Chelsea Development and Academy
Full nameChelsea Football Club Development Squad and Academy
Nickname(s)The Blues
The Young Blues
GroundKingsmeadow
Cobham Training Centre
Stamford Bridge
Capacity4,850 (Kingsmeadow)
40,853 (Stamford Bridge)
OwnerBlueCo[1]
ChairmanTodd Boehly
ManagerMark Robinson (U21)
Hassan Sulaiman (U18)
LeaguePremier League 2 (under-21s)
U18 Premier League (academy)
WebsiteClub website

Chelsea F.C. Development Squad are the development team of Chelsea Football Club. They play in the Premier League 2, which is the top level of reserve football in England. They were the champions in the 2013–14 and 2019–20 seasons. The team mainly consists of under-21 players at the club, although senior players occasionally feature, when recovering from injuries or otherwise not in the first team. The under-21 team is managed by Mark Robinson and the under-18 team is managed by Hassan Sulaiman.

Chelsea F.C. Academy is the under-18 team of Chelsea Football Club. It is a member of the Professional U18 Development League. They have won the FA Youth Cup nine times, including five consecutive titles between 2014 and 2018. The academy has produced many successful players such as the brothers Ron and Allan Harris, Peter Bonetti, Bobby Tambling, Barry Bridges, Bert Murray, John Hollins, Peter Osgood, Ray Wilkins, Graeme Le Saux, Bobby Smith, Terry Venables, Jimmy Greaves, John Terry, Mason Mount, and Reece James. Chelsea are the only English club to reach the final of the UEFA Youth League, winning it twice in four final appearances.

Neil Bath, who is the Head of Youth Development, is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the academy.[2]

The development team play their home games at Kingsmeadow, while the under-18s play at the club's Cobham Training Centre in Cobham, Surrey. Both teams occasionally use the club's home ground Stamford Bridge for important matches.

Current squads

  • Bold indicates players to have at least one first-team appearance for Chelsea.

U21 squad

As of 11 January 2024[3]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
36 FW Brazil BRA Deivid Washington
42 DF England ENG Alfie Gilchrist
44 DF England ENG Josh Brooking
46 DF England ENG Zak Sturge
47 GK Finland FIN Lucas Bergström
49 MF Finland FIN Jimi Tauriainen
51 DF England ENG Dylan Williams
53 DF England ENG Ishé Samuels-Smith
54 MF England ENG Leo Castledine
55 FW England ENG Jimmy-Jay Morgan
56 MF England ENG Billy Gee
57 DF England ENG Brodi Hughes
No. Pos. Nation Player
58 DF England ENG Richard Olise
59 MF England ENG Samuel Rak-Sakyi
60 GK England ENG Max Merrick
61 FW England ENG Zain Silcott-Duberry
62 FW England ENG Ronnie Stutter
63 DF England ENG Josh-Kofi Acheampong
67 FW England ENG Tyrique George
70 GK England ENG Luke Campbell
71 FW England ENG Donnell McNeilly
73 DF England ENG Harrison Murray-Campbell
78 MF England ENG Kiano Dyer

U18 squad

As of 9 January 2024[4]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
40 GK England ENG Ted Curd
54 MF England ENG Leo Castledine
60 GK England ENG Max Merrick
61 FW England ENG Zain Silcott-Duberry
63 DF England ENG Josh-Kofi Acheampong
64 DF England ENG Travis Akomeah
65 FW Ghana GHA Ato Ampah
66 FW England ENG Chinonso Chibueze
67 FW England ENG Tyrique George
68 MF England ENG Michael Golding
69 DF England ENG Noah Hay
70 GK England ENG Luke Campbell
71 FW England ENG Donnell McNeilly
72 MF England ENG Harrison McMahon
No. Pos. Nation Player
73 DF England ENG Harrison Murray-Campbell
74 MF England ENG Reiss-Alexander Russell-Denny
75 DF England ENG Kaiden Wilson
76 DF England ENG Somto Boniface
77 MF Portugal POR Leo Cardoso
78 MF England ENG Kiano Dyer
79 MF England ENG Ollie Harrison
80 GK England ENG Kai Crampton
81 DF England ENG Saheed Olagunju
82 MF England ENG Frankie Runham
83 FW Republic of Ireland IRL Shaun Wade
84 DF England ENG Marcell Washington
85 DF Sweden SWE Genesis Antwi

Management team

As of 25 September 2023[5]
Director of football development England Neil Bath
Under-21s head coachEngland Mark Robinson
Under-21s assistantEngland Jack Mesure
England James Simmonds
Under-18s head coachEngland Hassan Sulaiman
Under-18s assistantScotland Andy Ross
England Jimmy Smith

Notable Academy players and graduates

  • Players who have at least 10 appearances for Chelsea first-team or represented a country at full international level, are categorised by the decade in which they left or graduated from the academy.
  • Players who still play for Chelsea, including those that are currently out on loan to other clubs, are in bold.

Before WW2

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Academy graduates in Premier League era (1992–present)

  • Players who still play for Chelsea, including those that are currently out on loan to other clubs, are in bold.
Player International caps Debut Manager
England Neil Shipperley England U21 Age 18 v Southampton, 10 April 1993 David Webb
England Michael Duberry England U21 Age 18 v Coventry City, 4 May 1994 Glenn Hoddle
England Jody Morris England U21 Age 17 v Middlesbrough, 4 February 1996
England Mark Nicholls Age 19 v Leicester City, 12 October 1996 Ruud Gullit
England Neil Clement England U18 Age 19 v West Ham United, 21 December 1996
England Paul Hughes Age 21 v Derby County, 18 January 1997
England Joe Sheerin Age 18 v Wimbledon, 22 April 1997
Scotland Steven Hampshire Age 16 v Blackburn Rovers, 15 October 1997
England Nick Crittenden Age 19 v Southampton, 19 November 1997
England Jon Harley England U21 Age 19 v Derby County, 5 April 1998 Gianluca Vialli
England John Terry Full England caps Age 17 v Aston Villa, 28 October 1998
Finland Mikael Forssell Full Finland caps Age 17 v Arsenal, 31 January 1999
England Rob Wolleaston Age 19 v Huddersfield Town, 13 October 1999
Italy Samuele Dalla Bona Italy U21 Age 18 v Feyenoord, 24 November 1999
England Leon Knight England U20 Age 19 v Levski Sofia, 27 September 2001 Claudio Ranieri
England Joel Kitamirike Age 18 v Hapoel Tel Aviv, 18 October 2001
England Joe Keenan Age 19 v Aston Villa, 9 February 2002
England Carlton Cole Full England caps Age 18 v Everton, 6 April 2002
Germany Robert Huth Full Germany caps Age 17 v Aston Villa, 11 May 2002
Portugal Filipe Oliveira Portugal U21 Age 18 v Viking, 19 September 2002
Cyprus Alexis Nicolas Cyprus U21 Age 20 v Scarborough, 24 January 2004
Scotland Steven Watt Scotland U21 Age 19 v Scunthorpe United, 8 January 2005 José Mourinho
England Lenny Pidgeley England U20 Age 21 v Charlton Athletic, 7 May 2005
England Anthony Grant Full Jamaica caps Age 17 v Manchester United, 10 May 2005
England Jimmy Smith England U19 Age 19 v Newcastle United, 7 May 2006
Israel Ben Sahar Full Israel caps Age 18 v Macclesfield Town, 6 January 2007
England Michael Woods England U19 Age 16 v Macclesfield Town, 6 January 2007
England Sam Hutchinson England U19 Age 17 v Everton, 13 May 2007
England Michael Mancienne Full Seychelles caps Age 21 v Watford, 14 February 2009 Guus Hiddink
Italy Fabio Borini Full Italy caps Age 18 v Tottenham Hotspur, 20 September 2009 Carlo Ancelotti
Netherlands Jeffrey Bruma Full Netherlands caps Age 17 v Blackburn Rovers, 24 October 2009
France Gaël Kakuta Full DR Congo caps Age 18 v Wolverhampton Wanderers, 21 November 2009
Netherlands Patrick van Aanholt Full Netherlands caps Age 19 v Portsmouth, 24 March 2010
England Josh McEachran England U21 Age 17 v MŠK Žilina, 15 September 2010
England Jacob Mellis England U19 Age 19 v MŠK Žilina, 23 November 2010
England Ryan Bertrand Full England caps Age 21 v Birmingham City, 20 April 2011
Brazil Lucas Piazon Brazil U23 Age 18 v Wolverhampton Wanderers, 25 September 2012 Roberto Di Matteo
Netherlands Nathan Aké Full Netherlands caps Age 17 v Norwich City, 26 December 2012 Rafael Benítez
England Lewis Baker England U21 Age 18 v Derby County, 5 January 2014 José Mourinho
England John Swift England U21 Age 18 v Cardiff City, 11 May 2014
England Dominic Solanke Full England caps Age 17 v Maribor, 21 October 2014
Denmark Andreas Christensen Full Denmark caps Age 18 v Shrewsbury Town, 28 October 2014
England Ruben Loftus-Cheek Full England caps Age 18 v Sporting Lisbon, 10 December 2014
England Isaiah Brown England U20 Age 18 v West Bromwich Albion, 18 May 2015
Burkina Faso Bertrand Traoré Full Burkina Faso caps Age 20 v Maccabi Tel Aviv, 16 September 2015
England Jake Clarke-Salter England U21 Age 18 v Aston Villa, 2 April 2016 Guus Hiddink
England Tammy Abraham Full England caps Age 18 v Liverpool, 11 May 2016
England Fikayo Tomori Full England caps Age 18 v Leicester City, 15 May 2016
England Ola Aina Full Nigeria caps Age 19 v Bristol Rovers, 23 August 2016 Antonio Conte
England Nathaniel Chalobah Full England caps Age 21 v Leicester City, 20 September 2016
Belgium Charly Musonda Belgium U21 Age 20 v Arsenal, 6 August 2017
Ivory Coast Jérémie Boga Full Ivory Coast caps Age 20 v Burnley, 12 August 2017
England Dujon Sterling England U20 Age 17 v Nottingham Forest, 20 September 2017
England Callum Hudson-Odoi Full England caps Age 17 v Newcastle United, 28 January 2018
United States Kyle Scott United States U20 Age 20 v Hull City, 16 February 2018
England Mason Mount Full England caps Age 20 v Manchester United, 11 August 2019 Frank Lampard
Scotland Billy Gilmour Full Scotland caps Age 18 v Sheffield United, 31 August 2019
England Reece James Full England caps Age 19 v Grimsby Town, 25 September 2019
England Marc Guehi Full England caps Age 19 v Grimsby Town, 25 September 2019
Netherlands Ian Maatsen Netherlands U21 Age 17 v Grimsby Town, 25 September 2019
England Tino Anjorin England U20 Age 17 v Grimsby Town, 25 September 2019
England Tariq Lamptey Full Ghana caps Age 19 v Arsenal, 29 December 2019
Albania Armando Broja Full Albania caps Age 18 v Everton, 8 March 2020
England Trevoh Chalobah England U21 Age 22 v Villarreal, 11 August 2021 Thomas Tuchel
England Xavier Simons England U20 Age 18 v Brentford, 22 December 2021
England Jude Soonsup-Bell England U19 Age 17 v Brentford, 22 December 2021
England Harvey Vale England U20 Age 18 v Brentford, 22 December 2021
England Lewis Hall England U21 Age 17 v Chesterfield, 8 January 2022
England Conor Gallagher Full England caps Age 22 v Everton, 6 August 2022
Jamaica Omari Hutchinson Full Jamaica caps Age 19 v Manchester City, 5 January 2023 Graham Potter
England Bashir Humphreys England U21 Age 19 v Manchester City, 8 January 2023
England Levi Colwill Full England caps Age 20 v Liverpool, 13 August 2023 Mauricio Pochettino
England Alex Matos Age 18 v Fulham, 2 October 2023
England Alfie Gilchrist Age 20 v Crystal Palace, 27 December 2023
England Michael Golding England U18 Age 17 v Preston North End, 6 January 2024

Annual awards

Young Player of the Year

Academy Player of the Year

Honours

Chelsea players celebrating winning the 2015–16 FA Youth Cup.

Reserves team

Academy team

  • South East Counties League
    • Winners (10): 1954–55, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1973–74, 1983–84
  • South East Counties League Cup
    • Winners (11): 1952–53, 1953–54, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1962–63, 1964–65, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1983–84, 1986–87
  • North Surrey Minor League
    • Winners (1): 1953–54
  • London Minor Challenge Cup
    • Winners (3): 1949–50, 1951–52, 1953–54

References

  1. "Group Tax Strategy". Chelsea F.C. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  2. "Neil Bath | Official Site | Chelsea Football Club". Chelsea F.C. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  3. "Academy – U21s". Chelsea F.C. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  4. "Academy – U18s". Chelsea F.C. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  5. "Academy – Staff". Chelsea F.C. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  6. "U18 Premier League Cup – Champions". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  7. "Arsenal U16 2–5 Chelsea U16: Talented young guns fall to lively Blues in showpiece final". Islington Gazette. 15 March 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.