Chesterfield Academy spend day with Chelsea before FA Cup tie
Chesterfield players at Cobham, along with the club's U9s coach Jamie Wajs
Written by Training Ground Guru — January 10, 2022
CHELSEA invited the entire Chesterfield Academy to their Cobham training base on Saturday before the sides faced each other in the FA Cup third round.
A group of 237 players and 30 coaches from the National League club trained with Chelsea’s Academy teams, played small-sided games with them and had lunch before watching the tie at Stamford Bridge, which the Premier League side won 5-1.
The trip came about after Justin Tellus, Chesterfield's Academy Head of Recruitment and Development, made initial contact with Chelsea's Assistant Head of Youth Development Jim Fraser.
Tellus told TGG: "Chelsea were great with us and it was a day that our young players and our coaches will never forget. All of our teams, from Under-8s to U16s, went down to Cobham.
"We mixed the teams and played small-sided games and the coaches mixed in too, which was fantastic CPD. Spending time at one of the best Academies in the world was so valuable and the hospitality we received was unbelievable.
"I have to give special mention and thanks to Ben Knight (Chelsea's Phase Lead for the U9s to U14s), who oversaw our visit and put a lot of the plans in place."
Chesterfield were taken over by a Community Trust in July 2020. At the same time, the club, which was previously Category Three, dropped out of the EPPP system. The Academy is still full-time and is educationally and commercially funded.
