How Chelsea starlet McEachran made history in Zilina

History boy Josh McEachran set out on the road to Wembley with a 150-yard bus trip.

And after a 20-minute gallop as substitute, McEachran is now standard-bearer for Chelsea’s generation of Young Blues ripening on the vine in a vintage year.

At 17, McEachran became the first player to appear in the Champions League having been born since the European Cup was repackaged in 1992, making an assured senior debut in the 4-1 win at MSK Zilina.

Manager Carlo Ancelotti also introduced Gael Kakuta and Patrick van Aanholt, both 19, as late replacements while Daniel Sturridge, 21, was on target as Chelsea launched their annual crusade on the continent with a ridiculously short coach journey from their hotel to the ground.

Police advised them not to walk in case they were mobbed like pop stars - and with McEachran at the vanguard of Ancelotti’s boyzone, there was certainly a youthful look about the XI who finished one of Chelsea’s most comfortable nights in Europe.

After a short hop worthy of a Deputy Prime Minister’s wife trying to protect her carefully-coiffured barnet from sea breezes on her way to the party conference, Chelsea have their hearts set on another one on May 28 next year - just up the road to Wembley for the Champions League final.

By then, Ancelotti plans to establish a new ethos at Stamford Bridge.

Instead of relying on owner Roman Abramovich’s largesse to finance success on the pitch, Chelsea are placing a new emphasis on growing their own talent.

John Terry was the last player to graduate from Chelsea’s youth system and establish himself in the first team.

For a decade, others have found the path blocked by the club’s spending culture in the transfer market.

Of those who have threatened to break through, Michael Mancienne is now in his third loan spell at Wolves; Scott Sinclair was farmed out to no fewer than six clubs before joining Swansea for £500,000 last month; Franco Di Santo has gone to Wigan, Miroslav Stoch has moved to Fenerbahce and Jeffery Bruma has managed just two Premier League appearances - both as a sub.

Last season, Chelsea sent out 15 players on loan, and it may take the emergence of McEachran - mobile and left-footed, the Blues’ version of Jack Wilshere - to stop the drain of talent.

Ancelotti said: “When it’s possible, I would like to give time on the pitch to our younger players to improve our experience as a team. McEachran is very young but he is a fantastic talent and it’s important to give him an opportunity.”

While Chelsea were lifting the FA Cup for grown-ups last May, McEachran was at the heartbeat of their FA Youth Cup triumph over Blackburn, and was an integral part of England’s Under-17 side as they won the European Championship.

His appearance flummoxed Slovakia's TV commentators, all of them unsure how to pronounce his surname (the correct elocution is Mc-eck-run).

It also caught his parents, Mark and Julie, on the hop as they watched the game on TV at home in Oxfordshire.

They did not make the 1,000-mile trip to Zilina, fearing their boy was only travelling for the experience, and McEachran’s proud mum admitted: “We were stunned when we saw Josh standing by the touchline, ready to come on.

“He has been with Chelsea since just before his eighth birthday, so you can imagine the pride in our household that he has made it into the first team.

“We have always supported Josh wherever he has played, whether he was winning the FA Youth Cup last season or playing for England’s Under-17 team, and with hindsight of course wish we could have been there to see him make his Chelsea debut.

“It would have been a long way to travel just to watch him sit on the bench or in the stands, but I managed to speak with Josh on the phone briefly after the game and I told him how proud the family were of his performance.”