Chelsea F.C. Development Squad and Academy

Chelsea F.C. Under-21s, previously referred to as the 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-21 team is managed by Filipe Coelho and the under-18 team is managed by Hassan Sulaiman.

Chelsea Under-21s and Academy

Full name	Chelsea Football Club Under-21s and Academy
Nickname(s)	The Blues The Young Blues
Ground	Kingsmeadow Cobham Training Centre Stamford Bridge
Capacity	4,850 (Kingsmeadow) 40,173 (Stamford Bridge)
Owner	BlueCo[1]
Chairman	Todd Boehly
Manager	Filipe Coelho (U21) Hassan Sulaiman (U18)
League	Premier League 2 (under-21s) U18 Premier League (academy)
Website	www.chelseafc.com
Home colours Away colours Third colours

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, Reece James and Conor Gallagher. Chelsea are the only English club to reach the final of the UEFA Youth League, winning it twice in four final appearances.

The under-21 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 17 January 2025^[2]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 32 FW  ENG Tyrique George 33 MF  ENG Kiano Dyer 36 FW  BRA Deivid Washington 37 MF  ENG Omari Kellyman 40 GK  ENG Ted Curd 41 DF  ENG Zak Sturge 42 MF  FIN Jimi Tauriainen 43 MF  ENG Harvey Vale 44 DF  ENG Brodi Hughes 47 GK  FIN Lucas Bergström 48 MF  SCO Harrison McMahon 49 DF  ENG Richard Olise 51 MF  ENG Samuel Rak-Sakyi 54 DF  ENG Travis Akomeah 55 FW  ENG Ato Ampah 56 DF  ENG Somto Boniface 57 FW  ENG Donnell McNeilly

No. Pos. Nation Player 58 FW  ENG Jimmy-Jay Morgan 59 DF  ENG Harrison Murray-Campbell 61 MF  ENG Reiss-Alexander Russell-Denny 62 DF  ENG Ishé Samuels-Smith 63 DF  ENG Kaiden Wilson 64 DF  SWE Genesis Antwi 66 MF  ENG Ollie Harrison 67 MF  ENG Frankie Runham 68 FW  IRL Shaun Wade 75 DF  IRL Harry McGlinchey 76 FW  ENG Shumaira Mheuka 80 GK  ENG Hudson Sands — GK  WAL Eddie Beach — GK  ENG Luke Campbell — GK  USA Gabriel Slonina — FW  JAM Dujuan Richards — FW  ENG Ronnie Stutter

U18 squad

As of 15 January 2025^[3]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 33 MF  ENG Kiano Dyer 64 DF  SWE Genesis Antwi 65 MF  POR Leo Cardoso 66 MF  ENG Ollie Harrison 67 MF  ENG Frankie Runham 68 FW  IRL Shaun Wade 69 DF  ENG Marcell Washington 70 GK  ENG Jack Austin 71 FW  ENG Kobe Barbour

No. Pos. Nation Player 72 MF  ENG Landon Emenalo 73 MF  ENG Sol Gordon 74 MF  MAR Yahya Idrissi 75 DF  IRL Harry McGlinchey 76 FW  ENG Shumaira Mheuka 77 DF  ENG Harry Rodda 78 DF  ENG Olutayo Subuloye 79 DF  ENG Joseph Wheeler-Henry 80 GK  ENG Hudson Sands

Management team

As of 11 July 2024^[4]

Under-21s head coach	Filipe Coelho
Under-21s assistant	Jack Mesure
	James Simmonds
Under-18s head coach	Hassan Sulaiman
Under-18s assistant	Andy Ross
	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

• Désiré Bastin
• David Calderhead Jr.
• Ron Greenwood
• George Pearson
• Tommy Law
• Bill Robertson

1950s

• Micky Block
• Peter Bonetti
• Peter Brabrook
• Terry Bradbury
• Barry Bridges
• David Cliss
• John Compton
• Derek Gibbs
• Jimmy Greaves
• Mike Harrison
• Tony Nicholas
• Mel Scott
• Ken Shellito
• Bobby Smith
• Bobby Tambling
• Dick Whittaker
• Gerry Baker

1960s

• Dennis Brown
• Dennis Butler
• Tony Currie
• John Dunn
• Allan Harris
• Ron Harris
• John Hollins
• Peter Houseman
• Alan Hudson
• Barry Lloyd
• Bert Murray
• Peter Osgood
• Terry Venables
• John Boyle
• Stewart Houston

1970s

• Trevor Aylott
• Brian Bason
• John Bumstead
• Gary Chivers
• Mike Fillery
• Lee Frost
• Kevin Hales
• Gary Johnson
• Tommy Langley
• Ray Lewington
• Gary Locke
• Teddy Maybank
• Micky Nutton
• Colin Pates
• Peter Rhoades-Brown
• Steve Sherwood
• John Sitton
• John Sparrow
• Gary Stanley
• David Stride
• Clive Walker
• Steve Wicks
• Graham Wilkins
• Ray Wilkins
• Ian Britton
• Steve Finnieston

1980s

• Jason Cundy
• Keith Dublin
• Steve Francis
• Robert Isaac
• Dale Jasper
• Keith Jones
• David Lee
• Graeme Le Saux
• Damian Matthew
• Carlton Palmer
• Graham Stuart
• Colin West
• Craig Burley
• Billy Dodds
• John Millar
• Paul Bodin
• Gareth Hall

1990s

• Michael Duberry
• Jon Harley
• Paul Hughes
• Jody Morris
• Andy Myers
• Eddie Newton
• Mark Nicholls
• Neil Shipperley
• John Terry
• Samuele Dalla Bona
• Frank Sinclair
• Junior Mendes
• Muzzy Izzet
• Nathan Blake

2000s

• Gaël Kakuta
• Yves Ma-Kalambay
• Ryan Bertrand
• Carlton Cole
• Jack Cork
• Momodou Ceesay
• Robert Huth
• Toni Silva
• Oliver Norburn
• Emmanuel Sarki
• Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson
• Ben Sahar
• Fabio Borini
• Jermaine Beckford
• Shaun Cummings
• Anthony Grant
• Dominic Poleon
• Mbark Boussoufa
• Bradley Woods-Garness
• Jeffrey Bruma
• Patrick van Aanholt
• Neil Etheridge
• James Younghusband
• Phil Younghusband
• Dean Furman
• Michael Modubi
• Jeffrey Ntuka
• Liam Bridcutt
• Warren Cummings
• Michael Mancienne
• Andy King

2010s

• Richard Bakary
• Bertrand Traoré
• Faiq Bolkiah
• Iké Ugbo
• Ian Poveda
• Victorien Angban
• Jérémie Boga
• Andreas Christensen
• Tammy Abraham
• Nathaniel Chalobah
• Trevoh Chalobah
• Conor Gallagher
• Marc Guéhi
• Callum Hudson-Odoi
• Reece James
• Ruben Loftus-Cheek
• Josh McEachran
• Mason Mount
• Eddie Nketiah
• Declan Rice
• Dominic Solanke
• Fikayo Tomori
• Michael Olise
• Jamal Musiala
• Tariq Lamptey
• Louie Annesley
• Aliu Djaló
• Nathan Moriah-Welsh
• Michael Obafemi
• Jack Taylor
• Di'Shon Bernard
• Kasey Palmer
• Mukhtar Ali
• Rohan Ince
• Nathan Aké
• Ian Maatsen
• Ola Aina
• Cameron McGeehan
• George Saville
• Marcin Bułka
• Billy Gilmour
• Rowan Liburd
• Aziz Deen-Conteh
• Kevin Wright
• Will Donkin
• Michael Kedman
• Daniel Phillips
• Gökhan Töre
• Jay Dasilva
• Chris Mepham

2020s

• Armando Broja
• Ben Elliott
• Levi Colwill
• Tyrique George
• Alfie Gilchrist
• Lewis Hall
• Tino Livramento
• Omari Hutchinson
• Lucas Bergström
• Cesare Casadei
• Dujuan Richards
• Jon Russell
• Sam McClelland

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
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	England	Age 17 v Aston Villa, 28 October 1998
Mikael Forssell	Finland	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	England	Age 18 v Everton, 6 April 2002
Robert Huth	Germany	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	Jamaica	Age 17 v Manchester United, 10 May 2005
Jimmy Smith	England U19	Age 19 v Newcastle United, 7 May 2006
Ben Sahar	Israel	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	Seychelles	Age 21 v Watford, 14 February 2009	Guus Hiddink
Fabio Borini	Italy	Age 18 v Tottenham Hotspur, 20 September 2009	Carlo Ancelotti
Jeffrey Bruma	Netherlands	Age 17 v Blackburn Rovers, 24 October 2009
Gaël Kakuta	DR Congo	Age 18 v Wolverhampton Wanderers, 21 November 2009
Patrick van Aanholt	Netherlands	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	England	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	Netherlands	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	England	Age 17 v Maribor, 21 October 2014
Andreas Christensen	Denmark	Age 18 v Shrewsbury Town, 28 October 2014
Ruben Loftus-Cheek	England	Age 18 v Sporting CP, 10 December 2014
Bertrand Traoré	Burkina Faso	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	England	Age 18 v Liverpool, 11 May 2016
Fikayo Tomori	England	Age 18 v Leicester City, 15 May 2016
Ola Aina	Nigeria	Age 19 v Bristol Rovers, 23 August 2016	Antonio Conte
Nathaniel Chalobah	England	Age 21 v Leicester City, 20 September 2016
Charly Musonda	Belgium U21	Age 20 v Arsenal, 6 August 2017
Jérémie Boga	Ivory Coast	Age 20 v Burnley, 12 August 2017
Dujon Sterling	England U20	Age 17 v Nottingham Forest, 20 September 2017
Callum Hudson-Odoi	England	Age 17 v Newcastle United, 28 January 2018
Kyle Scott	United States U20	Age 20 v Hull City, 16 February 2018
Mason Mount	England	Age 20 v Manchester United, 11 August 2019	Frank Lampard
Billy Gilmour	Scotland	Age 18 v Sheffield United, 31 August 2019
Reece James	England	Age 19 v Grimsby Town, 25 September 2019
Marc Guehi	England	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	Ghana	Age 19 v Arsenal, 29 December 2019
Armando Broja	Albania	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	Age 17 v Chesterfield, 8 January 2022
Conor Gallagher	England	Age 22 v Everton, 6 August 2022
Omari Hutchinson	Jamaica	Age 19 v Manchester City, 5 January 2023	Graham Potter
Bashir Humphreys	England U21	Age 19 v Manchester City, 8 January 2023
Levi Colwill	England	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 U20	Age 17 v Tottenham Hotspur, 2 May 2024
Tyrique George	England U19	Age 18 v Servette, 29 August 2024	Enzo Maresca
Samuel Rak-Sakyi	England U18	Age 19 v Noah, 7 November 2024
Ato Ampah	England U18	Age 18 v Astana, 12 December 2024
Shumaira Mheuka	England U19	Age 17 v Astana, 12 December 2024
Kiano Dyer	England U19	Age 18 v Astana, 12 December 2024
Harrison Murray-Campbell	England U19	Age 18 v Shamrock Rovers, 19 December 2024

Annual awards

Young Player of the Year

Main article: Chelsea F.C. Player of the Year § Young Player of the Year

Academy Player of the Year

Main article: Chelsea F.C. Player of the Year § Academy Player of the Year

Honours

Chelsea players celebrating winning the 2015–16 FA Youth Cup.

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^[5]
• U17 Premier League Cup
  • Winners (1): 2023–24^[6]
• U16 Premier League Cup
  • Winners (1): 2018–19^[7]
• 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

1. "Group Tax Strategy". Chelsea F.C. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
2. "Academy – U21s". Chelsea F.C. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
3. "Academy – U18s". Chelsea F.C. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
4. "Academy – Staff". Chelsea F.C. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
5. "U18 Premier League Cup – Champions". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
6. "PL Cup report: Wolves 1–3 Chelsea". Chelsea F.C. 11 April 2024. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
7. "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)