Our boys look to start the new year with a positive result in the Youth Cup today as we get our campaign started against Bradford City at Kingsmeadow and you can purchase tickets online and at the ground.

Today's game against Bradford City is scheduled to kick-off at 1pm as our young Blues look for victory.

Here, we preview the action by hearing from head coach Ed Brand…

View from the dugout

As Brand prepares to take charge of his fourth Youth Cup campaign as Under-18s boss, the focus turns to important experiences and the opportunity to end the year on a high.

The young Blues have reached the semi-finals twice under Brand’s stewardship and plenty of players from those campaigns have already progressed into the senior game including Harvey Vale, Armando Broja and Tino Anjorin.

The emphasis now is on the 2022/23 cohort and even though this tie presents opponents from a League Two club, Brand is determined to avoid complacency in the ranks.

‘We’re looking forward to starting our campaign,’ he said. ‘It’s nice to have a home draw so we get to go to Kingsmeadow and for some of the boys that will be the first time they’ve experienced playing there, which will be good for them.

‘We have a few boys with that experience already, which will be important on the day against a Bradford team that has a lot of quality about it. We’ve watched their games and they play a good style of football. They have a reputation in the leagues that they play in and up north for playing good football and producing good footballers.

‘We had a game against them a few years ago in the competition which we came out the right end of but I vividly remember that night because they were well coached and played some really good football. We’re expecting a difficult game and they’ll have our full respect as always.’

The Blues have already advanced in the Under-17 Premier League Cup and are now targeting a Youth Cup fourth-round tie away at Colchester United or Cambridge United after the draw was made last year.

For Brand and his players, there is a desire to put their own mark on the game and send a reminder of their credentials in the competition.

‘We’ve done our due diligence but we’re also focused on ensuring that we assert our style onto them and we do the things that make us a good team,’ he added.

‘The Youth Cup is always a special competition at this place and it’s one that everyone gets excited about so hopefully we can put on a good performance, get a good result and send everyone into Christmas in a good frame of mind.’

We have history

Chelsea and Bradford last met in the Youth Cup back in January 2020 when a fourth-round tie was hosted by the Blues at Aldershot.

Levi Colwill and Ian Maatsen were among the starters for Brand’s side, while Armando Broja opened the scoring in a comfortable 5-0 victory.

We went all the way to the final, which was delayed to November due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but were beaten 3-2 by Manchester City at St George’s Park.

How to watch

Tickets are still available to purchase online priced at just £5 for adults and £3 for concessions. Tickets will be available to purchase on matchday from the Kingsmeadow ticket office from two hours prior to kick-off.