Bath has been working in our Academy for the past 25 years, progressing from a part-time coach all the way to the top of the youth development structure at the club. He has been in his current role since 2004 and has since overseen the most successful period for our junior teams in terms of tournament achievements, an incredible run that culminated in our Under-18s claiming a fifth consecutive FA Youth Cup title this term.

That was just the tip of the iceberg for our youngsters in 2017/18 though, as Jody Morris’s team secured an unprecedented Quadruple, while Joe Edwards guided the older age group to the UEFA Youth League final and the semi-finals of the senior Checkatrade Trophy. All of which have brought memorable moments, though Bath believes it is progress elsewhere that the Chelsea Academy should view with most pride last season.

‘It’s been another fantastic year and it’s great for all the players and staff to win trophies and have long runs in other competitions like the Checkatrade Trophy and UEFA Youth League,’ Bath tells the official Chelsea website.

‘The Under-18s have won every competition they’ve been involved in for the past two seasons and that is an unbelievable achievement but we’re also fully aware that our priority is to develop players for the senior game, ideally at Chelsea, and we should never take our eye away from that.

‘That’s why the real success of the season for us has been seeing the breakthrough of Andreas Christensen into the first team, where he’s played 40 games, or seeing Ruben Loftus-Cheek go to the World Cup with England. For all the trophies we win as an Academy, those achievements of individuals making an impact at the highest level are what we want to see.

‘You also can’t help but keep an eye on those boys who have moved on from the Academy to see how they’re developing and a good example of that is Nathan Ake. He obviously left Chelsea last summer but he’s had a very good season at Bournemouth. It’s been nice to see his career continue on an upward trajectory because he was always a very popular and talented player.’

