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They left it late but Chelsea’s Under-18s made it five straight wins in all competitions in defeating Brighton 2-1 away from home on Saturday morning. Against a difficult opponent and in increasingly trying conditions, the Blues – wearing yellow – were forced to dig deep on the South Coast, particular after seeing Tino Anjorin’s outstanding 77th-minute strike cancelled out by Ryan Longman three minutes later, but they found their resolve…

If there were still some people out there who weren’t aware that Chelsea were in this season’s UEFA Youth League, there won’t be any more, after they beat Molde 10-1 on Wednesday afternoon to get the ball rolling on another campaign in which they intend to challenge for honours. The Blues’ first-team’s failure to qualify for the Champions League left their Under-19s unable to enter the path of the junior-age…

Chelsea return for their fifth UEFA Youth League campaign this week with a different outlook on the competition than they’ve ever had before. Their debut in 2013-14 ended at the Quarter Final stage in defeat to Schalke before back-to-back successes under Adi Viveash in Nyon; the second of those was insufficient to allow them to defend their crown under the then-competition rules, with the first-team also failing to qualify them…

Chelsea began the defence of their Under-18 Premier League Cup with a fine 5-1 win against Norwich City at Cobham on Saturday. The Canaries have struggled this season and were put to the sword by a clinical and efficient Blues side that had itself been subject to plenty of rotation. Thierno Ballo’s first-half hat-trick set them on their way, before Henry Lawrence and Jon Russell added to the tally in…

It was a good day for both of Chelsea’s main academy sides as the Under-18s and Development Squad each recorded 2-1 wins on Saturday. Andy Myers’ youth team were triumphant at home to a typically hard-to-beat Aston Villa, while Joe Edwards’ Under-23s retained their 100% record away from home with a 2-1 victory at West Ham United. With injuries, first-team commitments and even the Under-16s away at a Premier League…

A report on Thursday’s Sport BILD carried rumours that FIFA are to ‘crack down’ on the excessive loaning of players by top clubs by limiting them to a maximum of eight per season, something that would supposedly cause no end of problems for the likes of Chelsea (40 out on loan currently) and Juventus (26), apparent player hoarders that they are. Cue hysteria: Ignoring for one moment that Manchester City,…