FA Youth Cup 10 Years on

[Myra Hawtree 124]

Good to see three of our FA Youth Cup winning team playing for Premier League teams yesterday.  Murphy for Newcastle and Morris and Toffolo playing against each other for Luton and Notts Forrest.

[Don’t be Krul 399]

I remember going to the home leg won 1-0 courtesy of a McGeehan penalty. Thought on the night Ake who was Chelsea captain (?) was head and shoulders above anyone else on the pitch

[Thirsty Lizard 3,165]

3 hours ago, Myra Hawtree said:

Good to see three of our FA Youth Cup winning team playing for Premier League teams yesterday.  Murphy for Newcastle and Morris and Toffolo playing against each other for Luton and Notts Forrest.

11 Years on actually.

Also Josh Murphy scored yesterday for Oxford in League 1 and Cameron McGeehan scored for Colchester in League 2. 

[GodlyOtsemobor 2,310]

2 hours ago, Don’t be Krul said:

I remember going to the home leg won 1-0 courtesy of a McGeehan penalty. Thought on the night Ake who was Chelsea captain (?) was head and shoulders above anyone else on the pitch

Turned out correct. Plays center half for citeh these days doesn't he. 

[Thirsty Lizard 3,165]

2 hours ago, Don’t be Krul said:

I remember going to the home leg won 1-0 courtesy of a McGeehan penalty. Thought on the night Ake who was Chelsea captain (?) was head and shoulders above anyone else on the pitch

Chelsea's captain was actually Lewis Baker - who played against us for Stoke yesterday. 

[Myra Hawtree 124]

Interesting to see how their various careers have developed.

[Fen Canary 828]

2 hours ago, Myra Hawtree said:

Interesting to see how their various careers have developed.

I remember years ago chatting to a mate of a mate who was a scout, and he reckoned that in the various age groups most clubs only have 1 or two players that they expect to actually have a chance at getting into the first team eventually or play at a reasonable level. The rest are simply the best they can find and are there to give these prospects somebody to train and play against. Perhaps @Parma Ham's gone mouldy or somebody else more acquainted with professional football could say whether there’s some truth in this.

So to be fair if that many have gone on to play professionally, even at lower leagues it implies it was a rather golden generation 

[Ulfotto 635]

I remember wondering why the Chelsea youth team was full of players from abroad. Pretty naive.

[Parma Ham's gone mouldy 2,220]

3 hours ago, Fen Canary said:

I remember years ago chatting to a mate of a mate who was a scout, and he reckoned that in the various age groups most clubs only have 1 or two players that they expect to actually have a chance at getting into the first team eventually or play at a reasonable level. The rest are simply the best they can find and are there to give these prospects somebody to train and play against. Perhaps @Parma Ham's gone mouldy or somebody else more acquainted with professional football could say whether there’s some truth in this.

So to be fair if that many have gone on to play professionally, even at lower leagues it implies it was a rather golden generation 

During my coaching career the number bandied about at Norwich was 17.

Namely that one in 17 - who signed first year professional forms - would make a full career as a professional.

Imagine the odds prior to that stage…

Parma 

[Google Bot 3,278]

3 hours ago, Fen Canary said:

I remember years ago chatting to a mate of a mate who was a scout, and he reckoned that in the various age groups most clubs only have 1 or two players that they expect to actually have a chance at getting into the first team eventually or play at a reasonable level.

A lot of younger players are promoted due to their physical ability and development, too, knowing that most of them won't make it on a technical level but if they do you're left with a hell of a player.  But It's so demoralising for lads when they get to a decent level and come up against a fellow youth team fielding players who look like they're in their 20s.

I know PDC level quite well, but when it comes to Academy level I'm not so sure what kind of standards they have in regards to physicality vs technicality.  My friend would discuss the subject with Forbesy often as his lad was one of the smallest so they had to fight his cause.

Whereas another friend, his lad was part of this FA youth cup squad and sailed straight in without going through any of the PDC schemes and such like, as he was bigger.

I guess the point i'm making is that if you look at the players we've generated over the years we seem to struggle to bring more physical players through the academy into first team successes and on.  Idah we struggled with, and Morris too - but they're the two most immediate examples that come to mind. Players like Omobamidele & Godfrey came in late I think (17-18?).

There's a niche where we operate, and I think combined with the systems we play, that can yield a lot of technically good players and make us an attractive proposition.

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,821]

I remember looking at the Chelsea side which played in this final not too long ago and thinking what an achievement it was for our boys to win this.

The Chelsea side contained Nathan Ake, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Andreas Christensen, all first team regulars for top European clubs, they had Jeremie Boga and Ola Aina, who both have around a couple of hundred appearances in Europe's 'big five' leagues plus plenty of international caps for Ivory Coast and Nigeria, as well as two good Championship players in John Swift and Lewis Baker.

Chelsea were also very dominant in the FA Youth Cup around that time, winning it seven times between 2010 and 2020, so it was one hell of an achievement for a club of our size.