Callum 'with the teck' Hudson-Odoi just wants to play football again

Coming back from injuries can be a long and painful process. Every injury is different, and every athlete responds to their rehabilitation process differently. Callum Hudson-Odoi is just two weeks into his recuperation after surgery to repair his ruptured achilles tendon.

He was with the team yesterday to partake in post-game celebrations for clinching Champions League next season and Gary Cahill’s farewell home match.

He’s also recently ‘penned’ a piece with The Players Tribune introducing himself to a wider audience providing insight into his family, how he grew his game on the streets, and his recent successes with the England setup.

Did you know that Callum Hudson-Odoi has a fear of peacocks? Or that he cultivated his game playing cage football in South London in a place called “Crocodile Park”? Did you also know that he went to Hogwarts? The last one is perhaps more of an exaggeration, but isn’t the magic of Hogwarts all about belief?

Perhaps not as thrilling a story as Peter Parker and a spider bite, the origins of Hudson-Odoi’s nickname/Instagram/Twitter account is also finally revealed.

"They call me “Calteck” instead, because of my cousin Darren. He gave me the nickname when we were playing in the park with our friends and I gave him a through ball. I spun it from the halfway line and he just went, “JEEZ! Is that you, yeah? Cal with the teck.”

"It stuck from there.

"I put that on my boots. Callum with the technique. Cal with the teck. Calteck. It became a mantra that I carry with me wherever I go in football…"

His piece with The Players Tribune is mostly fun and light-hearted. But he also talks about his England senior team debut back in March 2019, and the racist chants he and his fellow teammates endured.

"If anything, the chants backfired. When it happened during the game, it didn’t put me off my game, but instead made me more motivated to beat them and make sure we won.

"I had so much respect for Raheem when he scored and did the celebration and the Instagram post after. But also, no player should ever go through the racism and discrimination Raheem has had to go through. It’s not right.

"Can we just please find a way to stop it in the game, and just in general? Just everybody stop the racial abuse. I just want to live my life. I just want to play football and make my family proud."

-Callum Hudson-Odoi; source: The Players Tribune

Full agreement with young Callum here. We just want to see you play football again and make all of us Chelsea supporters proud.