Another fantastic night at Stamford Bridge saw the Chelsea FC Youth team win a fourth FA Youth Cup in just six seasons, as the Blues managed to overcome Manchester City in both legs of the final to win 5-2 on aggregate.
Under 18’s manager Joe Edwards has had a wonderful season with such talent at his disposal; speaking to the Chelsea website, Edwards said: “I’m delighted and extremely proud of the players.
“It was always going to be a high-level game between Chelsea and Man City, the two best teams in academy football, and while the first-leg result was good it did almost tee City up to come at us and attack from the start. They got the first goal on the night but we had a strong, quick reaction and then managed the game in the second half. It was a mature, professional performance.”
Charlie Colkett captained the side to yet another trophy, and said it was “absolutely amazing to skipper the side” and that he was “delighted to have won the trophy back-to-back.
“With the talent we had on the pitch, individually and as a team, no matter if we concede an early goal or go behind, we keep our confidence.
We won the UEFA Youth League a few weeks ago as well but we didn’t get complacent so I was really pleased with that.
Over 10,000 supporters were at Stamford Bridge for Monday night’s final, and the home side certainly didn’t disappoint, despite going a goal down early on.
The tie was won on the night by an Izzy Brown header and yet another goal for Tammy Abraham, who finished with nine in the cup – just one behind Solanke’s 10.
Abraham said: “We did well as a team and it was an amazing feeling to play in front of a crowd like that, with the atmosphere and everyone getting behind us. Man City started well and they got the goal but our equaliser got the crowd going and we did well to get the second goal which killed the tie off.”
Ruben Sammut, who has been with the club since Under 18’s level, admitted: “Being a part of the Youth Cup team and winning the trophy is something I’ve been dreaming about since I came to the club at eight years old. It’s the big tournament that you want to win and we’ve won it again tonight. It’s been an unbelievable experience for us all.”
