Previewing Chelsea?s 2023-24 FA Youth Cup Challenge
In each of the last three seasons we?ve previewed Chelsea?s FA Youth Cup campaign with something of a proclamation that it was about time the Blues brought the famous trophy back to Cobham once again. Five straight triumphs between 2014 and 2018 set a certain level of expectation and history ? the club is the second-most successful in the competition?s history behind Manchester United ? that has not been met since those record-breaking antics ended.
Certainly, it is impossible to keep that sort of run going, That?s why it became historic, but the manner in which they?ve exited the Youth Cup in the last few years will have been disappointing to everyone around the academy. In 2020-21 they fell in the Fifth Round to a last-minute Everton winner handed to them by a defensive mistake. A year later they looked to have a real chance of returning to the summit only to collapse late in a Semi Final away to Nottingham Forest, turning a 1-0 advantage with 85 minutes on the clock into a 3-1 defeat. And then there was last year?s insipid defeat to Cambridge United in the Fourth Round. It was a good U?s team that went on to reach the last eight but, with respect, one the Blues ought to have beaten. It was also coincidentally Ed Brand?s last match in charge of the Under-18s after three and a half years at the helm as he would join Jody Morris at Swindon Town later that same week.
His replacement, Hassan Sulaiman, has overseen a promising and largely positive 2023-24 season so far. With f...
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