Chelsea have one of the most impressive academy set-ups in England, with talent bursting at the seams each season, and many going on to represent the club at senior level.
Of late, the likes of Mason Mount, Conor Gallagher and Reece James have hit the heights of the Premier League, with Gallagher then making a move to Atletico Madrid.
On the other side of the coin, some fail to make it big, and here, we have looked into five former Chelsea academy players who are now playing non-league football.
Rohan Ince
The nephew of Paul Ince and cousin of Tom, Rohan Ince has played international football on five occasions for Montserrat, and has represented some big clubs.
He didn’t spend long at Chelsea before being released, but was picked up by Brighton, who owned him for five years while they were in the Championship. He played 91 times for the Seagulls, and also spent time out on loan, including with then-Championship Fulham.
After leaving Brighton in 2018, Ince has played League One and League Two football, but at 32 years of age, is currently plying his trade in the National League, with Woking. Meanwhile, cousin Tom is playing Championship football for Watford, at 33.
Michael Woods
A York native who began at Leeds’ academy, Chelsea saw Woods as a good enough prospect to pay £150,000 for him as a youngster. He was also taken with England to the under-20 World Cup in 2009, though he did not play a minute.
Two years later, the midfielder was without a club, when he was released by Chelsea, having been included in a first-team squad just twice, but never playing.
He was first picked up by Yeovil, who released him after six months, and a second League One side in Doncaster Rovers signed him up. From there, Woods got his first taste of non-league football, making a free transfer to Harrogate Town.
He returned to the 92 with Hartlepool, but has played non-league football since they were relegated from League Two in 2016/17. Woods has since played for Harrogate, Dover, York, South Shields and now Scarborough.
Alex Kiwomya
Between Chelsea’s under-18, under-21 and youth league sides, Kiwomya racked up 69 appearances, scoring 12 goals and assisting seven.
Though he never played a senior game, the Blues sent him out on three loans to try to eke out his promise, to no avail. He made a free transfer to Doncaster Rovers in 2017, and from there he went on loans to the National League, with Chesterfield and Chorley.
Kiwomya moved to Chesterfield permanently a couple of years after first playing for them on loan, and after short period in Gibraltar in 2021, he has bounced around English non-league, currently playing for Rylands in the Northern Premier League, two steps below the National League.
Luke McCormick
Central midfielder McCormick bagged 24 goals and 10 assists in 81 games in under-18, under-21 and youth league sides at Chelsea.
A total of 12 goal contributions in 33 Premier League 2 games seemed to suggest McCormick might have had what it took to break into the first team, but that never came to fruition.
Instead, he has spent much of his career as a League One player, appearing in the competition on 141 occasions, and having a direct hand in 27 goals, between Bristol Rovers and Wimbledon.
Though still owned by League One Rovers, McCormick is currently on loan in the National League, with Forest Green.
Billy Clifford
In the under-21 Premier League for Chelsea in 2013/14, Clifford assisted six goals in five games. Three of those came in one game, in which the Blues’ youngsters decimated Leicester 5-1.
Clifford laid on his three assists in just 45 minutes, having come off the bench, and outshone midfield partner Ruben Loftus-Cheek, while Nathan Ake and Andreas Christensen were also starters.
But the aforementioned trio all went onto bigger things, while Clifford was a free agent two years after. He played almost 75 games between League One and League Two, but dropped down to non-league level in 2018/19.
Clifford has played for Boreham Wood, Hemel, Billericay, Slough, Wealdstone, Havant and Waterlooville, Ebbsfleet and current side Barnet in non-league.
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