Chelsea F.C. Development Squad and Academy

Chelsea Development and Academy
Full name	Chelsea Football Club Development Squad and Academy
Nickname(s)	The Blues; The Young Blues
Ground	Kingsmeadow; Cobham Training Centre; Stamford Bridge
Capacity	4,850 (Kingsmeadow); 40,853 (Stamford Bridge)
Owner	BlueCo
Chairman	Todd Boehly
Manager	Vacant (U21); Hassan Sulaiman (U18)
League	Premier League 2 (under-21s); U18 Premier League (academy)
Website	Club website

Chelsea F.C. Development Squad are the development team of Chelsea Football Club. They play in the Premier League 2, which is the top level of reserve football in England. They were the champions in the 2013–14 and 2019–20 seasons. The team mainly consists of under-21 players at the club, although senior players occasionally feature, when recovering from injuries or otherwise not in the first team. The under-18 team is managed by Hassan Sulaiman.

Chelsea F.C. Academy is the under-18 team of Chelsea Football Club. It is a member of the Professional U18 Development League. They have won the FA Youth Cup nine times, including five consecutive titles between 2014 and 2018. The academy has produced many successful players such as the brothers Ron and Allan Harris, Peter Bonetti, Bobby Tambling, Barry Bridges, Bert Murray, John Hollins, Peter Osgood, Ray Wilkins, Graeme Le Saux, Bobby Smith, Terry Venables, Jimmy Greaves, John Terry, Mason Mount, and Reece James. Chelsea are the only English club to reach the final of the UEFA Youth League, winning it twice in four final appearances.

Neil Bath, who is the Head of Youth Development, is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the academy.^[2]

The development team play their home games at Kingsmeadow, while the under-18s play at the club's Cobham Training Centre in Cobham, Surrey. Both teams occasionally use the club's home ground Stamford Bridge for important matches.

Current squads

Bold indicates players to have at least one first-team appearance for Chelsea.

U21 squad

As of 14 June 2024^[3]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
31	MF	ITA	Cesare Casadei
36	FW	BRA	Deivid Washington
42	DF	ENG	Alfie Gilchrist
43	FW	POR	Diego Moreira
44	DF	ENG	Josh Brooking
46	DF	ENG	Zak Sturge
47	GK	FIN	Lucas Bergström
49	MF	FIN	Jimi Tauriainen
51	DF	ENG	Dylan Williams
53	DF	ENG	Ishé Samuels-Smith
54	MF	ENG	Leo Castledine
55	FW	ENG	Jimmy-Jay Morgan
56	MF	ENG	Billy Gee
57	DF	ENG	Brodi Hughes
58	DF	ENG	Richard Olise
59	MF	ENG	Samuel Rak-Sakyi
60	GK	ENG	Max Merrick
61	FW	ENG	Zain Silcott-Duberry


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
62	FW	ENG	Ronnie Stutter
63	DF	ENG	Josh Acheampong
64	DF	ENG	Travis Akomeah
65	FW	GHA	Ato Ampah
67	FW	ENG	Tyrique George
68	MF	ENG	Michael Golding
69	DF	ENG	Noah Hay
70	GK	ENG	Luke Campbell
71	FW	ENG	Donnell McNeilly
72	MF	ENG	Harrison McMahon
73	DF	ENG	Harrison Murray-Campbell
74	MF	ENG	Reiss-Alexander Russell-Denny
75	DF	ENG	Kaiden Wilson
76	DF	ENG	Somto Boniface
78	MF	ENG	Kiano Dyer
79	MF	ENG	Ollie Harrison
—	FW	JAM	Dujuan Richards

U18 squad

As of 17 February 2024^[4]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
40	GK	ENG	Ted Curd
54	MF	ENG	Leo Castledine
60	GK	ENG	Max Merrick
61	FW	ENG	Zain Silcott-Duberry
63	DF	ENG	Josh Acheampong
64	DF	ENG	Travis Akomeah
65	FW	GHA	Ato Ampah
66	FW	ENG	Chinonso Chibueze
67	FW	ENG	Tyrique George
68	MF	ENG	Michael Golding
69	DF	ENG	Noah Hay
70	GK	ENG	Luke Campbell
71	FW	ENG	Donnell McNeilly
72	MF	ENG	Harrison McMahon


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
73	DF	ENG	Harrison Murray-Campbell
74	MF	ENG	Reiss-Alexander Russell-Denny
75	DF	ENG	Kaiden Wilson
76	DF	ENG	Somto Boniface
77	MF	POR	Leo Cardoso
78	MF	ENG	Kiano Dyer
79	MF	ENG	Ollie Harrison
80	GK	ENG	Kai Crampton
81	DF	ENG	Saheed Olagunju
82	MF	ENG	Frankie Runham
83	FW	IRL	Shaun Wade
84	DF	ENG	Marcell Washington
85	DF	SWE	Genesis Antwi
—	FW	JAM	Dujuan Richards

Management team

As of 4 June 2024^[5]

Director of football development	Neil Bath
Under-21s head coach	Vacant
Under-21s assistant	Jack Mesure
Under-21s assistant	James Simmonds
Under-18s head coach	Hassan Sulaiman
Under-18s assistant	Andy Ross
Under-18s assistant	Jimmy Smith

Notable Academy players and graduates

Players who have at least 10 appearances for Chelsea first-team or represented a country at full international level, are categorised by the decade in which they left or graduated from the academy.
Players who still play for Chelsea, including those that are currently out on loan to other clubs, are in bold.

Before World War II

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Academy graduates in Premier League era (1992–present)

Players who still play for Chelsea, including those that are currently out on loan to other clubs, are in bold.

Player	International caps	Debut	Manager
Neil Shipperley	England U21	Age 18 v Southampton, 10 April 1993	David Webb
Michael Duberry	England U21	Age 18 v Coventry City, 4 May 1994	Glenn Hoddle
Jody Morris	England U21	Age 17 v Middlesbrough, 4 February 1996	Glenn Hoddle
Mark Nicholls		Age 19 v Leicester City, 12 October 1996	Ruud Gullit
Neil Clement	England U18	Age 19 v West Ham United, 21 December 1996
Paul Hughes		Age 21 v Derby County, 18 January 1997
Joe Sheerin		Age 18 v Wimbledon, 22 April 1997
Steven Hampshire		Age 16 v Blackburn Rovers, 15 October 1997
Nick Crittenden		Age 19 v Southampton, 19 November 1997
Jon Harley	England U21	Age 19 v Derby County, 5 April 1998	Gianluca Vialli
John Terry	Full England caps	Age 17 v Aston Villa, 28 October 1998
Mikael Forssell	Full Finland caps	Age 17 v Arsenal, 31 January 1999
Rob Wolleaston		Age 19 v Huddersfield Town, 13 October 1999
Samuele Dalla Bona	Italy U21	Age 18 v Feyenoord, 24 November 1999
Leon Knight	England U20	Age 19 v Levski Sofia, 27 September 2001	Claudio Ranieri
Joel Kitamirike		Age 18 v Hapoel Tel Aviv, 18 October 2001
Joe Keenan		Age 19 v Aston Villa, 9 February 2002
Carlton Cole	Full England caps	Age 18 v Everton, 6 April 2002
Robert Huth	Full Germany caps	Age 17 v Aston Villa, 11 May 2002
Filipe Oliveira	Portugal U21	Age 18 v Viking, 19 September 2002
Alexis Nicolas	Cyprus U21	Age 20 v Scarborough, 24 January 2004
Steven Watt	Scotland U21	Age 19 v Scunthorpe United, 8 January 2005	José Mourinho
Lenny Pidgeley	England U20	Age 21 v Charlton Athletic, 7 May 2005
Anthony Grant	Full Jamaica caps	Age 17 v Manchester United, 10 May 2005
Jimmy Smith	England U19	Age 19 v Newcastle United, 7 May 2006
Ben Sahar	Full Israel caps	Age 18 v Macclesfield Town, 6 January 2007
Michael Woods	England U19	Age 16 v Macclesfield Town, 6 January 2007
Sam Hutchinson	England U19	Age 17 v Everton, 13 May 2007
Michael Mancienne	Full Seychelles caps	Age 21 v Watford, 14 February 2009	Guus Hiddink
Fabio Borini	Full Italy caps	Age 18 v Tottenham Hotspur, 20 September 2009	Carlo Ancelotti
Jeffrey Bruma	Full Netherlands caps	Age 17 v Blackburn Rovers, 24 October 2009
Gaël Kakuta	Full DR Congo caps	Age 18 v Wolverhampton Wanderers, 21 November 2009
Patrick van Aanholt	Full Netherlands caps	Age 19 v Portsmouth, 24 March 2010
Josh McEachran	England U21	Age 17 v MŠK Žilina, 15 September 2010
Jacob Mellis	England U19	Age 19 v MŠK Žilina, 23 November 2010
Ryan Bertrand	Full England caps	Age 21 v Birmingham City, 20 April 2011
Lucas Piazon	Brazil U23	Age 18 v Wolverhampton Wanderers, 25 September 2012	Roberto Di Matteo
Nathan Aké	Full Netherlands caps	Age 17 v Norwich City, 26 December 2012	Rafael Benítez
Lewis Baker	England U21	Age 18 v Derby County, 5 January 2014	José Mourinho
John Swift	England U21	Age 18 v Cardiff City, 11 May 2014
Dominic Solanke	Full England caps	Age 17 v Maribor, 21 October 2014
Andreas Christensen	Full Denmark caps	Age 18 v Shrewsbury Town, 28 October 2014
Ruben Loftus-Cheek	Full England caps	Age 18 v Sporting CP, 10 December 2014
Isaiah Brown	England U20	Age 18 v West Bromwich Albion, 18 May 2015
Bertrand Traoré	Full Burkina Faso caps	Age 20 v Maccabi Tel Aviv, 16 September 2015
Jake Clarke-Salter	England U21	Age 18 v Aston Villa, 2 April 2016	Guus Hiddink
Tammy Abraham	Full England caps	Age 18 v Liverpool, 11 May 2016
Fikayo Tomori	Full England caps	Age 18 v Leicester City, 15 May 2016
Ola Aina	Full Nigeria caps	Age 19 v Bristol Rovers, 23 August 2016	Antonio Conte
Nathaniel Chalobah	Full England caps	Age 21 v Leicester City, 20 September 2016
Charly Musonda	Belgium U21	Age 20 v Arsenal, 6 August 2017
Jérémie Boga	Full Ivory Coast caps	Age 20 v Burnley, 12 August 2017
Dujon Sterling	England U20	Age 17 v Nottingham Forest, 20 September 2017
Callum Hudson-Odoi	Full England caps	Age 17 v Newcastle United, 28 January 2018
Kyle Scott	United States U20	Age 20 v Hull City, 16 February 2018
Mason Mount	Full England caps	Age 20 v Manchester United, 11 August 2019	Frank Lampard
Billy Gilmour	Full Scotland caps	Age 18 v Sheffield United, 31 August 2019
Reece James	Full England caps	Age 19 v Grimsby Town, 25 September 2019
Marc Guehi	Full England caps	Age 19 v Grimsby Town, 25 September 2019
Ian Maatsen	Netherlands U21	Age 17 v Grimsby Town, 25 September 2019
Tino Anjorin	England U20	Age 17 v Grimsby Town, 25 September 2019
Tariq Lamptey	Full Ghana caps	Age 19 v Arsenal, 29 December 2019
Armando Broja	Full Albania caps	Age 18 v Everton, 8 March 2020
Trevoh Chalobah	England U21	Age 22 v Villarreal, 11 August 2021	Thomas Tuchel
Xavier Simons	England U20	Age 18 v Brentford, 22 December 2021
Jude Soonsup-Bell	England U19	Age 17 v Brentford, 22 December 2021
Harvey Vale	England U20	Age 18 v Brentford, 22 December 2021
Lewis Hall	England U21	Age 17 v Chesterfield, 8 January 2022
Conor Gallagher	Full England caps	Age 22 v Everton, 6 August 2022
Omari Hutchinson	Full Jamaica caps	Age 19 v Manchester City, 5 January 2023	Graham Potter
Bashir Humphreys	England U21	Age 19 v Manchester City, 8 January 2023	Graham Potter
Levi Colwill	Full England caps	Age 20 v Liverpool, 13 August 2023	Mauricio Pochettino
Alex Matos	England U20	Age 18 v Fulham, 2 October 2023
Alfie Gilchrist		Age 20 v Crystal Palace, 27 December 2023
Michael Golding	England U18	Age 17 v Preston North End, 6 January 2024
Leo Castledine	England U19	Age 18 v Middlesbrough, 23 January 2024
Cesare Casadei	Italy U21	Age 21 v Liverpool, 31 January 2024
Jimi Tauriainen	Finland U19	Age 19 v Leeds United, 28 February 2024
Josh Acheampong	England U18	Age 17 v Tottenham Hotspur, 2 May 2024

Annual awards

Young Player of the Year

Academy Player of the Year

Honours

Reserves team

U21 Premier League / Premier League 2
- Winners (2): 2013–14, 2019–20
The Football Combination
- Winners (11): 1948–49, 1954–55, 1957–58, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1964–65, 1974–75, 1976–77, 1984–85, 1990–91, 1993–94
Premier Reserve League – National Champions
- Winners (1): 2010–11
Premier Reserve League – Southern Champions
- Winners (1): 2010–11
London Challenge Cup
- Winners (5): 1919–20, 1926–27, 1949–50, 1959–60, 1960–61
Metropolitan League
- Winners (3): 1954–55, 1956–57, 1957–58

Academy team

UEFA Youth League
- Winners (2): 2014–15, 2015–16
U18 Premier League – National Champions
- Winners (2): 2016–17, 2017–18
U18 Premier League – Southern Champions
- Winners (5): 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2023–24
FA Youth Cup
- Winners (9): 1959–60, 1960–61, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18
U18 Premier League Cup
- Winners (2): 2017–18, 2021–22^[6]
U17 Premier League Cup
- Winners (1): 2023–24^[7]
U16 Premier League Cup
- Winners (1): 2018–19^[8]
Southern Junior Floodlight Cup
- Winners (5): 1955–56, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1963–64
South East Counties League
- Winners (10): 1954–55, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1973–74, 1983–84
South East Counties League Cup
- Winners (11): 1952–53, 1953–54, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1962–63, 1964–65, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1983–84, 1986–87
North Surrey Minor League
- Winners (1): 1953–54
London Minor Challenge Cup
- Winners (3): 1949–50, 1951–52, 1953–54

References

^ "Group Tax Strategy". Chelsea F.C. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
^ "Neil Bath | Official Site | Chelsea Football Club". Chelsea F.C. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
^ "Academy – U21s". Chelsea F.C. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
^ "Academy – U18s". Chelsea F.C. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
^ "Academy – Staff". Chelsea F.C. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
^ "U18 Premier League Cup – Champions". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
^ "PL Cup report: Wolves 1–3 Chelsea". Chelsea F.C. 11 April 2024. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
^ "Arsenal U16 2–5 Chelsea U16: Talented young guns fall to lively Blues in showpiece final". Islington Gazette. 15 March 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2022.

External links

About the Academy at Chelsea F.C. official website
Why Chelsea could finally be reaping the rewards of their outstanding academy – These Football Times (2017)

[1] "Group Tax Strategy". Chelsea F.C. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.

[2] "Neil Bath | Official Site | Chelsea Football Club". Chelsea F.C. Retrieved 8 March 2020.

[3] "Academy – U21s". Chelsea F.C. Retrieved 12 February 2024.

[4] "Academy – U18s". Chelsea F.C. Retrieved 12 February 2024.

[5] "Academy – Staff". Chelsea F.C. Retrieved 4 June 2024.

[6] "U18 Premier League Cup – Champions". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 15 July 2022.

[7] "PL Cup report: Wolves 1–3 Chelsea". Chelsea F.C. 11 April 2024. Retrieved 11 April 2024.

[8] "Arsenal U16 2–5 Chelsea U16: Talented young guns fall to lively Blues in showpiece final". Islington Gazette. 15 March 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2022.

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