Stamford Bridge mourns as former Chelsea coach dies aged 56

Former Chelsea Academy Coach and Crawley Town Manager, Dermot Drummy has passed away, aged 56. The announcement was made by his son on Twitter, hours after Drummy’s sudden passing.

“OK so this is the toughest day. Unfortunately my Dad passed away this morning, I bloody loved that guy and couldn’t have been more proud of his achievements in all aspects of life”, the tweet read.

“Best Dad I could have asked for. To me a f***ing legend and awesome role model."

The cause is still unknown.

During a playing career that started at Arsenal, Drummy played for non-league sides, Hendon, Wealdstone, Enfiled, Ware and St. Albans City.

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After leaving retiring from his role as Player/Manager at Ware, Drummy worked as a youth coach for Arsenal before becoming the head of Chelsea’s academy in 2009. He led the club to its first FA Youth Cup in 49 years during his second season in charge.

Drummy was appointed reserve team manager in July 2011, replacing Steve Holland who went on to work with the first team.

In 2014, he moved to the role of International head coach.

After leaving Chelsea, Drummy managed League Two side, Crawley Town from April 2016 to May 2017.

Since his passing, old colleagues and the staff at Stamford Bridge have sent their condolences and shared goodwill messages about the former manager.

Chelsea’s head of youth development Neil Bath added: “There are no words to convey the sense of shock and loss we all feel at this news."

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“Today we had bad news, our former youth team coach Dermot Drummy died and I want to pass my condolences to his family and his friends,” Conte said.

Some of Drummy’s former stewards have also shared their condolences.

England debutant Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who worked with Drummy at Stamford Bridge, tweeted his condolences; Lewis Baker, on loan at Vitesse, also did.

Chelsea have confirmed that they will wear black armbands for the match against Swansea on Sunday.