Youth & Reserves

To complete our preview of the forthcoming Premier Academy League, we take a look at Chelsea themselves. The Under-18s have a new manager and eleven new first year scholars, but very little will actually change. Adrian Viveash steps up from the Under-16 ranks to fill Dermot Drummy’s post, with the ex-Arsenal man taking over at Reserve level. That in turn means he will once again be working with a group…

Chelsea’s young Slovakian forward Milan Lalkovic is reportedly close to joining Championship side Doncaster Rovers on an initial month’s loan, a move which would mark his first foray into professional football. Lalkovic, 18, is set to go straight into Rovers’ squad for their weekend trip to table-topping Derby County and will be expected to feature at least as a substitute. The Under-21 winger has been drafted in with something of…

In today’s second part of our academy season preview, we take a look at the ten other teams Chelsea will face in 2011-12. The 28-game fixture list comprises 18 matches against the nine other teams in Group A, and ten fixtures against other academies in what are termed as ‘long-distance’ fixtures. Five of these are played at Cobham, and five of them will be played away from home. They tend…

It’s baaaack. Okay, it might ‘only’ be academy football, but for some (read: yours truly), the start of the FA Premier Academy Season is as exciting as the big kickoff at the top levels. Another eight months of action is ready and waiting to unfold on Saturday mornings as the stars of tomorrow take the next steps in their fledgling careers. Chelsea’s Under-18 team has a new manager in Adrian…

In the past week or two, there has been plenty of action in the lower ranks at Chelsea, but little of it has been ‘big’ enough to constitute a full-blown report. Thankfully this is where a round-up comes into its own, so let’s take a look back at all the bits and bobs that have taken place of late. As you’ll already be aware, the Reserve team kicked off their…

Chelsea began the defence of their Barclays Premier Reserve League title on Monday afternoon with a 3-2 victory over a talented Sunderland outfit. First half goals from Adam Phillip and Patrick van Aanholt cancelled out Oumare Tounkara’s opener before Milan Lalkovic clinched the win thirteen minutes from time after Roarie Deacon had levelled with his first touch. Dermot Drummy, coaching his first competitive match at this level, was able to…

Chelsea begin their defence of their Reserve League title this Monday at home to Sunderland as another campaign which promised much change kicks off with the status quo having been maintained. Once again, four of the twenty Premier League sides have opted not to participate in this year’s league structure, whilst a small group of others may find themselves distracted by involvement in the Next Generation League, a European Under-19…

Chelsea’s Under-18s continued their pre-season schedule with a keenly contested and engaging affair against Derby County which finished 1-1. Adie Viveash’s boys began their summer with a win over Colchester and followed it with a victory on tour in Austria, but suffered defeat against a very talented Nottingham Forest team in midweek. East Midlands opposition travelled to Cobham for the second time in a week and the Rams, much like…

Reports breaking this evening suggest that Chelsea have finalised a deal this week for Celtic’s young forward Islam Feruz. The Somalian-born Scottish youth international hit the headlines two years ago when playing in the Sky Sports Victory Shield aged just 13 and has long since played above his age group at Celtic Park. Now, sources at Scotzine – with plenty of other talk to go with it – claim that…

Chelsea’s Reserve team recorded their first win of pre-season with a 3-0 victory over Blue Square South outfit Hampton & Richmond Borough on Saturday afternoon. A brace from Adam Phillip followed Philipp Prosenik’s opener in what was an impressive display from Dermot Drummy’s boys. Following a 6-1 reverse at Crawley Town a fortnight ago, the group took in a week of training in Austria which culminated in a fixture against…