Somewhat surprisingly, Chelsea have not won the U18 Premier League in over half a decade, with our last title coming in 2018 — part of an historic quadruple completed under head coach Jody Morris. You might recognize some of the names on that team, captained by Conor Gallagher and starring the likes of Reece James, Marc Guéhi, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Billy Gilmour, and Tariq Lamptey.
Um, yeah.
But Chelsea, led by head coach Hassan Sulaiman in his first full year, are back in the national final this year, set for tomorrow night, 7pm local time at Stamford Bridge, and streamed live on the Chelsea App. The best in the South against the best in the North, Manchester United.
Among this new generation are a couple familiar faces as well, including recent first-team debutant Josh Acheampong, who’s looking forward to getting Chelsea back to where we belong, right at the very top.
“I am buzzing for this United game. We have done all the preparation that is needed and we are ready to go out and perform to our best ability to get the win. The squad is happy with our recent performances and the previous games have given us confidence going into this clash. It will be a difficult battle, but mentally we are ready.”
“[...] It will be great to have the chance to play in front of a big crowd so we are able to show what the next generation of Chelsea could look like. [...] To win the national title would mean everything to us. To lift the trophy in front of our supporters would be the perfect ending to the season.”
-Josh Acheampong; source: Chelsea FC
Other regulars in the U18s who have made the bench for the senior team in recent weeks include Tyrique George, Ollie Harrison, Kiano Dyer, Ishé Samuels-Smith, and Harrison Murray-Campbell. Meanwhile, striker Donell McNeilly is scoring at rates not seen in a decade, since the days of Dominic Solanke and Tammy Abraham, recently getting his 30th of the campaign across all competitions (20 in the league).