Chelsea F.C. Development Squad and Academy Football development team in England
Football club
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 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.
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.
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
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
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
Academy Player of the Year
Honours
Chelsea players celebrating winning the 2015–16 FA Youth Cup.
Reserves team
U21 Premier League / Premier League 2
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
Premier Reserve League – Southern Champions
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
U18 Premier League – National Champions
U18 Premier League – Southern Champions
FA Youth Cup
U18 Premier League Cup
Winners (2): 2017–18, 2021–22[ 5]
U17 Premier League Cup
U16 Premier League Cup
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
London Minor Challenge Cup
Winners (3): 1949–50, 1951–52, 1953–54
References
External links
Managers
Seasons
Current season
Teams History Home stadium Other grounds Honours Players Rivalries Notable matches Supporters Ownership
Media
Reserve and youth football in England
National teams League competitions Cup competitions Other