Richard Nartey: 'You Learn How Fortunate You Are Growing up at Chelsea'

 Burton’s Richard Nartey challenges Jonson Clarke-Harris of Bristol Rovers on his debut for Albion. Photograph: Robbie Stephenson/JMP/Shutterstock
Burton’s Richard Nartey challenges Jonson Clarke-Harris of Bristol Rovers on his debut for Albion. Photograph: Robbie Stephenson/JMP/Shutterstock
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Richard Nartey: 'You Learn How Fortunate You Are Growing up at Chelsea'

 Burton’s Richard Nartey challenges Jonson Clarke-Harris of Bristol Rovers on his debut for Albion. Photograph: Robbie Stephenson/JMP/Shutterstock
Burton’s Richard Nartey challenges Jonson Clarke-Harris of Bristol Rovers on his debut for Albion. Photograph: Robbie Stephenson/JMP/Shutterstock

“The first thing that happened was a ball got kicked in the air at me and I got an elbow in the face,” Richard Nartey says as he recalls his gritty introduction to League One after going on loan to Burton Albion. The centre-back, who has been at Chelsea since he was nine, knew it was time to sink or swim. He was making his professional debut after coming off the bench against Bristol Rovers in August and it was a rude awakening.

“I was a bit dazed,” Nartey says. “It was my wake-up call. I was telling myself: ‘You’ve got to give it back. You can’t act like this young person from Chelsea, otherwise people will pick on you.’ I had to show I could do all the physical stuff and let my technical side show as well.”

He knuckled down, helping Burton to a 2-0 victory. He enjoyed his time at the Pirelli Stadium and is disappointed that the League One season is over prematurely. He has been back at his family home in Wimbledon during lockdown and, with Chelsea deciding not to renew his contract when it expires on 30 June, he is focusing on finding a new club.

The 21-year-old is used to being challenged. Nartey placed a high value on his education, even though it slowed his development at Chelsea. He attended St Paul’s, a private school in south-west London, until he finished his GCSEs when he was 16. “I stayed longer than most at Chelsea before going on loan because I started full-time a couple of years later,” he says. “Usually you do day release at 13. You still go to school and take a day off to train. At 14, 15, 16 you do full-time football. I didn’t train for two and a bit years full-time.

“Even if you were good enough you can never tell what’s going to happen at that age. With my parents giving me all the help I needed I thought it better to do my GCSEs. Once you go full-time it switches to being more focused on football. It ended up with me going to school for the five days and then I’d have to just turn up on the day of the game. Then I’d go back to school while everyone else went back to training for the week.”

There was more to come for Nartey, who spent three years studying for maths and French A-levels after joining Chelsea full-time at 16. He is grateful to the club for paying for his lessons and finding him quiet spaces to work, but he also had to catch up on his teammates. Nartey had fallen behind at an academy that produced Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount, Fikayo Tomori, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Reece James.

“The goalkeeper Nathan Baxter did a similar thing to me,” he says. “But you do feel on your own. I didn’t know many in my situation. I was surrounded by players who were not only the best but had been doing it for two years, every day. I came in as a skinny schoolkid.

“That was my first ever pre-season. I’d never trained every day before. The first time I tried it I cramped up within 40 minutes. I took that session as a break and trained every other day. I told myself I had to be patient. I did two training sessions in a row for the first time and in my mind that was a great achievement. Everyone else was celebrating in a jokey way. But it was big for me.”

Nartey is not surprised that Abraham, Mount, Tomori, Hudson-Odoi and James have broken into the first team. The academy coaches improved their technique but also instilled a strong work ethic. Nartey had a solid grounding thanks to Joe Edwards, who joined the first-team coaching staff at the start of the season, and Jody Morris, Frank Lampard’s No 2.

“Joe has been there since I was very young,” Nartey says. “He’s been extremely helpful, especially as you’re getting into the 23s. He was crucial in reminding us you’re going to lose games when you go out, you’re going to find yourself not playing sometimes.

“Jody was my youth-team coach. His success speaks for itself. He would join in the training session sometimes and would usually be the best player technically. You would see what the top level looks like, even though he had retired.”

Nartey had more to learn. He had featured against lower-league sides when Chelsea reached the semi-finals of the Checkatrade Trophy in 2018, but he needed a tougher environment than academy football. Burton beckoned. “You learn how fortunate you are growing up at Chelsea,” he says. “You go on loan and see there are bonuses for winning games and how much that means to someone.”

Nigel Clough, who quit as Burton’s manager to help the club cope with the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic, gave Nartey 28 appearances. Jake Buxton, the experienced centre-back who has stepped in as player-manager, has been another big influence.

Tore André Flo, who looks after Chelsea’s loan players, has also helped mentor him. “He’s been extremely helpful,” Nartey says. “I’d play a game and the first message I’d have when I’d get back was: ‘I saw you played the whole game, how did you find it?’ He’s come up to Burton a few times.

“He played up front and he was saying what he didn’t like. Strikers like time on the ball and he said the toughest ones were when people got tight and didn’t give you the chance to turn.”

The next step is approaching. “I always wanted to be involved in financial things,” Nartey says. “My dad works at Barclays so I’ve been getting advice from him. I’ve started a financial trading course during lockdown. Hopefully it stays as a back-up plan, but even when I retire I’ll need to do something. It will never hurt to have the two A-levels.”

The Guardian Sport



Chelsea Beat Everton 1-0 to Reignite Champions League Hopes

(L) Nicolas Jackson of Chelsea celebrates scoring his side's first goal of the match with teammate Noni Madueke during the English Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Everton FC, in London, Britain, 26 April 2025. (EPA)
(L) Nicolas Jackson of Chelsea celebrates scoring his side's first goal of the match with teammate Noni Madueke during the English Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Everton FC, in London, Britain, 26 April 2025. (EPA)
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Chelsea Beat Everton 1-0 to Reignite Champions League Hopes

(L) Nicolas Jackson of Chelsea celebrates scoring his side's first goal of the match with teammate Noni Madueke during the English Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Everton FC, in London, Britain, 26 April 2025. (EPA)
(L) Nicolas Jackson of Chelsea celebrates scoring his side's first goal of the match with teammate Noni Madueke during the English Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Everton FC, in London, Britain, 26 April 2025. (EPA)

Chelsea climbed back into contention for next season's Champions League with a 1-0 home win over Everton in the Premier League on Saturday thanks to a fine first-half strike by Nicolas Jackson.

The Senegal striker, fed by Enzo Fernandez, drove low into the bottom corner past a diving Jordan Pickford in the 27th minute for his first goal in four months.

The result lifted Enzo Maresca's Chelsea to fourth in the table on 60 points, one point behind Manchester City who are in FA Cup action this weekend. Everton are 13th.

"At this stage of the season, the result is the main thing," Maresca said.

"We are going to be better and better because the players will understand better and better how to play different games."

The home side should have scored more but were thwarted by a stubborn defense and Pickford, who kept out a series of shots, notably from Noni Madueke.

Cole Palmer buzzed round the Everton box, but his three-month goal drought continued as once again Chelsea failed to capitalise on a good start.

They suffered a tense final 15 minutes with Everton, sensing their nerves, forging forward.

Maresca, serving a one-match ban, watched anxiously from the press box, occasionally shouting towards the pitch and dugout as the clock ticked down.

He described his seat as "a disaster" despite having a runner next to him to take messages to the dugout.

"I prefer to be on the bench. You want to say something, but nobody can hear."

Chelsea keeper Robert Sanchez, who had turned aside a good chance from Beto in the 63rd minute, held on to a shot from Idrissa Gueye minutes later.

And he pulled off a fingertip save in the 88th minute to deny Dwight McNeil and keep his side in front.

The Spanish keeper's form has been in doubt recently after a series of mistakes, but Maresca backed him.

"Robert has already had many good moments this season ... As a human being, you always remember the bad things and not the good things. He has had some very good moments with us," the Italian coach said.

"You can see the teammates how they celebrate with him, also at the end of the game. They know for Robert it has not been a good moment, so they support and helped him."

Pickford also praised his opposite number.

"In the second half we dominated as Chelsea sat in and took the 1-0," he told TNT Sports. "Robert Sanchez made a few good saves so credit to him.

"We weren't far off it but that's the Premier League, you get punished."

The League's top five qualify for the Champions League.