Turn the clock back 25 years or so and you would find names such as Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand, Joe Cole, and John Terry on the books of West Ham’s academy in golden era for the club.
Go back even further and you’ll find English football World Cup winning icons such as Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters.
However, over the last 10-15 years production at West Ham’s ‘Academy of Football’ has stagnated but there are signs it is now back.
Although all of that early 2000s crop featuring Cole, Lampard, Ferdinand, Jermain Defoe, and Michael Carrick made multiple first team appearances for the club, they all had their best moments away from then Boleyn Ground.
If they had all remained at West Ham, the then manager Harry Redknapp once claimed they would’ve won the Premier League. But many still refer to that golden generation being a success as the Hammers made money from player sells and increased their academy’s reputation.
Mr West Ham
At the turn of the new millennia, a West Ham supporting Arsenal schoolboy was brought in, he would end up becoming a West Ham legend.
Mark Noble has made 466 first-team appearances for the Irons since his debut back in 2004. He has been dubbed ‘Mr West Ham’ due to his unrelenting loyalty to the club and Noble is currently in his 18th season with the club making him the longest serving player at any single team in the major European leagues.
Rising East spoke to Ben, who has been following West Ham for as long as he has been alive, we asked him about Mark Noble. He said, “Noble embodies everything about West Ham, his passion, his loyalty and his commitment.”
He added, “I don’t think I will ever be able to picture West Ham without him but when that day comes and he retires at the end of this season, I hope he gets a coaching role at the club.”
No Superstars Spell
Sadly, after the breakthrough of Mark Noble not many great youth prospects would come through to feature for the first team as the even club flirted with spells in the Championship at times suffering from the lack of home-grown talent.
Players such as Dan Potts, Bondz N’Gala and Freddie Sears came through the ranks but were subsequently deemed not good enough and sold to other clubs. The only real noteworthy youth prospect for some time was James Tomkins who went on to make 243 appearances for the Hammers.
‘Rice Rice Baby’
But a ‘wonderkid’ wasn’t too far away, in 2014 a 15-year-old boy named Declan Rice joined West Ham from Chelsea.
Rice has since gone on to make 183 senior appearances for West Ham’s first team squad and has become a catalyst in David Moyes’ midfield and is now vice-captain behind Noble.
In an interview with Sky Sports West Ham boss David Moyes stated, “I think I’ve said everything there is to say about Declan. He’s a really important player for West Ham, he’s someone who we value greatly, and you can see what he means to the team.”
Moyes also claimed when Rice was available last summer for £100 million it was a “bargain”.
Now, his price continues to rise with every outstanding performance.
Next Gen Stars
Since Rice’s emergence the Hammers have seen a plethora of youngsters coming through the academy.
Players such as, Dan Chesters, Armstrong Oko-Flex, Ben Johnson and Sonny Perkins have given the club a boost in the youth department.
Johnson, the older of the ‘next generation’ has made a number of first team appearances at full-back since making his debut at Manchester City back in 2019. He is now fighting to be first choice right-back with Vladimir Coufal and proving popular with fans who chant his name saying “Ben Johnson, he’s one of our own.”
Proud Night
This flurry of youth talent was seen in full effect in a Europa League fixture against Dinamo Zagreb. With the Hammers already securing top spot in the group, Moyes handed starts to Jamal Baptiste, Emmanuel Longelo, Ajibola Alese and Harrison Ashby and Perkins. There were also debuts off the bench for Keenan Appiah-Forson and Freddie Potts.
The side put up a valiant effort but ultimately lost 1-0, but it truly showed how bright West Ham’s future is with many players putting in stellar performances on their senior debuts.
In all, after years of stagnation and false hope the future is finally looking better for West Ham’s academy. With a strong batch of talent readily available if needed and showing signs of promise as the Under-23’s sit second in the Premier League 2 table, the next Declan Rice or Mark Noble may not be too far away.
