It was a slightly quieter seven days on the loan front after last weekend’s goal fest but there were still a number of notable performances this week, headlined by Lucas Piazon’s first start for Málaga. The Brazilian made his opportunity count, laying on an early assist for fellow South American Javier Saviola in a home win over Athletic Bilbao. Piazon showed good craft and skill down the left before cutting…
FA Youth Cup: Chelsea 3-0 Barnsley
Chelsea cruised into the last eight of the 2012-13 FA Youth Cup on Friday night with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Barnsley at Staines Town’s Wheatsheaf Park. After a nervy opening twenty minutes where the visitors looked like they might take the lead, the young Blues were settled by Lewis Baker’s cracking free kick, before Alex Kiwomya added a clinical brace before the break. They were unable to add to…
Crowds Flock to Chelsea Supporters Trust Launch
The Chelsea Supporters Trust got off to successful, if somewhat chaotic, start on Saturday with a meeting attended by well over 100 people at the CIU Club in Britannia Road. The day started with a mention for the Trust during Tim Rolls’ lunchtime interview on BBC Radio 5 Live, and members of the Trust Working Group were out on the streets surrounding Stamford Bridge prior to the kick-off against Wigan,…
The Loan Report: February 4-10
Chelsea’s many loanees returned to form with a bang this weekend as it rained goals, assists and red cards across the continent. With so much to talk about, let’s dive straight in. We returned from a brief international interlude to a televised Friday night clash between two Championship promotion hopefuls as Nathaniel Chalobah and Watford took on Crystal Palace. It was a thoroughly entertaining match which was headlined for Chelsea…
Attempting To Predict The Next Chelsea Manager
Whilst it might appear to be a futile exercise from the outside at least, it appears to be possible to at least make an educated projection as to the likely contenders for the Chelsea job. It goes without saying that it would be a catastrophe of even grander proportions were Rafael Benitez to get the gig full-time, but for the sake of this exercise and our sanity, we shall presume…
The Chels Book Review – The Red Hand Gang by Walter Otton
Walter Otton’s debut novel, The Red Hand Gang, was published at the end of 2012 by Gate 17 Books to a flurry of excitement among Chelsea media circles. It’s fair to say it’s not your run-of-the-mill football book. In fact football is only part of the story. The novel starts with a journey on the Underground, and the motifs that will reappear throughout the book soon become apparent. To be…
Going Forward Together – Chelsea Supporters Trust Launch
After several months of hard work dealing with the legalties behind such an endeavour, the Chelsea Supporters Trust will be formally launched at 17.45pm on Saturday 9th February 2013 (after the Wigan game). The launch event will take place at the CIU club, 71 Britannia Road, opposite the West Stand entrance, and a few doors away from the old So Bar, and will be attended by Chelsea legend Kerry Dixon….
The Loan Report: January 28 – February 3
The January transfer window ended this week with only one Chelsea youngster departing on deadline day, but with a total of 24 players plying their trade away from Stamford Bridge, there’s always plenty to catch up on, even in this quieter week in terms of action and incident. In the wake of Peter Odemwingie’s unfortunate shenanigans, Romelu Lukaku seems entrenched as West Brom’s first-choice striker, but despite starting both of…
Chelsea Pitch Owners AGM Report
Meeting Report The 2013 Chelsea Pitch Owners AGM was held in the Harris Suite, Stamford Bridge at 11am on 30th January 2013. Chairman Steve Frankham declared the meeting open as a quorum of Directors were present and made an unfortunate early Freudian slip, telling the assembled shareholders (around 100) that he planned to ‘induce’ the new Directors, Charles Rose and Sean Jones QC. Mr Frankham also created early controversy when…
Under-18s: Chelsea 1-1 Manchester United
Chelsea remain unbeaten in Elite Under-18 competition after coming back from a goal down to earn a 1-1 draw at home to Manchester United on Saturday. Both teams qualified for the top eight in impressive fashion and so it was always likely to be a high-quality clash. Despite freezing cold weather, fierce winds and a bog of a pitch the two sides put on a good show and although Jack…