How Chelsea incredible academy set up Lampard's youth revolution

Chelsea's youth revolution is finally here – and has been a long time coming.

For so long the most successful academy in the country, it is only in the last couple of seasons that the fruits of all that hard work being done behind the scenes at Chelsea is starting to show at first-team level.

Chelsea's failure to produce a player from their academy capable of cementing their place in the senior side since John Terry has been a stick to beat them with for a number of years.

That started to change last season with the breakthroughs of Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.

This season Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori have made their mark in some style on Chelsea's first team.

And there are high hopes for Reece James too, with his impressive goalscoring debut in the Carabao Cup win over Grimsby Town coming alongside first appearances for three other youngsters.

Having gone years with minimal academy presence in the first team, Chelsea could soon be overloaded.

The appointment of Frank Lampard and former youth team boss Jody Morris, coupled with the club's transfer ban, have been key reasons why the picture has changed so significantly.

Here, Sportsmail looks at some of the key factors behind the success of Chelsea's academy...

Beyond Lampard and Morris, who else is key to the emergence of all these academy products?

Ask this question to anyone familiar with the workings of Chelsea's academy and two names come back almost instantly – Neil Bath and Jim Fraser.

Bath is the club's head of youth development and Fraser is now the assistant head of youth development.

Bath is described by some as the main man and brains of the Chelsea academy operation, has been with the club since 2002 when he was appointed assistant academy director and what is happening now is everything he has been working towards.

Bath is a huge advocate of promoting talented young people towards first-team level and is now seeing his big wish carried out.

This is not just restricted to players with Bath doing the same with many of the coaches in the club's system too.

Just as he wants to produce top players Bath is equally determined to replicate that with coaches – Brendan Rodgers, Steve Clarke and Paul Clement are just three who have gone on to big things after starting out under Bath.

Many feel Fraser goes under the radar and does not get the level of credit he deserves for his role in the success of Chelsea's academy.

Fraser is described as the best recruiter of talent in the game, the man on the ground who searches for all these players and puts in all the hard yards up and down the country to assess potential additions to Chelsea's academy, running the rule over them to confirm some of the opinions formed by his team of scouts before they are brought in.

Go to any of the leading youth tournaments in England, Europe or across the world and the chances are Fraser will be there.

His work ethic and personal touch have been key to Chelsea securing a number of in-demand youngsters down the years.

Fraser spends time getting to know both the players and their families and is described as someone who genuinely cares for both.

Building such strong relationships has helped Chelsea secure top youth talents like Andreas Christensen, Nathan Ake, Patrick Bamford and Billy Gimour amid serious competition.

Looking after their own

This is something Chelsea do as well as any club, is a central part of Bath's philosophy and key to providing the right environment for academy prospects to flourish.

Everywhere young players look at Chelsea as they come through the ranks there are those who know the club inside out.

Bath has created a culture of people 'that are Chelsea' something which he feels is crucial to ensure standards are maintained.

The list of people who tick that box is lengthy and now extends from the bottom right to the very top following the returns of Lampard and Morris.

Chelsea's development side is led by two ex-players: Andy Myers is head coach and Jon Harley is assistant coach, while two more former academy prospects, coach Ed Brand and his assistant, James Simmonds run the under-18s.

Both Brand and Simmonds are tipped for big things and expected to follow Joe Edwards, another former academy hopeful who is now part of Lampard's senior setup.

Bath's philosophy also extends to Chelsea's scouting team – Carl Magnay and Tom Taiwo, names familiar to Chelsea youth followers, are two of the club's regional talent spotters.

Tore Andre Flo and Paulo Ferreira are among the ex-players with roles within the setup as technical coaches for the loan players.

Higher up the chain when the youngsters get there, Petr Cech, Claude Makelele, Petr Cech, Hilario, Carlo Cudicini – and, of course Morris and Lampard – are just some of the former players they will encounter.

All are men with Chelsea ingrained in them so perfectly-placed to guide the careers of the next generations.

The recruitment process

Chelsea have more scouts and one of the bigger budgets for recruitment at youth level compared to their rivals.

The idea that they buy all their youth talent, though, is considered by some to be an outdated misconception.

It may have been the case once upon a time following Roman Abramovich's 2003 takeover when Chelsea were attempting to fast-track the revolution of their academy by buying the best players they could from anywhere in the world to accelerate the process.

But now, their academy teams are dominated by players who have been with the club from as young as six supplemented by additional signings from home and abroad along the way.

This is also a development that can be attributed to Bath's longevity in the role.

When he helped revamp Chelsea's youth development setup in 2004 recruiting local prospects was a primary aim.

Now most of the scholars Chelsea take on have been at the club since before the age of 10.

Loftus-Cheek, Hudson-Odoi, Abraham and Tomori all joined Chelsea as under-8s while Mount and James both started training at Chelsea when they were just six.

Manchester City are now learning from the Chelsea model as they bid to establish themselves at youth level. Still in the early stages, they too are having to buy to beef up their academy but hope that in years to come they too will have players coming through who have been with the club since their early years.

Facilities

Based in Cobham on the same site as the first-team's HQ, Chelsea's location and facilities have ensured they have remained one of the top destinations at academy level, despite the challenge from rival threats new and old.

Since Lampard's appointment the first-team areas are no longer out of bounds for the youngsters, with increased integration around the club and academy players now starting to mix with the senior players more.

Younger players now have access to the first-team gym and will also eat with them.

Lampard, Morris and Edwards are also watching as many youth team games as they possibly can. There will be more opportunities for youngsters to rub shoulders with the first team's stars in training too.

The change is all in keeping with the greater interest those in the first-team setup are showing in the talent coming through the ranks.

Inside the academy areas, there are reminders everywhere for the current prospects of the footsteps they are following in.

A huge picture of John Terry hangs above the stairs on the journey into the academy.

Pictures of a number of other players who have risen through the ranks and made their first-team debuts for the clubs are also on display along with shots of the club's England youth internationals winning trophies for their countries.

All are designed to be inspiration for future generations.

While Terry remains the poster boy, Chelsea are just as proud of others who have come through the academy and gone on to forge careers elsewhere, like Burnley's Jack Cork and New England Revolution's Michael Mancienne, to name just two.

They are among those also recognised.

Preparation for life

Attention to detail is key in Chelsea's academy. The focus is not just on what happens on the pitch but away from it too.

In their bid to help raise rounded individuals Chelsea also have a variety of life skills courses they send their players on to teach them things that will be needed wherever they end up.

Some of them, such as cooking, will be especially helpful if, as many of them do, they have to go out on loan and learn to fend for themselves away from the comfort blanket of home.

They have plenty of time after training and all live close to the club's Surrey HQ. The academy players' digs are within a mile of the training ground while even those who move out and get their own places still live within half an hour of the club's base, as they have to according to under the terms of their contracts.

Academy philosophy

Sixteen academy trophies in the last 10 years tells you plenty about the culture that is encouraged within Chelsea's academy. They want to produce winners.

That tradition hits you quickly once you enter their academy building with pictures of their trophy-winning teams and the silverware itself on display.

The importance of winning is ingrained in Chelsea's youngsters early in the hope it sets the standard they will bring with them through to the first team.

Their track record shows they are doing a good job of that.

They want to produce good people too though. The humility and work-ethic of players such as Mount and Abraham is something Lampard has referred to repeatedly this season when praising them.

Dotted along the academy walls are further reminders of what it takes to make it at Chelsea and the standards that are expected of the youngsters as people and players.

Quotes from key figures such as Lampard and Terry are written on the white walls, with the former's words having even greater significance now he is in charge.

'I can't stress the importance of working hard, working on all aspects of your game. If you do that and you have the ability, you'll come through,' Chelsea's youngsters are reminded by Lampard on a daily basis when they walk along the corridors.

The future...

In terms of the academy it looks very bright for Chelsea.

They were hurt in the past that some of their biggest academy starlets did not have the right environment to make it at the club - think Nathaniel Chalobah, Josh McEachran, Dominic Solanke.

But now the picture has changed.

The academy is no longer being looked at as just a source of profit but one that can produce players good enough for the first team.

And there are many more homegrown prospects waiting to follow in the footsteps of Chelsea's current crop as Lampard has already stated.

Chelsea had two academy teams in action on Saturday, both secured wins and a huge 27 out of the 32 players were eligible for England, underlining that shift in recruitment that has taken place.

Fifteen of them have already played for England's age group sides.

They might not all make it but at least they have now have a chance.