Talk:Chelsea F.C. Development Squad and Academy

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Change of name from reserves to U21
I feel this title needs to be changed as on the official website these players are listed under the U21 listings. The reserves league has essentially become the U21 league now, and we should reflect this in the article. Thoughts?Cfc4ever26 (talk) 02:49, 21 October 2014 (UTC)

"Notable Academy Graduates"
I find the inclusion of some of the players in the "Notable Academy Graduates" section amusing. Are Kaby, Junior Mendes, and Aziz Deen-Conteh "notable"? Ask even the most hard-core football fan who these players are and they will give you a blank look in response. Now I know why they are included. It's because the criteria for being on the list is if the player "won at least one full international cap". But that qualification is obviously not very adequate if players like those I mentioned qualify for the list. I think other criteria would be better for this list. Since I don't think there will be any objection, I will go ahead and change it, and modify the list accordingly. If anyone has any objections or suggestions, please discuss it here. King Philip V of Spain (talk) 16:27, 26 May 2017 (UTC)


 * So, winning the full international caps is not making them notable, but "making an impact in, or being important members of teams in major top-flight leagues" is notable? And how do you determine that way who is notable or not? What kind of impact do they have do make? Which leagues are "major top-flight leagues"? The criteria like that is not clear, and is clearly POV. Snowflake91  (talk) 16:32, 26 May 2017 (UTC)

Ok, I agree that wasn't the best way to say it, so we should find another way to say it or just another good criteria. But for sure winning one full international cap is not a good criteria. King Philip V of Spain (talk) 16:50, 26 May 2017 (UTC)

How about "making x appearances in one of Europe's major leagues" or "playing at least one full season or its equivalent in one of Europe's major leagues"? The point is, winning one full international cap is absolutely not a good criteria. Just because a player played once for San Marino does not make him notable by any means. King Philip V of Spain (talk) 17:04, 26 May 2017 (UTC)


 * Again, "one of Europe's major leagues" is POV, while making an international cap is not since it is widely used criteria across wikipedia for player notability inclusion. Where is the criteria or list to clarifiy what is a major league and what is not? The caps can be increased from 1 cap to at least 10 caps in fully recongized FIFA international games though. Snowflake91  (talk) 17:13, 26 May 2017 (UTC)

"Europe's major leagues" is a widely used phrase in the football world. It is not POV or just something I made up. Usually it refers to Europe's top 5 leagues, which are La Liga, Bundesliga, Premier League, Serie A, and Ligue 1. There is also the UEFA ranking system of leagues, which is an official ranking system by the European football governing body. So for example if I said "Europe's top 8 leagues", to get an objective answer you would only need to consult the list. So we could make the criteria "made x appearances in one of Europe's top 5/top 10 leagues" or something like that, and it wouldn't be POV. King Philip V of Spain (talk) 19:41, 26 May 2017 (UTC)


 * Change the section however you planned it and lets see how it will look, the section was wrong before you edit anyway since players like Alan and Ron Harris dont have international caps, while the article stated they have. Snowflake91  (talk) 20:48, 26 May 2017 (UTC)

Ok, we need to come up with a tenable criteria for inclusion into the "Notable Academy Graduates list", because having one full international cap is absolutely ridiculous. If Kaby and Junior Mendes make it onto this list, you have to seriously question if it is a good parameter! I don't know what is the best thing to put, but I do know for sure that having one full international cap is certainly not a possibility. King Philip V of Spain (talk) 13:23, 30 May 2017 (UTC)


 * International caps are still more objective criteria, for example why did you remove James Younghusband from the list, but not Phil Younghusband? Maybe it should be asked at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Football for an opinion about criteria? Snowflake91  (talk) 13:40, 30 May 2017 (UTC)

International caps may be an objective criteria, but ONE international cap does not make a player "notable". Maybe it is a good idea to ask at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Football for an opinion on criteria. King Philip V of Spain (talk) 14:38, 30 May 2017 (UTC)


 * Other similar articles like Arsenal and Man United are using international appearances for criteria as well. Snowflake91  (talk) 15:06, 30 May 2017 (UTC)

Again, maybe international caps is a good idea, but certainly not ONE international cap. There are many players who have gotten one international cap due to a brief spike in form, but then are very average or just bad for the rest of their careers. King Philip V of Spain (talk) 17:38, 30 May 2017 (UTC)


 * Then reduce the list to only players with at least 10 international caps Snowflake91  (talk) 18:03, 30 May 2017 (UTC)

Ok, I will make the criteria at least 10 international caps and/or at least 100 appearances for Chelsea. (The second one because many legendary 20th century Chelsea players barely played for England but were nevertheless clearly great players for Chelsea, such as Peter Osgood, a Chelsea legend.) King Philip V of Spain (talk) 20:02, 30 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Agree, 10 int. caps and 100 chelsea caps is good criteria. Snowflake91  (talk) 20:09, 30 May 2017 (UTC)

I feel like the criteria for notable academy graduates is still not quite right, as right now you are missing out on players who have gone on to have good careers at clubs other than Chelsea; players like Carlton Cole, Jack Cork, and Nathan Ake. I think it's fair to say that Carlton Cole is a more notable youth product than for example, and with absolutely no disrespect intended, the Younghusband brothers. I think the criteria should be revised to include players who have had a certain number of appearances in top ranked leagues, or appearances in European competitions. — Preceding unsigned comment added by JamesD444 (talk • contribs) 13:20, 5 October 2018 (UTC)

Notable graduates list revamp
Officially, Chelsea'a Academy consists only of the U18 and U21 teams, so we should list only the players that ACTUALLY graduated from the academy; i.e. the players that were promoted from the academy to the first team and made at least one senior appearance for Chelsea. There are many players in this list which left Chelsea at like U13 or even earlier, those are not "graduates" of any kind and should not be listed here, they are graduates of other teams. Not every single player which spent "1 month" with Chelsea team at under-12 level and then graduated elsewhere should be listed here, even if they are internationally capped. Snowflake91 (talk) 19:13, 4 January 2024 (UTC)