Chelsea’s inaugural Premier Under-21 League International Cup fixture took place at Staines Town’s Wheatsheaf Park on Friday night as they shared an entertaining 1-1 draw with German outfit Borussia Mönchengladbach. Chelsea enjoyed by far the better of the game’s best moments but struggled to break down their opponents for the majority of the match and found themselves behind following Mario Rodriguez’ goal on the hour mark. They deserved to take…
The Loan Report: December 8-14
Another week, another Patrick Bamford goal. The England Under-21 striker struck struck for the fourth game in succession and the sixth in his last seven as Middlesbrough went top of the Championship with a 2-0 win over his former loan club Derby County. We begin with him before checking in on a rare Chelsea-inspired Vitesse Arnhem performance. Headliners Bamford has been irrepressible of late, helping Boro to an eight-match unbeaten…
Under-18s: West Ham United 2-5 Chelsea
Chelsea finished their fixture list for the 2014 calendar year in much the same fashion as they’d undertaken the majority of it; handsomely beating West Ham United 5-2 to retain top spot in the league for Christmas. Schoolboy Iké Ugbo opened the scoring early as Chelsea were awarded two penalty kicks in short succession. Isaac Christie-Davies saw his effort saved by Clarke Bogard but Ugbo scored almost immediately. Kyle Scott…
The Loan Report: December 1-7
Another week, another Patrick Bamford goal. The England Under-21 striker netted for the fifth time in six matches as Middlesbrough roared towards the top end of the Championship and the young Chelsea loanee continued to hit the headlines. We begin with him before checking in on a landmark day in the Bundesliga for Thorgan Hazard. Headliners Bamford has earned the complete trust of manager Aitor Karanka over the last half…
Under-18s: Chelsea 2-1 Leicester City
Chelsea extended their lead at the top of the Under-18 Premier League’s South table with a 2-1 victory over second-placed Leicester City in the last home league match of 2014 on Saturday. Goals in either half from Isaac Christie-Davies and Charly Musonda ensured three points for Joe Edwards’ boys despite a Leicester effort from Brandon Fox and a fractious end to the match caused almost entirely by one of the…
FA Youth Cup: Leeds United 0-2 Chelsea
Chelsea began the defence of their latest FA Youth Cup in hard-working fashion with a battling 2-0 win away to Leeds United. The Under-18s have played and will play better but a performance full of grit, spirit and fight overcame a red card to goalkeeper Brad Collins to triumph 2-0 at Elland Road courtesy of a first half Izzy Brown penalty and a late clincher from Dominic Solanke. Joe Edwards,…
Previewing Chelsea’s 2014-15 FA Youth Cup Campaign
For the third time in five years Chelsea enter the FA Youth Cup looking to defend their title. In the intermittent years between successes they’ve reached the Semi Final and Final respectively before falling to Manchester United and Norwich in a bid to achieve the first back-to-back successes in the competition since Liverpool achieved the feat in 2006 and 2007. This year’s Blues squad is arguably as well-set to finally…
The Loan Report: November 24-30
Patrick Bamford’s third goal in four matches and definitive proof that Marko Marin not only exists but is actually contributing in a meaningful fashion for Fiorentina are this week’s Loan Report lead stories, with everything elsewhere remaining much the same as you’re used to. Headliners Bamford took a little while to settle at Boro and has a host of very handy strikers to compete with but it was something he…
Chelsea’s FA Youth Cup History
As we get set to embark on a 63rd FA Youth Cup campaign, many people may not realise that Chelsea have a rather proud history in the competition. The Blues might well have won three of the last five iterations of the prestigious tournament and will be favourites to reach a fourth final in succession but, if you trace their roots back to the fledgling days of the cup in…
The Loan Report: November 21-23
The first Loan Report of the post-international window will read much like those that preceded it. Patrick Bamford scored again for Middlesbrough whilst everybody else ranged from involved without being spectacular to being completely anonymous as per usual. Headliners At least we can hang our hat on Bamford, for the time being at least. He was left on the bench for their trip to Wigan but was introduced to the…