According to the Evening Standard, Chelsea supporter group Not a Project CFC has issued a statement condemning the club's decision to rename its U21 and U19 academy teams to 'Cobham Next Gen,' describing the move as "infuriating, disappointing, and unacceptable."

Chelsea announced on Wednesday that from the 2026/27 season, their U21 and U19 teams will compete under the abbreviated name CNG, standing for Cobham Next Gen. The club stated the move aims to reflect the fact that these teams' average age is often younger than their competitors, noting that last season the U18 team featured many 16-year-old players. The new name is derived from the club's Cobham training facility.

Chelsea's U21 team, managed by Harry Hudson following Callum McFarlane's promotion to the first team in January, is one of the league's youngest sides. Despite finishing top of Premier League 2 last season, they were defeated by Tottenham in the promotion playoff final.

The Daily Telegraph reported that Chelsea did not consult with official supporter groups before formally announcing the rebranding decision.

The move has generated widespread criticism from supporters, and Not a Project CFC has now formally released a statement publicly opposing it.

Not a Project CFC has organized protests ahead of several matches this season, including the FA Cup final, and has also coordinated demonstrations with frustrated supporters from sister club Strasbourg.

In a statement posted on social media, the group accused the BlueCo ownership of damaging the club's traditions and called on other supporter organizations to publicly oppose the decision.

Chelsea was contacted for comment.

Part of the statement read: "We are infuriated, disappointed, and unsurprised by the club's decision to rename our U21 and U19 teams to Cobham Next Gen."

"This is yet another example of new owners stripping away the identity of this great historic club."

"Cobham Academy is renowned as one of the best in the world, and as players progress through their football development, they should take pride in representing that name and the club's traditions, not a soulless corporate label invented by people who have no respect for what this club stands for."

AI ဘာသာပြန်ဆိုသည်။

AF ၏ PC ဝဘ်ဆိုက် စတင်ထွက်ရှိပြီ! သင့်ကွန်ပျူတာမှ သတင်းများ၊ မှတ်ချက်များ၊ ပွဲစဉ်အသေးစိတ်နှင့် စာရင်းဇယားများကြည့်ရှုနိုင်သည်။ ဝင်ရောက်ရန်: www.allfootballapp.com