Not many people can say one of the best days of their life was spent in Wolverhampton.
But the vast majority of the 3,000-odd Chelsea fans who watched their team rampage around the Molineux pitch on September 14, 2019 will be unanimous in what they remember most.
There’s nothing too remarkable about Chelsea winning at Wolves.
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But the 5-2 demolition was spearheaded by a posse of homegrown rookies coming of age in a display of youthful energy and ingrained commitment towards the club which had nurtured them since they were babies.
Tammy Abraham scored four goals - one in his own net and a hat-trick at the right end. Fikayo Tomori smashed the net with a stunning 25-yarder and dynamic midfielder Mason Mount added the other.
The team that day was managed by Frank Lampard, the ultimate cult hero at Stamford Bridge for his 13 years as a player now returning as manager to harvest the crop of talent from the club’s academy that for too long had been overlooked in favour of off-the-peg imported talent.
Less than four years on and they have all gone.
The last of the four horsemen of Wolves’ apocalypse that afternoon in the Midlands signed for Manchester United this week to trigger a £55 million emergency cash injection to the empty Chelsea coffers.
Mount’s departure was sealed under a cloud of bitterness and resentment amid a 10-month contract standoff that ruined what should have been a pairing for life between a young man who loved his club and vice versa. A genuine badge-kissing moment.
The sale of a boy who had been at Chelsea for 18 years was significant in more ways than just losing a good player.
Most Chelsea fans were delighted that early Autumn afternoon heading back to London from the Black Country. Their club had won well, and in their eyes had shrugged off the image that Chelsea was a grab-it-quick, win-at-all-costs, splash the cash, nouveau riche footballing megalodon which gobbled up the best players from other clubs at vast expense on a shallow trophy-hoovering exercise.
Their team finally had roots and was producing its own players - and good ones at that - to give them substance and hope of winning more stuff with a squad that bled blue blood.
Defender Tomori is now a Serie A title winner in Italy with AC Milan and will play Champions League football next season. He could end up facing old mate Mount in Europe, who has joined a top-four team in Manchester United.
Abraham did not make Chelsea’s matchday squad the night they won the Champions League in 2021 but is now celebrating as the first English player in 30 years to score 10 goals in Italy’s top division with Roma.
Chelsea managed 38 Premier League goals last season, their lowest in almost 80 years, while around them the division as a whole enjoyed a record scoring year with 1,084.
Their leading scorer in the Premier League last season was Kai Havertz with seven. He has just signed for Arsenal.
Chelsea still have good academy players in their number. Reece James will be regarded as one of the best right backs in the country if he can overcome the serious string of hamstring injuries that have been dragging him down.
Centre-back Levi Colwill is a prized possession, having just returned from a successful loan year at Brighton & Hove Albion. Left-back-cum-midfielder Lewis Hall is respected. Defender Trevoh Chalobah’s future is less certain, along with that of winger Callum Hudson-Odoi. Londoner Ruben Loftus-Cheek is now at AC Milan.
But while there is hope James and Colwill will restore the homegrown feel at Stamford Bridge, chairman Todd Boehly has been throwing money around like Just Stop Oil protestors chuck confetti onto a Wimbledon tennis court.
Of 17 players roughly considered first teamers signed since Boehly and his financier pals took over in spring last year, only three are English: Raheem Sterling, Noni Madueke and Carney Chumwuemeka.
And all are bypassing the academy that under hugely-respected boss Neil Bath was eyed with envy throughout the Premier League.
Chelsea fans want glory and silverware but they also would like it to come from within, like most fans do. They had that in the palms of their hands but it was short-lived and doesn’t look like it will be revived any time soon.
