Chelsea F.C. Under-23s and Academy

Chelsea U-23 and Academy
Full name	Chelsea Football Club Under-23s and Academy
Nickname(s)	The Blues; The Young Blues
Ground	Kingsmeadow; Cobham Training Centre; Stamford Bridge
Capacity	4,850 (Kingsmeadow); 40,853 (Stamford Bridge)
Owner	Roman Abramovich
Chairman	Bruce Buck
Manager	Andy Myers (U23); Ed Brand (U18)
League	Premier League 2 (under-23s); U18 Premier League (academy)
Home colours	Away colours

Chelsea F.C. Under-23s are the under-23 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 season. The team mainly consists of under-21 players at the club, although senior players occasionally have an appearance, for instance when they are recovering from injury. The under-23 team is managed by Andy Myers and the under-18 team is managed by Ed Brand.

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, and John Terry. Moreover, Chelsea earned reputation as being the only English club so far to have reached most finals of the UEFA Youth League, winning twice and finishing runners-up twice.

Neil Bath, who is the Head of Youth Development, is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the academy.^[1]

Until the 2019–20 season, the under-23 team played their home games at Aldershot Town's Recreation Ground. The under-18 team play their home games at the club's Cobham Training Centre in Cobham, Surrey. Both teams occasionally use the club's home ground Stamford Bridge for important matches.

Development squad (U23/U19)[]

As of 31 January 2022^[2]

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	GK	FIN	Lucas Bergström
41	MF	ENG	George McEachran
42	MF	AUT	Thierno Ballo
43	DF	NED	Xavier Mbuyamba
45	DF	NIR	Sam McClelland
46	FW	IRL	George Nunn
47	DF	ENG	Josh Brooking
48	MF	ENG	Ben Elliott
49	FW	NOR	Bryan Fiabema
51	MF	ENG	Joe Haigh
52	DF	ENG	Bashir Humphreys


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
53	MF	ENG	Dion Rankine
54	MF	ENG	Xavier Simons
55	FW	ENG	Jayden Wareham
60	GK	ENG	Teddy Sharman-Lowe
61	DF	ENG	Alfie Gilchrist
64	FW	ENG	Jude Soonsup-Bell
68	MF	ENG	Harvey Vale
71	MF	ENG	Charlie Webster
75	MF	ENG	Lewis Hall
—	DF	ENG	Dylan Williams
—	FW	BEL	Charly Musonda

U18 squad[]

As of 1 February 2022^[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
57	DF	ENG	Derrick Abu
58	MF	SWE	Edwin Andersson
59	DF	ENG	Luke Badley-Morgan
62	DF	ENG	Alex Kpakpe
63	FW	ENG	Malik Mothersille
65	FW	FIN	Jimi Tauriainen
66	FW	ENG	Silko Thomas
67	MF	ENG	Josh Tobin
70	GK	ENG	Prince Adegoke
72	MF	ENG	Leo Castledine


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
73	FW	ENG	Louis Flower
74	MF	ENG	Billy Gee
76	DF	ENG	Brodi Hughes
77	FW	ENG	Tudor Mendel-Idowu
78	DF	ENG	Richard Olise
79	MF	ENG	Samuel Rak-Sakyi
81	FW	MSR	Zain Silcott-Duberry
82	FW	ENG	Ronnie Stutter
—	DF	ENG	Travis Akomeah

Management team[]

Technical mentor	Claude Makélélé
Head of youth development	Neil Bath
Development squad manager	Andy Myers
Development squad assistant	Jon Harley
Under-18's manager	Ed Brand
Under-18's assistant	James Simmonds

Notable Academy graduates[]

Players who have at least 10 senior international caps and/or at least 100 appearances for Chelsea. Players who still play for Chelsea, including those that are currently out on loan to other clubs, are in bold.

Young Player of the Year[]

As of the 2019–20 season^[4]

Year	Winner
1983	Keith Dublin
1984	Robert Isaac
1985	Gareth Hall
1986	Mick Bodley
1987	Jason Cundy
1988	Eddie Cunnington
1989	No award
1990	No award
1991	Andy Myers
1992	Zeke Rowe
1993	Neil Shipperley
1994	Mark Nicholls
1995	Chris McCann
1996	Jody Morris
1997	Nick Crittenden
1998	John Terry
1999	Samuele Dalla Bona
2000	Rhys Evans

Year	Winner
2001	Leon Knight
2002	Carlton Cole
2003	Robert Huth
2004	Robert Huth
2005	Robert Huth
2006	Lassana Diarra
2007	Mikel John Obi
2008	The U18s youth team
2009	Michael Mancienne
2010	The U18s youth team
2011	Josh McEachran
2012	Lucas Piazon
2013	Nathan Aké
2014	Lewis Baker
2015	Kurt Zouma
2016	Ruben Loftus-Cheek
2017	No award
2018	Andreas Christensen

Year	Winner
2019	Callum Hudson-Odoi
2020	No award

Academy Player of the Year[]

As of the 2020–21 season^[4]

Year	Winner
2015	Dominic Solanke
2016	Fikayo Tomori
2017	Mason Mount
2018	Reece James
2019	Conor Gallagher
2020	Billy Gilmour
2021	Tino Livramento

Academy graduates (1992–present)[]

— Academy graduates who still play for Chelsea, including those that are currently out on loan to other clubs, are in bold.^[5]

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	Glenn Hoddle
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
Nick Colgan	Full Ireland caps	Age 24 v West Ham United, 12 March 1997
Joe Sheerin		Age 18 v Wimbledon, 22 Aprič 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	Full Uganda caps	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
Anthony Grant	Full Jamaica caps	Age 17 v Manchester United, 10 May 2005
Lenny Pidgeley	England U20	Age 21 v Charlton Athletic, 7 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
Scott Sinclair	England U21	Age 17 v Wycombe Wanderers, 10 January 2007
Sam Hutchinson	England U19	Age 17 v Everton, 13 May 2007	Avram Grant
Miroslav Stoch	Full Slovakia caps	Age 19 v Arsenal, 30 November 2008	Luiz Felipe Scolari
Michael Mancienne	England U21	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
Tomáš Kalas	Full Czech Republic caps	Age 20 v Arsenal, 29 October 2013	José Mourinho
Lewis Baker	England U21	Age 18 v Derby County, 5 January 2014
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	England U21	Age 19 v Grimsby Town, 25 September 2019
Ian Maatsen	Netherlands U18	Age 17 v Grimsby Town, 25 September 2019
Tino Anjorin	England U20	Age 17 v Grimsby Town, 25 September 2019
Tariq Lamptey	England U21	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 U17	Age 18 v Brentford, 22 December 2021
Jude Soonsup-Bell	England U19	Age 17 v Brentford, 22 December 2021
Harvey Vale	England U19	Age 18 v Brentford, 22 December 2021
Lewis Hall	England U18	Age 17 v Chesterfield, 8 January 2022

Honours[]

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

Reserves Team[]

U21 Premier League / Premier League 2
- (2): 2013–14, 2019–20
The Football Combination
- (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
- (1): 2010–11
Premier Reserve League – Southern Champions
- (1): 2010–11
London Challenge Cup
- (5): 1919–20, 1926–27, 1949–50, 1959–60, 1960–61
Metropolitan League
- (3): 1954–55, 1956–57, 1957–58

Academy Team[]

UEFA Youth League
- (2): 2014–15, 2015–16
U18 Premier League – National Champions
- (2): 2016–17, 2017–18
U18 Premier League – Southern Champions
- (4): 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18
FA Youth Cup
- (9): 1959–60, 1960–61, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18
U18 Premier League Cup
- (1): 2017–18

References[]

^ "Neil Bath | Official Site | Chelsea Football Club". Chelsea F.C. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
^ "Academy – Development". Chelsea F.C. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
^ "Academy – U18s". Chelsea F.C. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Callum Hudson-Odoi wins Young Player of the Year and Conor Gallagher picks up Academy prize | Official Site | Chelsea Football Club". Chelsea F.C. 10 May 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
^ "Academy roll of honour". Chelsea F.C. 28 January 2018.

External links[]

Why Chelsea could finally be reaping the rewards of their outstanding academy – These Football Times (2017)

[1] "Neil Bath | Official Site | Chelsea Football Club". Chelsea F.C. Retrieved 8 March 2020.

[2] "Academy – Development". Chelsea F.C. Retrieved 9 September 2021.

[3] "Academy – U18s". Chelsea F.C. Retrieved 9 September 2021.

[playeroftheyear-4] "Callum Hudson-Odoi wins Young Player of the Year and Conor Gallagher picks up Academy prize | Official Site | Chelsea Football Club". Chelsea F.C. 10 May 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2019.

[5] "Academy roll of honour". Chelsea F.C. 28 January 2018.

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