As meteoric rises go, Calum McFarlane’s takes some beating. Six years after he and his assistants Harry Hudson and Dan Hogan were working for a south London charity that provides football and education for disadvantaged children, they will lead out Chelsea to face Manchester City in Saturday’s FA Cup final.

There have been accusations of cronyism given they have connections to Joe Shields, Chelsea’s co‑head of recruitment, that go back years, to when McFarlane, Hudson and Hogan were at the charity, the Kinetic Foundation, or beyond. But James Fotheringham, Kinetic’s co-founder, is dismissive of that.

“The narrative is of people being given an unfair opportunity,” he says of a backlash that has led to abusive messages being posted on Kinetic’s social media sites since McFarlane was appointed as Chelsea’s interim manager for the second time this season. “Calum did the hard yards at City, Southampton and Chelsea and has got seasons under his belt to get to that position. I think if anyone gets thrown into a six-game environment, you bring someone who you’ve been on the touchline with for 300 games and who knows how you work … That’s the truth of the situation Calum’s in.”

Shields, who met Hudson when both worked at Crystal Palace’s academy, has never had a formal connection to Kinetic, although he scouted players from its academy in previous roles at City and Southampton. He had departed Southampton for Stamford Bridge before McFarlane moved to the south-coast club as the under-18s coach. McFarlane then joined Chelsea in the summer, as did Hudson and Hogan.

In January McFarlane was promoted to Liam Rosenior’s coaching team from his role with the under-21s, having impressed in his first spell as interim manager, during which Chelsea drew at City. An academy reshuffle then led to Chelsea’s long-serving under-18s coach Hassan Sulaiman moving to a role as pathways relationship manager and being replaced by Hogan, who had been the under-16s manager, while Hudson stepped up from assistant to Sulaiman to replace McFarlane as the under-21s head coach. “Harry doesn’t have social media,” says Fotheringham. “He’s always been like: ‘People can say whatever they want.’”

He points out that Hogan, who was captain of Crystal Palace’s under-18s before starting his coaching career at Kinetic, has led Chelsea’s under-18s to the Premier League’s national final after winning their league. “He’s already been coaching for 10 years and is probably the youngest coach ever to do that,” he says. “Dan is Calum and Harry’s apprentice. He lapped everything up at Kinetic.”

Since McFarlane was appointed in April as interim head coach for the rest of the season, Hudson and Hogan have been by his side. It is a long way from Kinetic, which was established by Fotheringham and his school friend Hudson in the wake of the 2011 riots in what Fotheringham describes as a “passion project” that quickly gathered momentum.

More than 80 players who have come through Kinetic’s thriving programme for 16- to 18-year-olds have been signed by professional clubs, including Joe Aribo of Leicester, Watford’s Kwadwo Baah and the West Brom striker Josh Maja. The priority, though, has been ensuring that the 400 boys and girls who sign up each year to its Futures programme are given opportunities beyond the pitch. More than 60% went to university last year and Fotheringham hopes a new partnership with St Mary’s University in south-west London will encourage more to follow in those footsteps.

He says: “We’re trying to change mindsets … We spend two hard years making sure that they broaden their horizons.”

McFarlane joined Kinetic in 2014 after a spell with the Norwegian side Tromsø and his partnership with Hudson blossomed. With Hudson as manager and McFarlane his assistant, in a reverse of their Chelsea roles, they took charge of their local side Croydon FC in 2017 after forming a partnership with the Southern Counties East league club under which Kinetic took over the youth team. McFarlane remained Hudson’s No 2 when they were poached by Whyteleafe in the Isthmian Division One South before departing for City in 2020. Hudson went on to work at Brentford and left Kinetic in 2024 when appointed Wycombe’s under-18s coach.

“Harry had a passion for coaching and having the book of contacts within football to get trials and opportunities for the kids,” Fotheringham says. “That’s all he’s ever cared about. I remember he said when he was leaving: ‘If I was on my deathbed, and I never gave it a shot, then I wouldn’t forgive myself. I need to start now to see if I can prove myself.’”

McFarlane has a chance to become the first English manager since Harry Redknapp in 2008 to win the FA Cup. His credentials to deal with a squad that cost more than £1bn to assemble has been questioned given his lack of experience at the highest level, but Fotheringham hopes McFarlane, with his trusted lieutenants Hudson and Hogan at his side, can make history.

“It’s an incredible pedestal for the three of them,” he says. “If they can win the FA Cup then it would be some way to start your careers off in management. Harry has always said about whatever level he works at, it’s not about the person or the ego, it’s about treating them as a player and coaching them as a player, as opposed to worrying about what they might think of you. You’ve got to be pretty strong-willed and strong-minded in your own ability to do that and they are definitely that.”