Give merit its due. That is what Chelsea wants to make clear: Stamford Bridge is the present, Cobham the future. Which is why, from now on, players wearing the Blues shirt in the academy’s older age groups, from Under-19 to Under-21, will play for a team with a different name. One that can “more accurately reflect the age profile of our academy and the long-term development of players who will one day become part of the first team”: hence Cobham Next Gen, the name that will be used for the teams coming through. Chelsea made the announcement itself, in a joint statement with its academy, setting out a change of direction – accompanied by several technical changes too – to underline the sense of identity that develops on the pitches before the final step up to Stamford Bridge. “The name Cobham Next Gen is better suited to representing our academy,” the club explains. “It recognises the value of a group of young players on the rise, ready to take the next step in their development – the final one before becoming professionals – and to compete on increasingly high-profile stages as they continue to grow within Cobham’s facilities. A unique football environment, with its own history, culture and a proven record of taking young talent to the highest levels.”
From a branding point of view, it is not a minor decision: for its academy, Chelsea is giving up the unmistakable echo of its own name and replacing it with something less immediately recognisable. Cobham may carry weight among scouts and people inside the game, but it does not attract the same attention from the wider public. That is the challenge Chelsea is taking on: everyone associates La Masia with Barcelona, Valdebebas with Real Madrid, De Toekomst with Ajax. Chelsea wants to do the same with Cobham – itself a Surrey town of around 10,000 people – where its prized academy is based, and put it at the centre of the global sporting map.
The change, in any case, will not be a real shock. Cobham Next Gen will initially exist only within the club and in its official communications: in UEFA and Football Association competitions, at least for now, the teams will technically continue to be called Chelsea. So the club is taking a gradual approach, watching as it goes how supporters and the wider market respond to the initiative. It is not unique to English football, either: Manchester City decided to rename its reserve team the Elite Development Squad back in 2011. A way of giving the players involved a symbolic space of their own. We will see how they take to it in Cobham.