Having tasted success with Chelsea in the FA Youth Cup, several of our Academy graduates have played their part during our run to this season’s Heads Up FA Cup final.
Here is a look at the talented youngsters who will be hoping to add FA Cup winners’ medals to their collections when we face Arsenal at Wembley on Saturday, plus a couple who have been involved but cannot play for Chelsea this weekend, and there are coaches too with an FA Youth Cup past.
Mason Mount
Mount won the FA Youth Cup twice with the Blues, scoring in our 4-2 aggregate triumph over Manchester City in 2016 and captaining the team to success a year later when we beat the same opponents 6-2 on aggregate.
Along with Mateo Kovacic and Pedro, the 21-year-old is one of only three players to appear in all five of our FA Cup matches this season and he made his mark by scoring our second goal in the 3-1 victory over Manchester United in the semi-finals.
Reece James
After playing alongside Mount in our 2017 Youth Cup triumph, James succeeded him as captain and led us to a fifth consecutive victory in the competition in 2018 as we crushed Arsenal 7-1 on aggregate in the final.
The right-back has started three matches in our FA Cup run this season including the semi-final victory over Manchester United and provided a great attacking outlet on the right flank with his dangerous crosses into the box.
Callum Hudson-Odoi
After finding the net in the 2017 Youth Cup final, Hudson-Odoi was a goal machine in 2018 when he scored 10 goals in the competition including two in the final against Arsenal as he helped us win the competition for a second time.
Having graduated to the senior team last season, the 19-year-old kick-started our FA Cup campaign this year by opening the scoring after six minutes against Nottingham Forest in the third round. He also played a part in our second goal as the Forest goalkeeper could only parry his shot to Ross Barkley, who finished from close range.
Fikayo Tomori and Tammy Abraham
Fkayo Tomori and Tammy Abraham were team-mates in the Academy sides which won the Youth Cup in 2015 and 2016 with Abraham scoring in both finals and centre-back Tomori also finding the net in the latter tie.
Both players have appeared in two matches during this year’s FA Cup run. Tomori played in the third round against Forest and scored the decisive goal in the fourth round win at Hull City, while Abraham played the full 90 minutes of the quarter-final at Leicester and came on as a substitute against Manchester United.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Andreas Christensen
A two-time Youth Cup winner with the Blues in 2012 and 2014, Loftus-Cheek has appeared as a substitute in this year’s quarter-finals and semi-finals after returning from his long-term Achilles injury.
Christensen was a team-mate of Loftus-Cheek in the Academy side which finished runners-up in 2013 before beating Fulham 7-6 on aggregate in the memorably topsy-turvy 2014 final and the Danish defender helped us keep a clean sheet in our 2-0 win over Forest in the third round this season.
Billy Gilmour
Gilmour also scored against Arsenal in the 2018 final but the young Scot was unable to captain our Academy side to another Youth Cup success the following season when our five-year reign as champions came to an end.
The 19-year-old produced an impressive display in midfield in our 2-0 win against Liverpool in the fifth round this season but is ruled out of the final after undergoing knee surgery earlier this month.
Tariq Lamptey
A Youth Cup winner with Gilmour, Hudson-Odoi and James in 2018, Tariq Lamptey came on as a substitute in our wins against Forest and Hull this season. However, the match against the Tigers was his last appearance for Chelsea as he joined Brighton on transfer deadline day in January.
Joe Edwards and Jody Morris
Two members of Frank Lampard's coaching staff, assistant coaches Joe Edwards and Jody Morris have also had a huge impact on the Blues at Youth Cup level.
Edwards, a former Academy player himself, led our Under-18s to victory in 2015 and 2016 before moving up to take charge of our development squad.
He was succeeded as Under-18 coach by Morris who played in our FA Cup victory over Aston Villa in 2000 and continued our successful run in the Youth Cup by taking us to glory in 2017 and 2018.