Academy Rankings success ‘testament to environment we have created’ – Van der Kraan

Chelsea are top for 2025/26, with Arsenal second and Manchester United third.

Van der Kraan, who joined Chelsea from Manchester City in October 2024, told TGG: “On behalf of everyone at Chelsea Football Club, we are incredibly proud to have topped the Academy Productivity Rankings for a fourth successive year.

“That record reflects the hard work of so many people across the Academy and the entire club, and I thank the club’s ownership and Sporting Directors for their support and backing which has made this possible.

“The ‘Made in Cobham’ mantra we have around the training ground is much more than a phrase. At Chelsea, we focus on developing people as well as players. It fills us with immense pride to see Academy graduates in the men’s senior side but ‘Made in Cobham’ represents our commitment to helping young players grow, fulfil their potential and be ready for the next step, whether that is with Chelsea or elsewhere in the game.

“To see so many Academy graduates playing at the highest levels of professional football is a testament to the environment we have created together. We are proud of what has been achieved, but our mindset remains the same: keep working hard, keep improving and continue creating opportunities for the next generation of players coming through Cobham.”

Last month Chelsea announced that they were rebranding their Under-19 and U21 teams as Cobham Next Gen for the new season under Head Coach Harry Hudson.

Cobham is where the club train and base their Academy and the Blues said the name change “more accurately reflects the age profile of our leading Academy side and Chelsea’s long-standing heritage of developing the next generation of players for the senior game”.

Manchester United were top of TGG’s Academy Rankings for the first three editions (2016/17, 2017/18 and 2020/21). Chelsea took over their mantle in 2021/22 and have been top ever since.

At the time, Neil Bath, then Head of Youth Development at the club, said: “We are delighted to hear the news of scoring top in the Training Ground Guru Productivity Ratings.

“While we acknowledge that there are many other varied objectives in running a successful youth development programme, of course it is the ultimate goal to develop players that play and make careers in the senior game.

“As we all know, players progress at different ages and in different environments so we have worked hard over many years to create a development culture at Chelsea that allows that to happen.

“It is therefore incredibly pleasing to see us top these ratings and it is recognition for the Academy and the club as a whole. This is something I know our new ownership will only want to build upon in the years to come.”

Bath, who worked for Chelsea for 30 years and who is the architect of their modern Academy, will be delivering the Day One keynote speech at TGG Live ’26 at Old Trafford in three weeks. To find out more about our industry-leading conference and to buy tickets, click HERE.