Chelsea mourn youth coach Drummy

Arsene Wenger led the tributes to the former Arsenal and Chelsea academy coach Dermot Drummy, most recently manager of League Two Crawley Town, who died on Monday, aged 56.

Drummy oversaw a golden generation of Chelsea academy talent, winning the club’s first FA Youth Cup in 49 years in 2010 as one of its most shrewd coaches. A former youth team player at Arsenal, he had a good career in non-league before returning to Arsenal in 1999 as a coach, where he had a hand in bringing through the likes of Ashley Cole and Jack Wilshere.

Chelsea academy graduates including Ruben Loftus-cheek and Nathaniel Chalobah paid tribute. Chalobah said Drummy had “changed the life of so many young boys at Chelsea”.

Wenger said: “It’s very sad. He was much appreciated here. He did an excellent job. We were sad to lose him because he was competent, was well liked by everybody and respected by everybody.”

Antonio Conte, who arrived at Chelsea after Drummy left the club, said his death was “a big loss”. He said: “It’s not easy to work with the young players, especially off the pitch, to teach them about life. We are sorry [to hear about this]. This person was important for this club.”

Chelsea flags flew at half-mast at their training ground at Cobham yesterday and the team will wear black armbands in their home game against Swansea City tonight.