Chelsea F.C. Development Squad and Academy explained

Fullname:	Chelsea Football Club Development Squad and Academy
Clubname:	Chelsea Development and Academy
Nickname:	The Blues The Young Blues
Ground:	Kingsmeadow Cobham Training Centre Stamford Bridge
Capacity:	4,850 (Kingsmeadow) 40,853 (Stamford Bridge)
Owner:	BlueCo^[1]
Chairman:	Todd Boehly
Manager:	Filipe Coelho (U21) Hassan Sulaiman (U18)
League:	Premier League 2 (under-21s) U18 Premier League (academy)
Website:	https://www.chelseafc.com/
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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 Filipe Coelho 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, Reece James and Conor Gallagher. 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

^[3]

U18 squad

^[4]

Management team

Under-21s head coach	Filipe Coelho
Under-21s assistant	Jack Mesure
	James Simmonds
Under-18s head coach	Hassan Sulaiman
Under-18s assistant	Andy Ross
	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 World War II

• Désiré Bastin
• David Calderhead Jr.
• Ron Greenwood
• George Pearson
• Tommy Law
• Bill Robertson

1950s

• Les Allen
• Micky Block
• Peter Bonetti
• Peter Brabrook
• Terry Bradbury
• Barry Bridges
• David Cliss
• John Compton
• Derek Gibbs
• Jimmy Greaves
• Mike Harrison
• Tony Nicholas
• Mel Scott
• Ken Shellito
• Bobby Smith
• Bobby Tambling
• Dick Whittaker
• Gerry Baker

1960s

• Dennis Brown
• Dennis Butler
• Tony Currie
• John Dunn
• Allan Harris
• Ron Harris
• John Hollins
• Peter Houseman
• Alan Hudson
• Barry Lloyd
• Bert Murray
• Peter Osgood
• Terry Venables
• John Boyle
• Stewart Houston

1970s

• Trevor Aylott
• Brian Bason
• John Bumstead
• Gary Chivers
• Mike Fillery
• Lee Frost
• Kevin Hales
• Gary Johnson
• Tommy Langley
• Ray Lewington
• Gary Locke
• Teddy Maybank
• Micky Nutton
• Colin Pates
• Peter Rhoades-Brown
• Steve Sherwood
• John Sitton
• John Sparrow
• Gary Stanley
• David Stride
• Clive Walker
• Steve Wicks
• Graham Wilkins
• Ray Wilkins
• Steve Finnieston
• Ian Britton

1980s

• Jason Cundy
• Keith Dublin
• Steve Francis
• Robert Isaac
• Dale Jasper
• Keith Jones
• David Lee
• Graeme Le Saux
• Damian Matthew
• Carlton Palmer
• Graham Stuart
• Colin West
• John Millar
• Billy Dodds
• Craig Burley
• Paul Bodin
• Gareth Hall

1990s

• Michael Duberry
• Jon Harley
• Paul Hughes
• Jody Morris
• Andy Myers
• Eddie Newton
• Mark Nicholls
• Neil Shipperley
• John Terry
• Samuele Dalla Bona
• Frank Sinclair
• Junior Mendes
• Muzzy Izzet
• Nathan Blake

2000s

• Gaël Kakuta
• Yves Ma-Kalambay
• Ryan Bertrand
• Carlton Cole
• Jack Cork
• Momodou Ceesay
• Robert Huth
• Toni Silva
• Emmanuel Sarki
• Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson
• Ben Sahar
• Fabio Borini
• Jermaine Beckford
• Shaun Cummings
• Anthony Grant
• Dominic Poleon
• Mbark Boussoufa
• Bradley Woods-Garness
• Jeffrey Bruma
• Patrick van Aanholt
• Neil Etheridge
• James Younghusband
• Phil Younghusband
• Dean Furman
• Michael Modubi
• Jeffrey Ntuka
• Liam Bridcutt
• Warren Cummings
• Michael Mancienne
• Andy King

2010s

• Richard Bakary
• Bertrand Traoré
• Faiq Bolkiah
• Iké Ugbo
• Ian Poveda
• Victorien Angban
• Jérémie Boga
• Andreas Christensen
• Tammy Abraham
• Nathaniel Chalobah
• Trevoh Chalobah
• Conor Gallagher
• Marc Guéhi
• Callum Hudson-Odoi
• Reece James
• Ruben Loftus-Cheek
• Josh McEachran
• Mason Mount
• Eddie Nketiah
• Declan Rice
• Dominic Solanke
• Fikayo Tomori
• Jamal Musiala
• Tariq Lamptey
• Louie Annesley
• Aliu Djaló
• Nathan Moriah-Welsh
• Michael Obafemi
• Di'Shon Bernard
• Kasey Palmer
• Mukhtar Ali
• Rohan Ince
• Nathan Aké
• Ian Maatsen
• Ola Aina
• Cameron McGeehan
• George Saville
• Marcin Bułka
• Billy Gilmour
• Rowan Liburd
• Aziz Deen-Conteh
• Kevin Wright
• Will Donkin
• Michael Kedman
• Daniel Phillips
• Gökhan Töre
• Jay Dasilva
• Chris Mepham

2020s

• Armando Broja
• Ben Elliott
• Levi Colwill
• Alfie Gilchrist
• Lewis Hall
• Lucas Bergström
• Cesare Casadei
• Omari Hutchinson
• Dujuan Richards
• Jon Russell
• Sam McClelland

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

Annual awards

Academy Player of the Year

Honours

Reserves team

• U21 Premier League / Premier League 2
  • Winners (2): 2013–14, 2019–20
• The Football Combination
  • Winners (11): 1948–49, 1954–55, 1957–58, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1964–65, 1974–75, 1976–77, 1984–85, 1990–91, 1993–94
• Premier Reserve League – National Champions
  • Winners (1): 2010–11
• Premier Reserve League – Southern Champions
  • Winners (1): 2010–11
• London Challenge Cup
  • Winners (5): 1919–20, 1926–27, 1949–50, 1959–60, 1960–61
• Metropolitan League
  • Winners (3): 1954–55, 1956–57, 1957–58

Academy team

• UEFA Youth League
  • Winners (2): 2014–15, 2015–16
• U18 Premier League – National Champions
  • Winners (2): 2016–17, 2017–18
• U18 Premier League – Southern Champions
  • Winners (5): 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2023–24
• FA Youth Cup
  • Winners (9): 1959–60, 1960–61, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18
• U18 Premier League Cup
  • Winners (2): 2017–18, 2021–22^[5]
• U17 Premier League Cup
  • Winners (1): 2023–24^[6]
• U16 Premier League Cup
  • Winners (1): 2018–19^[7]
• Southern Junior Floodlight Cup
  • Winners (5): 1955–56, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1963–64
• 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

External links

• About the Academy at Chelsea F.C. official website
• Why Chelsea could finally be reaping the rewards of their outstanding academy – These Football Times (2017)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Group Tax Strategy . Chelsea F.C. . 23 June 2023 . 5 April 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230405010643/https://www.chelseafc.com/en/group-tax-strategy . live .
2. Web site: Neil Bath Official Site Chelsea Football Club . Chelsea F.C. . 8 March 2020.
3. Web site: Academy – U21s. Chelsea F.C.. 3 August 2024.
4. Web site: Academy – U18s. Chelsea F.C.. 4 July 2024.
5. Web site: U18 Premier League Cup – Champions . worldfootball.net . 15 July 2022 . en.
6. Web site: PL Cup report: Wolves 1–3 Chelsea . Chelsea F.C. . 11 April 2024 . 11 April 2024.
7. Web site: Arsenal U16 2–5 Chelsea U16: Talented young guns fall to lively Blues in showpiece final . Islington Gazette . 15 July 2022 . en-UK . 15 March 2019.