Tuesday saw the final deadline for European Championship squads to be named, and, injuries pending, we now know there will be nine Chelsea players in Poland and the Ukraine next month. John Terry, Frank Lampard, Gary Cahill, Ashley Cole, Raul Meireles, Fernando Torres, Juan Mata, Petr Cech and Florent Malouda have been selected by their respective nations and are all set to play key roles throughout June. Lampard suffered a…
Just shy of a week ago, Chelsea youngsters Nathaniel Chalobah and Todd Kane were enjoying celebrations in Munich with the first team squad as Champions of Europe. Preston’s Deepdale Stadium may be a less glamorous place to spend their Friday evening, but both players found the back of the net for Noel Blake’s England Under-19 team as the Three Lions got their European Championship Elite Qualifying Round campaign underway. Slovenia…
To conclude our week-long review of the reserve and youth seasons, let’s take a look at some of the very best of the campaign, a celebration of all things young and blue, if you will. Youth Team: A second FA Youth Cup crown in three years leads the way, a magnificent achievement for everyone involved…Nathan Aké was named the academy’s Scholar of the Year after a superb debut campaign in…
Chelsea continued to be extremely well represented on the international scene in 2011-12, enjoying notable performances at every age group from top to bottom. At senior level, new signing Thibaut Courtois made his Belgium debut against France in November, becoming the youngest goalkeeper in national team history. He is almost certain to become first choice when the Red Devils begin their World Cup qualifying campaign in the Autumn. Jeffrey Bruma…
This night had it all. There was hope. There was despair. There were tears. There was joy. And that was just the three and a half hours after the game it took from the time we got on the U-bahn until the time the 03.25 Munich to Stuttgart express departed Hauptbahnhof. At 04.25. But most of all it was a night at the end of which, for all those who travelled…
Available right now at our online store http://thechels.biz are our brilliant new and unofficial Munich 2012 European Champions t-shirts and tops. The first design shows two Chelsea lions grasping the trophy underneath a crown. The second is in German and translates as: ‘Your city, your stadium, our cup’, a play on the banners the Bayern fans held up before kickoff. Celebrate our Chelsea becoming the Champions of Europe by visiting…
There will come a point in time when I sit down and explain to my children precisely what it means to be a Chelsea fan. I was told of the Kings Road swagger embodied by that ‘70s team and the legend of Osgood, Cooke, Bonetti and Harris; the sheer numbers of away support in the ‘80s and the rebirth of the club under Hoddle in the ‘90s. I will tell…
A new manager, a dozen new scholars, a change of Sporting Director at the top, but things remain the same as far as the Chelsea youth team are concerned. A second FA Youth Cup title in three years was the undoubted headline of another campaign in which the league slate was often handed over to the younger players – typically including more than a sprinkling of schoolboys – and the…
Chelsea’s Reserve team failed to retain the national title they win at the end of the 2010/11 season but that was the least of the concerns in a tumultuous campaign which has raised a number of talking points for the future. Mixed in with all of the usual positives were a succession of lows, including but not limited to poor performances, questionable attitude, player departures and a smattering of controversy….
…to be European Champions. (It wasn’t even our turn to win the FA Cup.) At last I am starting to realise that Saturday night wasn’t just a dream. It really, really happened! And now, after the event and with a sore head easing and reality setting in, I would like to give a quick reply to those people who have been saying our name was on the cup from the…