Chelsea U21 enter PL2 playoffs as top-seeded regular season champions
The kids are alright
KINGSTON UPON THAMES, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 07: Kiano Dyer of Chelsea celebrates scoring their second goal during the Premier League 2 match between Chelsea U21 and Blackburn Rovers U21 at Kingsmeadow on February 07, 2026 in Kingston upon Thames, England. (Photo by Chris Lee - Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images) | Chelsea FC via Getty Images Chelsea may be struggling at senior level, but — somewhat ironically given the millions we’ve spent on supposedly top-tier young talent — we’re doing quite well at Academy level. The U18s (coached by Dan Hogan since January; Hassan Sulaiman before then) are currently leading the South Division of the U18 Premier League while the U21s (coached by Harry Hudson since January; Calum McFarlane before then * ) were confirmed as regular season champions of the PL2 (i.
e. Premier League 2) this past weekend. In both competitions however, the overall winners will be decided in the playoffs.
For the PL2 playoffs, Chelsea will enter as the top seed. A couple years ago, the Premier League 2 switched to a single-division format containing all Category 1 academies. For this season, that translated to a record 29 teams in the division — though through a convoluted setup , each team would end up playing just 20 of the 29, for a total of 20 games each.
Chelsea won 14 of our 20 games, finishing level on points with Manchester United, but with a much better goal difference (+27 vs. +17). Incidentally, both teams lost on the final weekend.