On the face of it, Chelsea wouldn’t be considered among the favourites to win the 2024-25 FA Youth Cup. Sure, last season’s crop reached the Quarter Finals and were national runners-up at Under-18 level, but the majority of those who contributed to those successes have graduated to Development Squad football, leaving a younger and less experienced generation behind them, one which has experienced the peaks and troughs of academy football throughout the first four months of this campaign.
The Blues, of course, will enter 2025 having not lifted the trophy in seven years, which seems barely comprehensible off the back of five straight successes between 2014 and 2018, and they’ve only reached one Final since then too. That came in the pandemic-delayed 2020 season, the decider played some five months late, with key contributors having moved on to pastures new, and Chelsea falling to a late odd goal in five scored by a certain Cole Palmer. It hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing through the competition since either; exits at the hands of Everton and Millwall sandwiched a run to the Semi Finals in 2022 where a late collapse to Nottingham Forest highlighted flaws that had seen them almost upset by Watford, Liverpool and Blackpool en route to the last four tie at the City Ground.
It’s worth noting that, following their run of historic dominance, the Youth Cup has been as wide open as any time in recent memory, highlighting just how special that unbeaten five-year run was. Manchester City have won two editions, finally getting their hands on the trophy after so many defeats to Chelsea, while Liverpool, Aston Villa, Manchester United and West Ham have all been able to celebrate triumphs. City are the defending champions but their 4-0 win against Leeds back in May seemed to fly under the radar so much that it almost felt like this fabled competition was losing some of its lustre.
Perhaps that’s a Chelsea-influenced fatigue, having not been involved in the big game once again, but it was also a year in which Bristol City and Millwall were Semi Finalists and Swindon were Quarter Finalists. Many of the so-called ‘big clubs’ fell to early exits and the tournament is certainly now more competitive than ever, with the depth and breadth of talent at all-time high levels approaching year 14 of the Elite Player Performance Plan. That means every team has to be completely on their game heading into any tie, for fear of failure and disappointment, and indeed both Liverpool and West Ham have already departed this season’s edition at the hands of Category 3 academies Preston North End and Grimsby Town respectively.
Chelsea’s Third Round opponents are Leicester City, who welcomed them to their Seagrave Training Centre at the same stage a year ago, losing 3-1 to goals from Donnell McNeilly, Shim Mheuka and Michael Golding, the latter of whom they’d go on to sign some months later. The Foxes won 5-2 at Cobham back in the late summer in the league campaign, and so Hassan Sulaiman and his coaching team know this will be another test of their credentials, and the sixth meeting of the two teams in twelve months.
With four wins and a draw from ten league games, this year’s youth team sit squarely in mid-table yet only four points off second place and with a 6-2 win over five-point leaders Aston Villa, which really only goes to demonstrate the unpredictability of this year’s team. They are comfortably the youngest in the Under-18 Premier League, having used eight Under-16s to regular effect already, and several are expected to feature prominently in the competition should they go on a lengthy run. For the time being though, tackling the Leicester fixture is the priority, and it’s expected that both Mheuka and Kiano Dyer will drop down from their Development Squad duties and not travel to Kazakhstan with Enzo Maresca’s men’s first-team to add their significant abilities to the group. Mheuka bagged a brace in an age-group friendly against Derby last week, having also done so in one of his two appearances at this level so far this season against Stoke in August, while evidence of his potential supremacy among contemporaries lies in a pair of pre-season hat-tricks that saw him promoted to Under-21 level at the age of 16.
Hudson Sands is expected to challenge Kai Crampton for goalkeeping duties with Jack Austin on the long-term injured list, while Under-16 stoppers Freddy Bernal and Toby Bell – both England youth internationals – will ensure competition is fierce. Tayo Subuloye has marshalled the team very well from central defence all season, with schoolboys Lewi Richards and Calvin Diakite joining him (Subuloye will switch sides depending on who he plays with), but there could also be a chance for Landon Emenalo drop into the back line from midfield with Dyer returning to the middle of the park.
Genesis Antwi is a force at full-back regardless of which side he plays on and will be a potential game-changer in the way Ola Aina, Dujon Sterling, Jay Dasilva, Reece James, Tariq Lamptey and so many previous academy full-backs have been, with Joseph Wheeler-Henry and Harry McGlinchey also fighting for involvement. Richards and Diakite can and have also played in wider defensive positions, offering Sulaiman no shortage of options.
Emenalo has forged a good understanding with captain Ollie Harrison in midfield and, should Dyer join them, they project as a capable trio adaptable to any circumstance. If Emenalo is deployed in defence, it offers the possibility for Leo Cardoso to play as a number ten rather than out wide, or for Reggie Walsh to continue earning more minutes stepping up from Under-16 football, such has been his impressive progress this autumn.
Frankie Runham and Sol Gordon can also play as the most attack-minded midfielder, although Gordon has frequently been used out wide and as a false nine, racking up a team-leading nine goals and six assists in thirteen games this season. He will almost certainly start, but his versatility will be key in factoring in how and where Dyer and Mheuka are used. Chizzy Ezenwata has also worn the number nine shirt to impressive effect this season and offers a terrific game-changing impact from the bench to support or replace Mheuka as each fixture might demand, and the duo can be paired together in a potential change of shape as and when required.
Cardoso and Runham have spent much of the season in inverted wide roles, cutting inside to become auxiliary tens, with Yahya Idrissi and Ryan Kavuma-McQueen also capable of being called upon for more virtuoso unpredictability and attacking impetus. Kobe Barbour has only managed two starts in an injury-hit season, but has been sharp and dynamic when he has played, and he is too expected to be available on Friday.
Schoolboys Charlie Holland, Joel Philbert, Walter Nutter and Jacob Hall have been in and around the group with a growing impact and will be a part of the squad more often as the season goes on; their Under-16 team is one that has been triple national champions over the last three years and it is their winning mentality and variety of ways in which they can beat you that is potentially this year’s biggest X-Factor as far as Chelsea’s aspirations go. The scholar-age players are on a more gradual development curve than many of their predecessors; all will be good pro players when their time comes, but the results on the pitch haven’t quite been there so far this term. The injection of talent from the age group below has proven productive and deserving and, given their record to date, it would be foolish to bet against them making a name for themselves on a bigger stage this time around.
Friday’s tie kicks off at 7pm with coverage throughout on social channels @chelseayouth. It’s about time the club brought the FA Youth Cup trophy home to where it belongs at Cobham; please offer the academy as much support as you can along the way.
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