Ex players - Where did they end up?

[Luke 60]

After Swansea clinching promotion to the Premier League thanks to a Scott Sinclair hat trick, I got thinking about what happened to our former players over the years, mainly youngsters, how did their careers develop afer leaving Stamford Bridge, was it good for them to leave, or was it deemed a mistake, and where are they now:

Going back 10/15 years or so and looking at some of our young talent, the likes of Jody Morris, Michael Duberry, Neil Clement, Jon Harley, Mark Nicholls, Courtney Pitt...

Jody Morris and Jon Harley were two players that I really loved and really hoped that we had kept hold of, sadly though, them leaving was the start of their downfall so to speak, they didnt progress as I hoped they would, Morris had unsuccessful spells at Leeds and Millwall and is now playing for St Johnstone. Harley is now playing for Notts County after moving around a few Championship sides, namely, Watford, Burnley and West Ham.

Duberry, likewise found life tough after leaving Chelsea, after having unsuccesful spells at Leeds and Stoke, he had a successful spell at Reading before joining up with Jody Morris again at St Johnstone, he has since been released and is without a club.

Clement is one of our success stories, he spent 10 years with WBA, 2 of which were spent on the sidelines with a bad injury, he had a brief spell on load at Hull City but was forced to retire in 2010.

Mark Nicholls is probably our most travelled former player EVER, after leaving CFC he has played for a staggering 19 different clubs in England and Scotland, he never reached the heights that his early promise showed, he is currently playing for Walton Casuals in the Ryman Division One at the age of 34.

Courtney Pitt was one that I was very surprised to see leave, he had bags of potential and great pace, he turned down a new contract at Chelsea to join Portsmouth when Graham Rix was in charge, Rix again signed him for Oxford United, Pitt now plays for Telford.

Moving on a few years and you think of the likes of Carlton Cole, Robert Huth, Alexis Nicolas, Mikael Forssell, Sam Dalla Bona.

Cole was a great young player, who remembers his 35 goals for the reserves in 2002/2003? (I think thats the correct year?). He had bags of promise but he even admits himself that he didnt work hard enough to build upon his early promise, coupled with the takeover in 2003 which resulted in an influx of big name signings in his position, he was pushed out on loan which didnt really work out for him, he eventually signed for West Ham and he had knuckled down and improved alot IMO, he is a strong powerful forward with an eye for goal.

Robert Huth was another player that didnt live up to his expectations during his time at Chelsea, he was seen as a big strong centre back with a rifle of a shot on him, he still has these attributes at Stoke, coupled with experience, he has turned out to be a decent defender and a danger in the oppositions box.

Alexis Nicolas only played 1 first team game for Chelsea, at home to Charlton, and his performance didnt surprise me, he was a solid, clever midfield player that had shown great promise when playing in the reserves, sadly he left CFC in 2005 and signed for Brighton, before retiring to persue a career in business studies, he was last seen on a football pitch playing part time for St Albans in 2007.

Forssell was once dubbed the hottest young striker in European football, we all know about his injuries so I wont bore you with that, since leaving Chelsea in 2005 he played under Steve Bruce at Birmingham and seemed to be back to his best before suffering yet another knee injury, he is now playing for German side Hannover 96.

Sam Dalla Bona was a solid midfielder that performed well int he youth and reserve teams and broke into our first team, playing over 70 games for us before moving to AC Milan, he had 1 successful season with them winning the Champions League before he was loaned out to several Italian teams, he has had spells at Bologna, Lecce, Sampdoria and Napoli, in 2009 he was hoping to sign for West Ham while Zola was manager but he failed to secure a contract, he then trained with Fulham but again, didnt earn a contract, he is now playing to Italian side Atalanta.

Feel free to discuss and add other young players that were once on our books and tell us where they are now etc...

Luke.

[steve5221 91]

As of 2010 Mark Nicholls is now the duty manager at Yiewsley Swimming pool in Middlesex. He is also a qualified swimming instructor and lifeguard..

[Luke 60]

Interesting, where did you get that info from? The net, or someone in the know?

[zolayes 14,489]

After Swansea clinching promotion to the Premier League thanks to a Scott Sinclair hat trick, I got thinking about what happened to our former players over the years, mainly youngsters, how did their careers develop afer leaving Stamford Bridge, was it good for them to leave, or was it deemed a mistake, and where are they now:

Going back 10/15 years or so and looking at some of our young talent, the likes of Jody Morris, Michael Duberry, Neil Clement, Jon Harley, Mark Nicholls, Courtney Pitt...

Jody Morris and Jon Harley were two players that I really loved and really hoped that we had kept hold of, sadly though, them leaving was the start of their downfall so to speak, they didnt progress as I hoped they would, Morris had unsuccessful spells at Leeds and Millwall and is now playing for St Johnstone. Harley is now playing for Notts County after moving around a few Championship sides, namely, Watford, Burnley and West Ham.

Duberry, likewise found life tough after leaving Chelsea, after having unsuccesful spells at Leeds and Stoke, he had a successful spell at Reading before joining up with Jody Morris again at St Johnstone, he has since been released and is without a club.

Clement is one of our success stories, he spent 10 years with WBA, 2 of which were spent on the sidelines with a bad injury, he had a brief spell on load at Hull City but was forced to retire in 2010.

Mark Nicholls is probably our most travelled former player EVER, after leaving CFC he has played for a staggering 19 different clubs in England and Scotland, he never reached the heights that his early promise showed, he is currently playing for Walton Casuals in the Ryman Division One at the age of 34.

Courtney Pitt was one that I was very surprised to see leave, he had bags of potential and great pace, he turned down a new contract at Chelsea to join Portsmouth when Graham Rix was in charge, Rix again signed him for Oxford United, Pitt now plays for Telford.

Moving on a few years and you think of the likes of Carlton Cole, Robert Huth, Alexis Nicolas, Mikael Forssell, Sam Dalla Bona.

Cole was a great young player, who remembers his 35 goals for the reserves in 2002/2003? (I think thats the correct year?). He had bags of promise but he even admits himself that he didnt work hard enough to build upon his early promise, coupled with the takeover in 2003 which resulted in an influx of big name signings in his position, he was pushed out on loan which didnt really work out for him, he eventually signed for West Ham and he had knuckled down and improved alot IMO, he is a strong powerful forward with an eye for goal.

Robert Huth was another player that didnt live up to his expectations during his time at Chelsea, he was seen as a big strong centre back with a rifle of a shot on him, he still has these attributes at Stoke, coupled with experience, he has turned out to be a decent defender and a danger in the oppositions box.

Alexis Nicolas only played 1 first team game for Chelsea, at home to Charlton, and his performance didnt surprise me, he was a solid, clever midfield player that had shown great promise when playing in the reserves, sadly he left CFC in 2005 and signed for Brighton, before retiring to persue a career in business studies, he was last seen on a football pitch playing part time for St Albans in 2007.

Forssell was once dubbed the hottest young striker in European football, we all know about his injuries so I wont bore you with that, since leaving Chelsea in 2005 he played under Steve Bruce at Birmingham and seemed to be back to his best before suffering yet another knee injury, he is now playing for German side Hannover 96.

Sam Dalla Bona was a solid midfielder that performed well int he youth and reserve teams and broke into our first team, playing over 70 games for us before moving to AC Milan, he had 1 successful season with them winning the Champions League before he was loaned out to several Italian teams, he has had spells at Bologna, Lecce, Sampdoria and Napoli, in 2009 he was hoping to sign for West Ham while Zola was manager but he failed to secure a contract, he then trained with Fulham but again, didnt earn a contract, he is now playing to Italian side Atalanta.

Feel free to discuss and add other young players that were once on our books and tell us where they are now etc...

Luke.

a good informative post ...thanks

[steve5221 91]

Interesting, where did you get that info from? The net, or someone in the know?

His CV!!!!!

[termninja 5,290]

Good post

[Kez 2,727]

I was gutted when Lenny Pidgeley left, he's at Bradford City now, had a few naughty incidents since leaving getting chucked out a nightclub & drink driving.