Chelsea F.C. Under-21s, previously referred to as the Development Squad, are the development team of

Chelsea Football Club Chelsea Football Club is a professional football club based in Fulham, West London, England. The club was founded in 1905 and named after neighbouring area Chelsea. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football, pl ...

. They play in the

Premier League 2 The Professional Development League is a system of Football in England, English youth association football, football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the Th ...

, 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 The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

nine times, including five consecutive titles between 2014 and 2018. The academy has produced many successful players such as the brothers

Ron Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in '' Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe ...

and

Allan Harris Allan Harris (28 December 1942 – 23 November 2017) was an English football player and manager. He played for Chelsea, Coventry City and Queens Park Rangers. His brother Ron was also a professional footballer. Harris was a full-back and b ...

Peter Bonetti Peter Philip Bonetti (27 September 1941 – 12 April 2020) was an English professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Chelsea, the St. Louis Stars, Dundee United and England. He was known for his safe handling, lightning reflexes a ...

Bobby Tambling Robert Victor Tambling (born 18 September 1941) is an English former professional footballer, who played as a forward, most notably for Chelsea, Crystal Palace and England. He was Chelsea's all-time top scorer for 47 years, with 202 goals in ...

Barry Bridges Barry John Bridges (born 29 April 1941) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward in the Football League for Chelsea, Birmingham City, Queens Park Rangers, Millwall and Brighton & Hove Albion and was capped four ti ...

, Bert Murray,

John Hollins John William Hollins (16 July 1946 – 14 June 2023) was an English football player and manager. He initially played as a midfielder, before becoming an effective full-back later in his career. Hollins played in the Football League, predomina ...

Peter Osgood Peter Leslie Osgood (20 February 1947 – 1 March 2006) was an English footballer who was active during the 1960s and 1970s. He is best remembered for representing Chelsea and Southampton as a forward at club level, winning the FA Cup with eac ...

Ray Wilkins Raymond Colin Wilkins (14 September 1956 – 4 April 2018) was an English football player and coach. Born into a footballing family with his father and three brothers involved in the game, Wilkins played as a midfielder. He began his career a ...

Graeme Le Saux Graeme Pierre Le Saux ( ; born 17 October 1968) is an English former professional footballer and television pundit. As a versatile left sided player he played most of his career at left back with two spells at Chelsea, Blackburn Rovers, Southamp ...

, Bobby Smith,

Terry Venables Terence Frederick Venables (6 January 1943 – 25 November 2023), often referred to as El Tel, was an English football player and manager who played for clubs including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Queens Park Rangers and won two caps for E ...

Jimmy Greaves James Peter Greaves (20 February 1940 – 19 September 2021) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward. Regarded as one of the greatest strikers of all time and one of England's best ever players, he is England's fifth- ...

John Terry John George Terry (born 7 December 1980) is an English professional Coach (association football), football coach and former Association football, player who played as a centre-back. He was previously captain of Chelsea F.C., Chelsea, the En ...

Mason Mount Mason Tony Mount (born 10 January 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Manchester United. Mount began his senior club career with Chelsea, and joined Vitesse and Derby County on consecutive loans bet ...

, Reece James and

Conor Gallagher Conor John Gallagher (born 6 February 2000) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Atlético Madrid and the England national team. Beginning his career with Chelsea, Gallagher spent time on loan at EFL Champi ...

. Chelsea are the only English club to reach the final of the

UEFA Youth League The UEFA Youth League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 2013. In its current format, it is contested by the under-19 teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions Le ...

, winning it twice in four final appearances. The under-21 team play their home games at

Kingsmeadow Kingsmeadow is a football stadium in Norbiton, Kingston upon Thames, London, which is used for home matches by Chelsea Women and Chelsea Development Squad. It was formerly the home of Kingstonian and AFC Wimbledon and has a capacity of 4,85 ...

, while the under-18s play at the club's

Cobham Training Centre The Cobham Training Centre, is the training ground of Chelsea Football Club located in the village of Stoke d'Abernon near the village of Cobham, Surrey. The Chelsea first team have trained at Stoke D'Abernon since 2005, but it was not offici ...

in Cobham,

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. 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.

U21s squad

U18s squad

Management team

Academy graduates in 21st century

*Bold indicates players who still play for Chelsea, including those who are currently out on loan to other clubs.

Notable Academy graduates

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

Before World War II

* David Calderhead Jr. *

Ron Greenwood Ronald Greenwood (11 November 1921 – 9 February 2006) was an English football player and manager. He is best known for being manager of the England national football team from 1977 until 1982, as well as being manager of West Ham United for ...

* George Pearson * Tommy Law * Bill Robertson

1950s

* Micky Block *

* Peter Brabrook * Terry Bradbury *

* David Cliss *

John Compton Sir John George Melvin Compton, (29 April 1925 – 7 September 2007) was a Saint Lucian politician who became the first prime minister upon independence in February 1979. Having led Saint Lucia under British rule from 1964 to 1979, Compton ser ...

* Derek Gibbs *

* Mike Harrison * Tony Nicholas * Mel Scott * Ken Shellito * Bobby Smith *

Dick Whittaker Richard Whittaker (10 October 1934 in Dublin – 1998) was an Irish professional football player. He was a right back who joined Chelsea in London in 1952, as a professional having played for Chelsea youth team, from St. Mary's B.C. He playe ...

1960s

Dennis Brown Dennis Emmanuel Brown CD (1 February 1957 – 1 July 1999) was a Jamaican reggae singer. During his prolific career, which began in the late 1960s when he was aged eleven, he recorded more than 75 albums and was one of the major stars of l ...

Dennis Butler Dennis Anthony Butler (born 24 June 1944) is an English former professional football player and manager. He played as a winger for Bolton Wanderers between 1959 and 1968 before ending his playing career following five years at Rochdale. Later ...

* John Dunn *

* Ron Harris *

Peter Houseman Peter Houseman (24 December 1945 – 20 March 1977) was an English footballer who played as a winger. He was best known for his part in Chelsea's FA Cup-winning side of 1970. He later signed for Oxford United. He was killed along with his wife ...

Alan Hudson Alan Anthony Hudson (born 21 June 1951) is an English former footballer who played for Arsenal, Chelsea, Stoke City and the Seattle Sounders as well as the England national football team. Club career Chelsea Born and brought up near the Kin ...

* Barry Lloyd * Bert Murray *

* John Boyle *

Stewart Houston Stewart Mackie Houston (born 20 August 1949) is a Scottish former association football, football player and coach (sports), coach who played as a Defender (association football)#Full-back, left-back. Born in Dunoon, he began his professional c ...

1970s

Trevor Aylott Trevor Keith Charles Aylott (born 26 November 1957) is an English former footballer who played as a striker. Aylott was born in Bermondsey, London. He began his football career as an apprentice with Chelsea, and went on to score 116 goals lea ...

* Brian Bason * John Bumstead *

Gary Chivers Gary Chivers (born 15 May 1960) is an English former footballer who played as a defender in the Football League for Chelsea, Swansea City, Queens Park Rangers, Watford, Brighton & Hove Albion, AFC Bournemouth, and in the Norwegian Premier Leag ...

* Mike Fillery * Lee Frost * Kevin Hales *

Gary Johnson Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 29th List of governors of New Mexico, governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republica ...

* Tommy Langley * Ray Lewington *

Gary Locke Gary Faye Locke (born January 21, 1950) is an American politician, attorney, and former diplomat from the State of Washington. Locke served as the 21st governor of Washington from 1997 to 2005, where he was the first Chinese-American governor ...

* Teddy Maybank * Micky Nutton *

Colin Pates Colin George Pates (born 10 August 1961) is an English former professional association football, footballer who made more than 400 appearances in the Football League. He played for various clubs, mainly in London, in a defensive role. Career Pa ...

* Peter Rhoades-Brown * Steve Sherwood * John Sitton * John Sparrow * Gary Stanley * David Stride * Clive Walker * Steve Wicks * Graham Wilkins *

* Ian Britton * Steve Finnieston

1980s

Jason Cundy Jason Victor Cundy (born 12 November 1969) is an English former professional footballer and radio broadcaster for talkSPORT. As a player, he was a centre-back, who notably played in the Premier League for Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur. He also ...

* Keith Dublin *

Steve Francis Steven D'Shawn Francis (born February 21, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player. He was selected with the second overall pick of the 1999 NBA draft and was named co-NBA Rookie of the Year (along with Elton Brand) in his fi ...

* Robert Isaac * Dale Jasper * Keith Jones * David Lee *

* Damian Matthew * Graham Stuart * Colin West *

Craig Burley Craig William Burley (born 24 September 1971) is a Scottish former professional footballer and sports television pundit and co-commentator for ESPN. As a player he was a midfielder from 1989 until 2004, notably playing in the Premier League for ...

* Billy Dodds * John Millar * Gareth Hall

1990s

Michael Duberry Michael Wayne Duberry (born 14 October 1975) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He started his career with Premier League side Chelsea, and also played in the top flight for Leeds United and Reading, and ...

Jon Harley Jon Harley (born 26 September 1979) is an English professional football coach and former player. He is currently assistant manager of EFL Championship club Portsmouth. A left-back, he played for Chelsea and Fulham in the Premier League, Wimble ...

* Paul Hughes *

Jody Morris Jody Steven Morris (born 22 December 1978) is an English professional football coach and former player. He was most recently the head coach of EFL League Two club Swindon Town. As a midfielder, Morris played for Chelsea, Leeds United, Rotherh ...

* Andy Myers * Eddie Newton * Mark Nicholls *

Neil Shipperley Neil Jason Shipperley (born 30 October 1974) is an English football manager and former professional player who played as a forward. He notably played in the Premier League for Chelsea, Southampton, Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest and Shef ...

* Samuele Dalla Bona *

Frank Sinclair Frank Mohammed Sinclair (born 3 December 1971) is a former professional football player and manager who is a coach . He made 756 league and cup appearances in a 25-year playing career, scoring 27 goals. A defender, he began his career at Che ...

2000s

* Gaël Kakuta *

Ryan Bertrand Ryan Dominic Bertrand (born 5 August 1989) is an English Entrepreneurship, entrepreneur and former professional Association football, footballer who played as a left-back. Bertrand began his youth career at Gillingham F.C., Gillingham, before ...

* Carlton Cole * Robert Huth * Ben Sahar *

Fabio Borini Fabio Borini (born 29 March 1991) is an Italian professional Association football, footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder, Winger (association football), left winger or forward (association football), forward for Serie B club UC Sampdori ...

* Anthony Grant *

Jeffrey Bruma Jeffrey Kevin van Homoet Bruma (; born 13 November 1991) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a centre-back. Club career Chelsea Bruma joined Chelsea's youth setup from Feyenoord at the age of 15 for a fee of £100,000, and was ...

* Patrick van Aanholt *

Michael Mancienne Michael Ian Mancienne (born 8 January 1988) is a former professional footballer who played as a defender. Born in England, he played for the Seychelles national team. He played for football clubs in Germany, the United States, and England. Sc ...

2010s

* Bertrand Traoré *

Jérémie Boga Jérémie Boga (born 3 January 1997) is a professional footballer who plays as a attacking midfielder or winger for Ligue 1 club Nice. Born in France, he plays for the Ivory Coast national team. Coming through Chelsea's youth system, Boga sp ...

Andreas Christensen Andreas Bødtker Christensen (; born 10 April 1996) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for La Liga club Barcelona and the Denmark national team. Christensen began his career at Skjold Birkerød and later joined B ...

Tammy Abraham Kevin Oghenetega Tamaraebi Bakumo-Abraham (born 2 October 1997), known as Tammy Abraham, is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Serie A club AC Milan, on loan from ...

* Nathaniel Chalobah *

Trevoh Chalobah Trevoh Tom Chalobah (born 5 July 1999) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Chelsea F.C., Chelsea and the England national football team, England national team. Chalobah is a centre back who jo ...

* Marc Guéhi * Callum Hudson-Odoi * Reece James * Ruben Loftus-Cheek *

Josh McEachran Joshua Mark McEachran (born 1 March 1993) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Bristol Rovers F.C., Bristol Rovers. McEachran is a product of the Chelsea F.C. Academy, Chelsea academy a ...

Dominic Solanke Dominic Ayodele Solanke-Mitchell (born 14 September 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Tottenham Hotspur and the England national team. Solanke started his career with Chelsea, making his first-team ...

Fikayo Tomori Oluwafikayomi Oluwadamilola "Fikayo" Tomori (born 19 December 1997) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club AC Milan. Born in Canada, he plays for the England national team. Early life Oluwafikayomi Oluwadamilola Tomo ...

Tariq Lamptey Tariq Kwame Nii-Lante Lamptey (born 30 September 2000) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a wing-back (association football), right wing-back or right-back for club Brighton & Hove Albion F.C., Brighton & Hove Albio ...

Nathan Aké Nathan Benjamin Aké (; born 18 February 1995) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or left-back for club Manchester City and the Netherlands national team. Club career Chelsea Early life and career Nathan Benjamin ...

* Ian Maatsen * Ola Aina * Billy Gilmour

2020s

* Armando Broja * Josh Acheampong * Levi Colwill * Tyrique George * Alfie Gilchrist * Lewis Hall *

Omari Hutchinson Omari Elijah Giraud-Hutchinson (born 30 October 2003) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for club Ipswich Town and the England national under-21 team. Early life Hutchinson was born in Redhill ...

Cesare Casadei Cesare Casadei (born 10 January 2003) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for club Torino. Casadei played youth football with various Italian clubs before moving from Inter Milan to Chelsea in 2022. He was se ...

Annual awards

Young Player of the Year

Academy Player of the Season

Honours

Reserves team

* U21 Premier League / Premier League 2 ** Winners (2): 2013–14, 2019–20 *

The Football Combination The Football Combination was a football competition for the reserve teams of English Football League clubs from Southern England, the Midlands and Wales; other clubs from the Midlands and those from the North playing in the Central League (it is ...

** 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 The Premier Reserve League (officially known as The Barclays Premier Reserve League for sponsorship reasons) was the reserve team league for the top English football teams in the Premier League. The league was split into a northern and a southern ...

– National Champions ** Winners (1):

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

– Southern Champions ** Winners (1):

London Challenge Cup The London Challenge Cup was a association football, football tournament formerly organised by the London Football Association, London FA. It was first contested in 1908, and other than during the World Wars, was contested every season until 1974 ...

** Winners (5): 1919–20, 1926–27, 1949–50, 1959–60, 1960–61 *

Metropolitan League The Metropolitan League was a football league in the south-east of England between 1949 and 1971.UEFA Youth League The UEFA Youth League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 2013. In its current format, it is contested by the under-19 teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions Le ...

** Winners (2): 2014–15, 2015–16 *

U18 Premier League The Professional Development League is a system of English youth football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the Football Association via the Elite Player P ...

– National Champions ** Winners (2): 2016–17, 2017–18 *

– Southern Champions ** Winners (5): 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2023–24 *

** 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 * U17 Premier League Cup ** Winners (1): 2023–24 * U16 Premier League Cup ** Winners (1): 2018–19 *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

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) {{Reserve and Youth football in England Professional Development League Under-21s and Academy BlueCo Football academies in England Eastern Counties Football League Metropolitan League 1948 establishments in England Premier League International Cup UEFA Youth League teams NextGen series London League (football)