We’re not quite a quarter of the way through the 2013-14 season but the international break provides a timely interlude to take a retrospective of Chelsea’s impressive start to affairs at youth level. A series of strong displays from both the Under-21 and Under-18 teams have caught the eye, whilst the UEFA Youth League has resulted in a pair of 4-0 victories, and even the next fledgling generation of schoolboys…
It’s Just The High Cost Of Loving
This is a season where the cost of attending football has been under the spotlight like never before. As the Age of Austerity drags into its sixth year, even those supporters who are in relatively well paid employment are having to juggle increasingly high living costs, coupled with below-inflation wage rises – and that’s if you’re lucky. The Football Supporters’ Federation (FSF) launched their ‘SCORE’ campaign (motto: Twenty’s Plenty’) in…
Three Young Blues at U17 World Cup
The FIFA Under-17 World Cup has long since been a proving ground for the stars of tomorrow, and this year’s tournament – which gets underway in the United Arab Emirates next week – will feature three young Chelsea academy players. The tournament’s official squad lists have confirmed that Swedish pair Isak Ssewankambo and Ali Suljic are a part of the Blågult squad, whilst Habib Makanjuola will represent Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets….
The Loan Report: September 30 – October 6
The usual suspects were up to their old tricks once again this week on the loan front as Patrick Bamford and Romelu Lukaku both found the back of the net once again, whilst Croatian forward Stipe Perica got in on the act. On a sour note, there was a rather harsh red card for Nathaniel Chalobah, but it was a small smudge on an otherwise excellent picture of the past…
Under-21s: Chelsea 2-1 Manchester City
Chelsea’s Under-21s recorded their fourth win of the season on Sunday morning with a 2-1 victory over Manchester City courtesy of first half goals from John Swift and Andreas Christensen. It was hardly a vintage performance from either side but in much the same way that the Under-18s did so 24 hours earlier, the Blues took their chances in the first half and did just enough over the course of…
Under-18s: Chelsea 3-1 Southampton
It continues to rain goals for Chelsea’s Under-18s as they racked up another three of them in a comfortable 3-1 win over Southampton at Cobham on Saturday morning. The damage was done in the first half as Kasey Palmer, Ambrose Gnahore and Dominic Solanke each found the back of the net and whilst there was no addition to their tally beyond that, the win was a deserved one and took…
UEFA Youth League: Steaua Bucharest 0-4 Chelsea
Chelsea’s Under-19s made it two wins from two in their UEFA Youth League campaign with a very, very comfortable 4-0 victory over Steaua Bucharest in wet Romania on Tuesday afternoon. John Swift and Alex Kiwomya each scored twice to hand Dermot Drummy’s side a second successive victory by the same margin, having previously despatched of Basel on matchday one. The Swiss were hardly a threatening outfit at Cobham but in…
The Loan Report: September 23-29
It was a case of the usual suspects coming to the fore again this week on the loan front as Patrick Bamford, Thorgan Hazard and Lucas Piazon all found the back of the net again in what has been a very, very good season so far for young Blues plying their trade elsewhere. Headliners Bamford got things rolling this weekend with a quick-fire double for Milton Keynes Dons in their…
Under-18s: Chelsea 5-0 Middlesbrough
Chelsea’s Under 18s continued their 100% home record and largely impressive first two months of the season with a resounding 5-0 win over Middlesbrough at Cobham on Saturday morning. A pair of well-taken goals by Ambrose Gnahore in the opening twenty minutes put the Blues in a strong position and whilst they might have been even further ahead by half time, second half efforts from Jordan Houghton, Dominic Solanke and…
Sit Down? Shut Up?
The demographic among the supporter base at Chelsea FC resolutely remains middle-aged, male and white. The young men who were the fighters of the 70s and 80s are now not only fathers, but in some cases grandfathers. They constitute some of our most vocal and passionate supporters. Among our younger support (i.e. late teens and early 20s) there is a good proportion who “get” Chelsea. They flog themselves up and…