Youth & Reserves

In the fledgling weeks of the 2013-14 season, Chelsea’s Academy Manager Neil Bath revealed that it was his and the club’s intention to treat the Barclays Under-21 Premier League perhaps more seriously than they have in previous years. That’s not to say that they haven’t approached it with anything less than professional commitment in recent times, but the sentiment was different this time. They were targeting silverware. Ten months later,…

It’s been another remarkable campaign for the Chelsea Football Club academy. The Under-18s recaptured the FA Youth Cup to claim a third win in five years and more than half a dozen of those players then went on to play a part in the Under-21s winning their first national title in three years. The Blues have some of the best players in the country, if not Europe, across every age…

Chelsea are Barclays Under-21 Premier League Champions after a 2-1 win over Manchester United in the national Final at Old Trafford on Wednesday night. On an evening of drama and superb entertainment from two of the foremost youth setups in the country, United took an early lead through Tom Lawrence but Chelsea were soon on terms when Charly Musonda displayed guile and trickery to dance his way through for a…

It was a match that came with the most ridiculous script. Hollywood would barely have accepted it as a realistic proposal, but in what will in all likelihood be the final match played on the Stamford Bridge pitch this season, Chelsea’s Under-18s won a fifth FA Youth Cup, a third in five seasons and a second in three, and they did it in unbelievable circumstances. Trailing 3-2 to Fulham from…

Chelsea’s Under-21s produced a battling performance full of courage and determination to overcome a very good Manchester City side in the Semi Finals of the Barclays Under-21 Premier League and secure their place in the showpiece occasion as they continue their bid to win a first title at this level since 2011. Islam Feruz opened the scoring early in the first half and despite considerable pressure from the home team…

Chelsea pulled the curtain down on another Under-18 league season on Tuesday with a defeat to Tottenham which although unfortunate on the scoreboard more than offered plenty of excitement for seasons to come. A hectic schedule involving the FA Youth Cup and Under-21 league playoffs has meant that the final weeks of the campaign at this level have been turned over to the next generation of youngsters coming through the…

The first ever West London FA Youth Cup Final sits finely poised halfway through the two legs as Fulham drew first blood with a 3-2 victory at Craven Cottage on Monday night. Five goals in a frenetic second half half-hour saw the hosts edge themselves ahead in the tie but on a breathless evening the score could easily have been both higher and in Chelsea’s favour, but things as they…