Chelsea are continuing to prepare for an uncertain Premier Reserve League campaign in the right way. In an announcement apparently only made (so far) in the club’s official magazine, two further friendly dates have been added to their schedule. The Blues will host Manchester United on August 8th before a fixture against Blackburn Rovers on August 18th. Both fixtures are presumably at Cobham, but that remains to be confirmed. Keen…
The Class of 2010: Chelsea’s New Scholars
Summer time. The winds of change are once again in the air as far as football goes, and whilst teams throughout Europe prepare for their coming season, squads are being shaped at youth and reserve level. Part of that annual process is the induction of a new group of first-year scholars, which Chelsea have officially announced today. It’s a smaller intake than last season’s bumper double-figure tally, but like twelve…
Eight Go Pro As Blues Look To Future
Whilst Monday sees the Chelsea first-team return to Cobham for pre-season, the younger generation are already back in Surrey after their summer breaks. For eight teenagers, the hard work starts now as they signed their maiden professional contracts. James Ashton, Billy Clifford, Aziz Deen-Conteh, Rohan Ince, Milan Lalkovic, Josh McEachran, Philipp Prosenik and George Saville put pen to paper yesterday afternoon to secure themselves senior deals, and whilst it’s a…
Ofori-Twumasi Goes Posh As Exodus Begins
A number of Chelsea’s reserve team were expected to find pastures new this summer, and on the first day of the summer transfer window, Nana Ofori-Twumasi has led the way in being the first to find a new club. The Ghanaian-born England Under-20 international has signed a three-year deal with Peterborough United, who were relegated to League One in 2009/10. It’s an interesting move for the versatile defender, who has…
News On Premier Reserve League 2010-11 Revamp
For a number of years, there have been more than a few murmurings of discontent with the Premier League’s reserve structure, with the highest profile managers in the country speaking out against it. After a number of teams withdrew from participation in the league over the last twelve months, the Premier League has acted upon change, with effect from the 2010/11 season. The previous North/South split, of a simple home…
Anelka On Way Home
All together now – Coming home, he’s coming home… Nic’s been chucked out of the French squad and sent home in disgrace. Pardon me if I don’t weep into my baguette. Excusez-moi if I don’t join the general hue and cry about his foul-mouthed tirade. While I am sorry for the man on a personal level that he has missed out on some World Cup appearances, this has been tempered…
New Fixtures, New Season
With the release of the coming seasons fixtures announced this morning, it seems the good old fixture computer has given us a nice start to the season, and a none to friendly finish, on paper at least. Now we’re old enough and wise enough to know full well that football is played on grass, and not paper, yet our opening run of games looks straightforward enough, starts with West Brom,…
Taylor First Up In Summer of Loan Deals
Dario Gradi announced Monday that Crewe Alexandra were taking a Chelsea reserve team goalkeeper on loan over the summer with the view to an extended loan move. That player turned out to be Welsh Under-21 stopper Rhys Taylor, and as he prepares to join the Railwaymen for pre-season, he kicks off what is sure to be another busy campaign of temporary moves. Last season saw nineteen different players involved in…
Chelsea At The World Cup
Chelsea Football Club have thirteen representatives at the imminent FIFA World Cup in South Africa, this despite having another three miss the showpiece through injury and the fourth under an injury cloud. It is England, appropriately, who has the highest number of Chelsea representatives. They are Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, Chelsea captain John Terry and Joe Cole, who will be released at the end of June. England is in Group…
Miroslav Stoch Joins Fenerbahçe
It had been expected, but it still came as a disappointment when it was confirmed. Miroslav Stoch confirmed on his official website this afternoon that he has agreed a four-year deal with Turkish giants Fenerbahçe and will join the club after the World Cup. The Turkish league runners-up had announced the contract news earlier in the day. The news is a particularly bitter pill to swallow for followers of the…