Well, that was a drastic change from last season. We’ve gone from surviving in the PL2 due to a last minute winner against Spurs, to almost winning the league a year later.
This academy season was different. Not necessarily for anyone else, but it was for me. For absolutely no reason whatsoever, I decided that this would be the season where I’d prioritise the academy over the first team in terms attending matches. I mean, if you know me at all, you’ll know that I’ve had a deep interest in the Chelsea academy for ages, but I thought it would be time to give my support in person. To be fair, living a 5 minute drive from Cobham, going to school not too far from Kingsmeadow and starting university in London made it much easier for me to do so.
So, this season review is going to be slightly different – it’s going to be a bit more personal than your average one. I have so many small stories from this season, so I thought I’d share them while going through the matches I managed to watch live this season (as well as a few others), and give a proper review of the season and players’ performances at the end. Strap yourselves in.
Pre-Season
In the last couple years, the academy interest has certainly turned into an obsession. Here’s an example if you’re not too familiar with my work. But, it was our pre-season when I realised I may be slightly crazy. Before we go into the craziness though…
First match of the season for me was the 4-2 victory against Boreham Wood. I remember waking up to the news that Omari Hutchinson was going to sign for Chelsea. That was certainly a massive shock – we had just signed a top 3 performer in the PL2 (from the season before) and that was enough for me to become very excited for the game later on in the day (even though he wasn’t going to be featuring).
Shall I tell you who was going to be featuring though? N’Golo Kante and Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Again, I remember this quite vividly for a separate reason. Long story short…convincing my parents to let me travel all the way to North London, let alone for an U-21s friendly, was always going to be very tough for me (my parents think I’m wasting time by going to Stamford Bridge, to sum it up). Telling them I get to watch N’Golo and Ruben was just about enough in the end, and thankfully I got to watch goals from Leo Castledine, Mason Burstow and trialist Jez Davies, as well as a pass of the season contender from Charlie Webster.
It was also the first time I had met my admin and good mate Orlando in person, who also introduced me to Phil, Scott and Daniel – people I would go on to meet and talk to many times later on in the season. If any of you are reading – thanks for the support this year and making the season 10 times more enjoyable!
The next day the boys flew out to the US for their pre-season tour. This is where the craziness slightly begins…
I don’t remember exactly who we played or even what the scorelines were, but I do remember staying up till 4am and, yes, 6am, to watch the lads play. Even for someone having just finished their A-Levels and having nothing else to do in the Summer holidays, I look back and think perhaps I had a little bit too much time on my hands.
A few things do come to mind, though. Leo Castledine got subbed on at Right Centre-Back for one of the games, and I instantly had texts from a few people jokingly asking who on earth our new head coach was after I had praised the appointment heavily. Mark Robinson was someone I knew of very well due to having multiple friends supporting AFC Wimbledon, as well as following Henry Lawrence and James Simmonds very closely while on loan there, and I only had good things to say.
Ben Elliott scored a stunner. That’s something which kept me awake as I struggled to not go around the house celebrating while the whole family were sleeping. I’ll certainly talk about Ben later on in this piece, as he’s been exceptional and has an incredible story.
Having an argument in the middle of the night with a mate over what Bashir Humphreys’ preferred foot was also an entertaining one. All the websites were conflicting, you genuinely couldn’t tell from his style of play and Phil (@chelseayouth) wasn’t 100% sure either, so I had to text the man himself and I don’t think he’ll mind me sharing this, but he was as useless:
Before we do get into the review of the actual season, I did want to share the preview which I wrote for Football London 9 months ago, which you can read here. I just thought I’d share it because reflecting on it at the end of the season, I’m really happy with the piece and a massive thank you to Daniel for the opportunity!
Let the season begin.
The season began with an away fixture at Wolves. I was on a family holiday in the wonderful Menorca, but, you know, priorities…
7-1 victory. Wow. Not a bad start to the season, aye? Starting Harvey Vale and Omari Hutchinson together almost felt illegal. Harvey scored a goal which was practically identical to one he scored in the previous season against Spurs. Lewis Hall and Dion Rankine at wingback thrived. Definitely fair to say I was very excited:
Next up was a local London derby against Fulham. I had found out the day before that we were going to see some first team players involved – Ben Chilwell, Trevoh Chalobah, Carney Chukwuemeka and Ethan Ampadu all got minutes. The whole day we were being told that Callum Hudson-Odoi’s involvement was a situation which was changing every 5 minutes, but he ended up not playing.
Not the best of results. A 3-0 loss thanks to a hat-trick from Luke Harris, who would later go on to be linked with a move to the Blues for a hefty fee (which never developed, thankfully). There was a pre-season friendly vibe, and I’m sure it would have been quite frustrating for the staff to have to involve some first team players who had never trained with the team before, destroying any momentum from the Wolves victory. These things have to happen though sometimes, I guess.
The next game I went to was the 2-2 draw against Manchester City. Chelsea against City is always a special game at academy level, because the level is high. I brought a mate along to this one and we certainly weren’t disappointed with the spectacle…
Billy Gilmour was in attendance, watching from the stands, and took pictures with hundreds of fans. John Terry too. It’s these small things which people don’t see, but deserve to know. The whole crowd had a buzz I had never sensed before at an U-21 game, and they (myself included) couldn’t stop going on about Manchester City’s number 2, Larios, who is now at Southampton: he was playing like a prime Bernardo Silva at right-back in that first half. Marcus Bettinelli was in net…and he was superb. Finding out from Adam Newson at Half-Time that the Wesley Fofana deal had finally been completed was exciting too!
Next up was a fixture in the EFL Trophy, one of my favourite competitions. We played Sutton United in the lovely weather, and there was no way I was going to miss out on attending this one.
To my three friends who I brought to this game, who won’t be reading this, I apologise. I mean, I enjoyed the game, but I highly doubt you did (two have practically no interest in our academy, and the other doesn’t like football). I think this was the only U21s fixture I watched this season in which there were less than two goals in the game, so to bring three mates along to this specific one, was quite unfortunate. I couldn’t decide at the time whether I wanted us to score more for the fact that we would level the game, or that they would at least get to see penalties for their own enjoyment.
In the end, we couldn’t get the goal, and we lost 1-0 in the opening game of the group stages. If I’m not wrong it was Cesare Casadei’s debut, and although he picked up a red card, he was so so impressive. He was bullying League 2 midfielders with ease and looked extremely sound on the ball. Omari Hutchinson also had a really bright game, while Harvey Vale’s substitution is one which maybe we regret doing (I’ll get onto that later). Despite conceding, the defence of Humphreys, Alfie Gilchrist and Josh Brooking did quite well and the Chelsea fans in the away end were surprisingly very loud for the small numbers.
It was at this game I found out that Joe Haigh was set to join Derby on loan too, and we managed to break the news! To the person who told me the info, I’m not going to reveal who you are, but thank you…
Next up for me was Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. This was my first and only away day (so far) at a Premier League stadium, I believe. Harvey Vale was starting, but this time for Hull City on loan with Nathan Baxter. I watched his first half on the train there, and to be honest, he wasn’t even that bad. Looked strong on the ball and for a debut didn’t do badly at all I thought. For what it’s worth, I say ‘not that bad’ because he was getting a bit of stick from the City fans afterwards, not because I have low expectations in the slightest.
The PL2 game was much more fascinating, though. Chelsea took a 3-1 lead until around the 80th minute thanks to a brace from Hutchinson, with comparisons to Eden Hazard filling the crowd. 10 minutes later…Chelsea were lucky to draw the game 3-3. I’m not sure exactly what happened. I vividly remember Robinson going mental at Castledine whom he had subbed on, asking him to pick up the pace of the pressing with the two goal lead – it was the first time I had seen that side from the staff, and they rightly sensed some complacency from the Blues, who went on to make a few mistakes and draw the game.
On a separate note, by complete chance, Bashir’s family and friends were sat behind me at this game. I had to ask the question which I had been wondering for months…what’s Bashir’s preferred foot? And guess what, I actually got an answer! If you want to know it, just send me a message 🤣
A couple games had passed by, mixed with an international break, and I was back at Kingsmeadow to watch the home game against Manchester United. Yeah, this game was annoying, to say the least. Chelsea were 3-1 up until the 95th minute, and, yes, I don’t know how, but once again, we drew 3-3.
It was this game where Castledine really showed what he was about. If I remember correctly, Alfie Gilchrist went off injured, and Leo was chucked on at Right Centre-Back. He was exceptional. Like genuinely, I was in shock. And I know we bottled a 3-1 lead so it doesn’t look good on him, but I would’ve been so impressed if a centre-back had performed the way he had, let alone an attacking midfielder.
It may have been City, but I think it was this game, where Omari pulled off what in my opinion was the best touch of the season. He plucked out the ball from the air like nothing and went on one of his wavy runs. Behind him in the third picture is Tom Huddlestone, who I was certainly surprised to see playing as I didn’t catch his name on the team sheet. But yeah, 3-1 to 3-3 was not fun.
3 days later, we faced Leyton Orient in a massive fixture in the EFL Trophy. It was very simple – whoever wins goes through to the knockout stages. It was this game where I felt that connection with the team.
I can’t lie, I didn’t have time to watch this game. I had a lot of work due the next day. So, to arrive at the stadium and find out that the game had been delayed by an hour and a half did not put me in the best of moods. But, I decided to stick around.
For some weird reason, I didn’t have a coat either. It was quite cold. I met Humphrey’s family once again who recognised me from the Palace game, and to summarise how kind that family is, they even offered me a spare jacket to wear during the game! It’s these small things I will never forget, so Emmanuel and family, thank you if you’re somehow reading this. Relying on hot chocolates from the bar was enough to stay warm – where I managed to have a one minute chat with the injured Gilchrist in the queue (I won’t reveal exactly what he bought from the bar…)
If there’s one thread you’re going to read of mine, I’ll ask it to be this one. I read it back quite often and even now get a little emotional. I’m not sure what it was about that game, but being 2-1 down until the last few minutes and turning it around in the way we did was special. Do any of you remember Harvey Vale’s performance against Watford in the FA Youth Cup last season, where he played exceptionally and then pulled off a magnificent block in the last few seconds? Omari Hutchinson had one of those games. Malik Mothersille scored a brace. It was just amazing.
The last image in the gallery above is a rarity too. I have this personal rule of no pictures with academy players until they’ve made their first team debut. I don’t know why, but it’s just something I’ve stuck with. I’m telling you though, if you want pictures with players, head down to academy games. They are always more than happy to take a picture or sign a shirt after games, so go and support the lads! But…something about this game was different, so I decided to break the rule. I had spoken to Dion (Rankine) earlier on in the day about this game, so to meet him afterwards and get a picture meant quite a lot. Everyone was just buzzing, with players spending time with their family members afterwards. I’m not going to forget that game for a while. And if anyone’s wondering, I got the work done in an all-nighter 😇
Aaaanddd breatheee. I took just under a 3 month break from academy football. In that time, you had the academy players represent themselves excellently in a first-team friendly against Aston Villa, with Hutchinson and Lewis Hall shining out. Due to some very unfortunate timing, the friendly meant that our game against Cheltenham in the EFL Trophy was going to be very difficult and our run in the competition halted there, but the 4-0 scoreline should not throw you off at all. I was with a mate at the time, and I was so close to paying the £10 to watch the Chelsea game rather than the World Cup Semi-Final between Argentina and Croatia, but I was (sadly) forced into the pub instead.
Next up – my first U18s game of the season! The postponed fixture against Bradford City in the FA Youth Cup. There were train strikes, it was pouring rain, but we weren’t going to miss out on this one.
I actually missed the buildup to the first goal due to taking my BeReal, which you can tell in the second image above! Tudor Mendel-Idowu was pulling out all the tricks, captain Castledine picked up a goal and an assist playing out of position up front, and Ted Curd made a huge save at 3-1 up with 20 minutes to go. I think I gave Brodi Hughes Man of the Match, with Somto Boniface a close second.
Kiano Dyer impressed too, and you can tell he is/was Ed Brand’s dream. I still remember his debut in the UEFA Youth League this season – he was really poor and looked out of place (as a 15 year old in the competition probably would). But, Ed trusted him and started him in the other two games in the competition, where he looked a completely different player. Absolute credit to Brand for trusting him, but especially to Kiano for staying mentally strong after the first performance. You could certainly sense those games helped him perform in these FAYC ones.
Back to the PL2 – the reverse fixture against Wolves! With it being a new term in university, it also meant that I had a new timetable. Lecture until 6pm on a Friday evening – an absolute nightmare. It was a race against time to make it to Kingsmeadow for Kick-Off, and actually due to the train being delayed by a couple minutes, I was able to make it on time.
Gabriel Slonina was in goal, which was pretty cool. I’m still not convinced about his reported height, but Daniel tells me he’s much bigger in person and when standing next to him, so I’ll take his word for it. Juan Castillo was on the bench too, which was a throwback and a half. A lot of memories came back when I saw his name in the squad.
Overall, it was just a fun game. One of Derrick Abu’s songs was being played at Half-Time which was a pleasant surprise! Rankine, who I had been screaming for weeks and months to be played over Azpilicueta in the first team at Right Wing-Back, scored a brilliant counter-attack, and Dylian Williams was outstanding playing in a forward role in the second half. In fact, a couple days earlier, he started at Right-Wing against Leicester City, and to my surprise, he was so so good. The pressing, dribbling, passing and decision making was as if he had been playing there his whole life. So impressive for a Left-Back.
You know how I said the Leyton Orient game was cold? Yeah, no. Do not let the sun in these images fool you. I can’t find the exact temperature, but I’m convinced we were in the minus stage. I was very surprised the game wasn’t called off due to the pitch being frozen, but there was no way I was missing a game in Motspur Park. A very simple journey for me. I gave Fulham the best Hot Chocolate of the season award, by the way.
Vale made his return to 21s football after a disappointing loan at Hull City which didn’t work out, for whatever reasons. And, him being substituted on in the game against Sutton United, meant that he couldn’t go out on loan again. So, he was unfortunately going to be stuck at a level we all know he is too good for for the remainder of the season, but I wasn’t complaining too much at the site of watching Omari and Harvey together once again. Cracking a joke with Jamie, Harvey’s father, about the game being better than having to travel up to Hull despite the weather was certainly a highlight.
We went 3-0 up and looked to be in cruise control, but typical Chelsea made it as difficult for ourselves and all of a sudden we were only one goal ahead with a couple minutes to go. Thankfully, Mothersille managed to wrap up the game and it ended 4-2, which included a Vale assist with his second touch and a brilliant shift from Charlie Webster in midfield. 2 hours standing in the freezing cold was not fun, but it was worth it as Chelsea went top of the league!
This was quite a bad one. Back to the U18s: Chelsea faced Cambridge United in the next round of the FA Youth Cup. Don’t get me wrong – Cambridge United have a brilliant academy and we have taken the likes of Dion Rankine, Louis Flower and Marcel Lewis from them in the past. But, you know, Chelsea were always going to be favourites.
Didn’t play like it though. There isn’t much to say other than we were really poor and the home team absolutely deserved to go through. A lot of our players sort of forgot the basics of football and the importance of moving the ball quickly, but these things happen. Donnell McNeilly was by far the best player on the football pitch though, and I think it was the first time I watched him in person. He was impressive in every sense possible.
Still, a very cool experience nonetheless. I have quite a few friends in the Cambridge University, so I spent the whole day with them. What a beautiful university, by the way. About ten minutes into the game, Jack Wilshere came and sat literally one row in front of me, so that was a pleasant surprise. There were a bunch of kids singing “Chelsea get battered everywhere they go” for 5 minutes straight after the game, and I think that still lives rent free in my head till this day, but fair enough. It was a long journey back to London pour moi.
Another two month break and 5 PL2 fixtures later, we were back at Kingsmeadow. Chelsea at this point had dropped to second place and were attempting to catch-up with Man City who had taken over with games in hand. Up next was Liverpool, and we had David Datro Fofana starting for us:
With Phil unable to catch the start of the game due to the U18s having a fixture in the morning, it meant I was on live-tweeting for the keen Cobham fans on Twitter. It’s a lot more difficult than I thought, by the way, so credit to Phil for doing it every game. Impressive stuff.
The game was really end-to-end right from the very first second, and in the first 15 minutes we found ourselves 1-0 down. Chelsea picked it up though and went into Half-Time 2-1 up thanks to goals from Fofana and Burstow, who both tucked away their goals very sweetly. Chelsea finished the game with a 3-1 win and went back to top of the league.
Once again, John Terry was taking pictures for absolutely ages both inside and outside the stadium. What an absolute credit to the club he is. I should also mention that I met the head coach Mark Robinson a couple days earlier at the Dortmund game where I introduced myself, and as he was driving out in his car at Kingsmeadow, he stopped by to say hello and thank me for coming to the game. It’s these small things which do mean a lot and what the club is all about.
Chelsea really needed a result against Crystal Palace to keep up with Manchester City, but it just wasn’t to be.
I do not know how we lost this game, but we did. The first half consisted of maybe the best football I have seen our academy side play this season. It was pure domination, with Ben Elliott impressing as well as Williams and Hughes in defence. We genuinely should’ve been 5 or 6 up thirty minutes in, but instead found ourselves level with a goal each at Half-Time. We conceded a penalty in the second half, and that was game. Only managing to pick up one point against the Eagles this season felt very harsh.
The reaction online from the players, and John Terry, was very telling. The players absolutely had the right to be proud of that performance, where they put everything in and performed to an extremely high level, but the football gods just weren’t on their side. These things happen and it’s part of the learning curve.
Interestingly, there was no Robinson in the dugout for this game but he was watching ahead. With Graham Potter sacked the evening beforehand, that had more than confirmed to me that he would be part of the first team staff with Bruno for the game against Liverpool the following day, which he absolutely was. A completely deserved (temporary) promotion and a massive reward for the incredible work done this season!
It was probably the worst time for the Blues to hit their worst form of the season, as they went on to lose another two games on the trot to Manchester City and Spurs. With the final game to go against Brighton, we found ourselves heading into the day one point ahead of third placed Crystal Palace, who had two games in hand on us. The Eagles played a couple hours before us though, and their loss set up what Chelsea had to do – win the game to confirm second place (unless Liverpool went on to win their two remaining fixtures).
It ended up being a very unfortunate way to end the season, as Chelsea went on to lose 4-1 to the Seagulls. I was really confident coming into this game, but we just couldn’t take our couple chances earlier on and lost a bit of control as the game went on. There was a real bittersweet feeling at the end as it slowly hit me that despite being comfortably the second best team in the league, if everything went against our way we could end up in fifth position.
It was the worst time to hit some bad form, and that Palace loss really seemed to switch things around. There isn’t much difference finishing second or fifth in the PL2 in the grand scheme of things, but it just wouldn’t feel right. Hopefully results go our way and we can maintain a really high position, but that’s something to keep an eye on in the next week or two. For what it’s worth, our only goal of the game consisted of a beautiful cross from Rankine to Castledine, who headed the ball in perfectly.
The Actual Review
Hopefully you enjoyed the personal side of the season, but most of my readers are probably here for the upcoming (small) section. I’ll actually talk about some of the players and what we can expect in the upcoming year.
Starting in net – Slonina. It was just quite interesting to watch our new signing come and play for the 21s and see what he’s about. Overall, he had a pretty strong impact, showing some good shot-stopping at times. I think there are a few things he needs to work on, but he seems to get on with the team really well. Regarding the future? I know a lot of fans would like to see him as the 2nd choice goalkeeper for the first team next season and getting minutes with the U21s, but I couldn’t disagree more. Personally, looking at how Jamie Cumming and Nathan Baxter have become some of the best goalkeepers in the English pyramid, I’d advise any goalkeeper to follow suit. Go out there on loan, start low, and just play. Even Lucas Bergstrom’s loan in the League One for example – he put himself in a difficult environment and in general did really well.
The defence were really good. Whether it was Gilchrist, Humphreys, Brooking, Sturge, Abu, Hughes or anyone else, they all put a proper shift in. Alfie made huge progress this season, captaining the side multiple times and really developing as a leader. Bashir made his first team debut and went out on loan to Germany, where he is absolutely smashing it. Zak has looked at his best at LCB in a 3, and I’m someone who’s always been impressed by Brodi. Brodi was playing in the PL2 one or two seasons ago, so you do sometimes forget how young he is, but I’m hoping he has a full season of starting in the U21s upcoming.
The wingbacks were the key to our success. Rankine and Williams is what it was for most of the time, and both had very strong seasons. Dion was always a threat down the right-hand side and his blistering pace and skill was constantly shown. He maybe had a slight dip in form in the second half of the season, but that was always going to come with him setting such high standards earlier on, and he also was moved around position a bit. Dylan on the other hand always provided that balance, very similar to what Ben Chilwell does for the first team, and you can really tell there’s an intelligent player there with the way he impressed in different roles.
The midfield is where you got all the magic: Elliott, Casadei, Webster and Hall. Elliott is probably getting my vote for Academy Player of the Season. Against Spurs just a week ago, Tommy on commentary made the point of Ben being the type of midfielder who may not ‘look as sweet’ as someone like Charlie Webster, but has all the abilities of an excellent player – and I couldn’t agree more. There was this really nice article on the Daily Mail about Elliott which I’d recommend anyone reading if you want to know more about his personal struggles he’s had so far and what he’s had to deal with. So, for him to have the season he’s had, is just a massive credit to him – as well as a callup to the Cameroon national team, which is also incredible! Casadei came in and smashed it, and I think the loan was perfect timing for him. His physical dominance at U21s level meant that he got away with a few things, so a move away to the Championship was going to be a massive test for him and by the sounds of things, despite Reading probably not keeping the ball as much as he’d like, he’s done very well and stood out.
Webster is another one who I think has improved a considerable amount. Going to most games this season, I’ve seen him grow into becoming a massive leader in the squad: always making sure the standards don’t drop and he’s winning a lot more ground duels than he was before. We all know what he can do on the ball, so it was good to see that side of the game from him. And lastly, Lewis Hall. He’s probably going to win Academy Player of the Season, the same way Billy Gilmour won it for us a couple seasons ago, and you can’t complain. He was up there to win it last season too. The development in the last two seasons has just been ridiculous. His performances in the first team, while they were massively struggling, should be an inspiration to every single Chelsea academy player and I’m so glad he was able to show what he could do. It’s a slight shame he didn’t feature more towards the end of the season, but what an amazing 12 months for him.
And finally, the attackers: Hutchinson, Burstow, Vale, Castledine and Mothersille were the main featurers. Omari was just, special. Those first few months he was playing like the best player in the club, to be honest. There has been a slight reduction in output in the last few games, but similarly to Dion, it was always going to be hard to match the standards he had set, and involvement with the first team also would’ve hindered some momentum. I didn’t realise before he joined how two footed he was, and I think his work off the ball goes really under the radar, even if it requires Robbo screaming at him every game in the last ten minutes for him not to stop running. If there was an award for most improved, I’d without doubt give it to Burstow. Mason was someone I was not too sure about coming into the season, and I didn’t know what to expect. But, he’s scored a lot goals which is what you want from a striker, and his overall play linking up with the other players has improved so so much. After all, this is a player who has impressed in League One as a teenager, so I guess we can’t be too surprised. He may not take all his chances, but the fact he gets so many is positive and as I said he does a lot of other good work too.
It’s a massive shame Harvey’s loan at Hull City didn’t work out, and I don’t think it was a matter of him not being good enough for the level at all either. Either way, he came back into our side for the second of the season, and just did Vale things. There was a point where he had 5 goals and assists in 217 minutes in the PL2, which sums him up. I don’t need to speak about him too much, and with all due respect, I hope I never see him step foot at Kingsmeadow ever again. Malik Mothersille made a few appearances from the bench and in the EFL Trophy, and he’s looked good whenever played. It’ll be interesting to see where his future lies. Lastly, Castledine. If you read my preview which I linked above, I very much predicted him to be involved in the team towards the latter stages of the season, and that he was. In fact, he got minutes a bit earlier than I expected him to which was even better. I imagine he’s going to be THE key player next season in the U21s, and his minutes so far have shown he’s absolutely more than good enough. He’s very strong for his age and he’s scored 4 goals in his last 260 minutes in the PL2. I’m excited to see him next season as he’s got all the talent on and off the ball.
Sooo…that’s me done. No trophies for the 18s or 21s, but a pretty successful season otherwise. Next season will be fascinating. I expect many of the strong core of our 21s will leave either permanently or on loan, meaning there’ll be quite a few chances for some of the 18s to move up and signings such as Jimmy-Jay Morgan will come into play as well. I’m not saying we’re going to have a similar season to 2021/2022 as a result of an exodus (like there was with Bate, Livramento, Colwill, Peart-Harris etc), but I think we’re set up for a very different challenge and I’m looking forward to what’s in store. Anyway, I’m sure I’ll write a preview for the new season or record a podcast episode soon enough, and there’s not much point me speculating now, so keep an eye out for that.
Other than that, I really hope you’ve enjoyed my piece. I’ve not found life easy the last 7 months for a bunch of reasons, but experiencing the academy’s success first hand has been the perfect distraction. Give it a share with your friends and on social media, and any feedback is always appreciated on my personal account, The Chelsea Spot or just sending me a message!
Thank you all for all the support, it means a lot. If I can get a ticket to the BCD fixture against Monaco on Tuesday, you’ll hear from me then, but otherwise, I’ll see you in pre-season. Wait, no I won’t. The England U-21s and U-17s have the Euros and the U-20s have the World Cup, so I’ll probably do some coverage of that. After that though, I’ll see you in pre-season.
Written by Parth
The Chelsea Spot 
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