Chelsea’s Irish Under-21 international midfielder Conor Clifford is set to join League One outfit Portsmouth on loan after appearing for the club on trial today. The 20 year-old played 45 minutes for Michael Appleton’s cash-strapped side against Bolton Wanderers and has firmly attracted interest ahead of the new campaign. Portsmouth are still under a transfer embargo and must shed three further first-team squad players – including former Chelsea defender Tal…
The Generation Game
One of the biggest changes in football over the past 20 years, since the post-Italia 90 “gentrification” of the working man’s ballet, is how young fans become involved. Time was you were either taken by a (usually male) parent to watch the team they supported, or selected your team, gathered your like-minded mates together or set off on your own for the turnstiles, where you could pay on the day….
The Professional Development League – What’s Going To Change?
You might have seen that earlier this week, news of the revamped structure for youth football in England was finally announced. Chief amongst the changes is the introduction of the Professional Development League; a three-tiered Under-21 competition ranked on academy grading designed at improving the quality of football between the ages of 18 and 21. Little more needs to be said about the failings of the old reserve system at…
Details Of English Youth League Revamp Announced
The Elite Player Performance Plan and the associated restructuring of English youth football has been a subject hot on the agenda this summer. After a protracted negotiating and organising period, details have emerged today of the path forward from 2012-13 onwards. The old 40-team academy league, split into ten groups of four based roughly on locale has gone. In its place at the top level is a three-group, 23-team setup…
Kane To Captain U21s As Chalobah & Hutchinson Prepare For Next Step
Todd Kane has been named Chelsea’s Under-21 team captain for the 2012-13 season, according to the club’s official website. The 18 year-old full-back was named as the man in possession of the armband in a piece published earlier this afternoon and follows him doing so away to Northampton Town last Saturday afternoon. It’s a positive reward for a player who has made huge strides of progress in the past two…
Under-21s: Northampton Town 0-2 Chelsea
Chelsea’s Under-21 side continued their preparation for the new season with their first win of the summer over Northampton Town. A largely impressive performance against some very capable football league players was capped by a second half brace from 16 year-old forward Alex Kiwomya. Having returned from their annual training camp in Austria, the squad welcomed Todd Kane, George Saville and Patrick Bamford back into the fold following a brief…
Chelsea Pitch Owners EGM Report
The Facts The Extraordinary General Meeting of Chelsea Pitch Owners took place in the Harris Suite at Stamford Bridge on Monday 23 July 2012. Before the meeting was called to order, CPO’s lawyers objected to one shareholder distributing copies of a leaflet detailing the identities of shareholders who made substantial purchases between 3rd and 20th October 2011 and making a number of claims in respect of the original Prospectus of…
Sideways Glances: Looking Back At The Future
There is no evidence that any of what follows is actually a fictionalised, poorly imagined account. Any resemblance to real or fictitious persons living, dead or even undead, is either purely coincidental or outright miraculous. Coincidences happen, alright? On the other hand, in a universe far, far away, all this may already have happened. 1. The True Spirit Of Sport: The Pan-Continental League. The year is 2030. The Pan-Continental League…
Chelsea Pitch Owners EGM Headlines
Main developments from today’s EGM:- Wise and Sewell in no-show Plea for early vote on Resolution 3 denied Board promises to “vet” future share applications Row over debt repayment rumbles on Pledges to investigate fund-raising options Today’s hotly-anticipated Chelsea Pitch Owners EGM ended in uproar after many believed Steve Frankham used the chair’s proxy vote to sink Resolution 3, which called for voting rights to be limited to a maximum of…
Slovenian Dautovic London-bound?
According to reports from Sam Wallace in the Independent, Chelsea have agreed a deal for Slovenian centre-back Emir Dautovic to join Michael Emenalo’s youth revolution at Stamford Bridge. The Blues are believed to have struck a €1.3m deal with NK Maribor for the 17 year-old defender, who they have been tracking for some time and are now set to bring to London. Back in 2010, stories emerged from Slovenia claiming…