Neil Bath and Jim Fraser are leaving Chelsea ahead of a significant restructuring of the club’s academy management team. The two men are widely credited with building and establishing Chelsea’s academy as one of football’s most prolific producers of elite young talent over the past two decades, with notable Cobham graduates including first-team captain Reece James, Mason Mount, Fikayo Tomori, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Tammy Abraham and Conor Gallagher. First appointed academy manager in 2004, Bath’s role was expanded in 2011 to oversee Chelsea’s reserve team as head of youth development. Fraser, hired in 2005, was his trusted assistant until a reshuffle in February 2023 which saw Bath take on a new position as director of football development and operations and Fraser promoted to head of youth development. The height of Chelsea’s academy success under Bath and Fraser came in the 2010s, when the club’s Under-18 side lifted the FA Youth Cup seven times, including a streak of five wins in a row from 2014 to 2018, matching the achievements of Manchester United’s legendary Busby Babes in the 1950s. The Under-19s also won back-to-back UEFA Youth Leagues in 2015 and 2016. Bath and Fraser’s departures signal a seismic shift for Chelsea’s academy under the ownership of Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly, with a new management structure expected to be led by co-director of recruitment and talent Joe Shields, as well as director of global recruitment Sam Jewell — set to be announced in the coming weeks. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5615313/2024/07/03/neil-bath-jim-fraser-chelsea-leave/ --

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