some thinking he should have actually won. In a time where Bayern were rebuilding and undergoing change and rejuvenation, Ribéry was a shining light, and we were witnessing the birth of a massively underrated talent. He did go on to win countless trophies, however these 2 seasons for me really did bring this man to my attention, and I am thrilled to have the jersey.