Youth & Reserves

Chelsea’s Under-18s twice fought back from behind to extend their unbeaten start to the season with a 3-3 draw away to Crystal Palace on Saturday morning. Adi Viveash’s young side found themselves 2-0 down inside the opening twenty minutes before restoring parity by half time, but were forced into another comeback late in the second half to make it nine consecutive games without defeat; the longest such streak for the…

It’s been a highly productive week for Chelsea’s youngsters as a series of excellent performances have led to some strong results both at home and on the road. A weekend trip to Manchester to face City in Under-18 and Under-21 league action was sandwiched by a double helping of NextGen Series action against Norwegian champions Molde. Twelve goals later, the Blues have emerged with three wins and a draw from…

Six of Chelsea’s budding young footballers have spent much of the last week on England duty at Under-17 and Under-18 levels, and return home with positive results and performances in the bag. Ola Aina, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Charlie Colkett and Alex Kiwomya were all part of John Peacock’s Under-17 team playing in the initial round of the European Championship Qualifiers. The draw pitted them against home nation rivals Wales and Northern…

In returning to action after the recent international break, it was a weekend of struggles for Chelsea’s youth teams as both the Under-21s and Under-18s came away from trips to Wolverhampton without a win. Adi Viveash’s Under-18s were the first to try their luck on Saturday morning as they sought to extend their six-game winning streak – the country’s only 100% record – in their first away fixture of the…

Since we’ve reached the halfway marker in the first half of the youth and development season (I guess that makes it the quarter pole overall?), it’s time for some reflections and musings on what we’ve seen so far in 2012-13. It’s a campaign which ushered in a ballyhooed new era, with the old reserve team structure making way for a new Under-21 league under the auspices of the Elite Player…

Chelsea’s Under-18 team completed a remarkable run of six successive wins in academy Group 3 so far this season with a dramatic 2-1 victory over rivals Fulham.  The Blues, in their final home game before embarking on a six-match road trip, retained their 100% record courtesy of a last-minute own goal from a Fulham substitute. It followed a similarly late win over Middlesbrough last weekend. Adi Viveash’s team selections have…