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A positive piece, we have to believe that the kids Moyes is bringing in will improve the squad depth. Hard to give them game time considering our excellent league place and the Europa and the battle to go forward in both.
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Mark Noble influence, phone ban in canteen and special talent coming through:
“There have been many standout moments over the past year. Ben Johnson was on standby for England Under-21s and if he’d been called up we would have had a representative from the academy across England’s teams, from Declan Rice with the seniors down to the under-16s with Oliver Scarles. That would have been special.”
West Ham United’s academy director Ricky Martin cannot help but smile as he casts his mind back to November when the club narrowly missed out on a huge milestone.
Ajibola Alese was called up to England’s under-20s, Jamal Baptiste earned a place in England’s under-19s squad, and Divin Mubama and Sonny Perkins were both called up to England Under-18s. England under-17s did not have a game.
Martin succeeded Terry Westley as academy director in January 2019 after more than 15 years of experience in the same role at Norwich. There, he helped develop the likes of James Maddison, Ben Godfrey, twins Josh and Jacob Murphy, Max Aarons, Todd Cantwell, Jamal Lewis and Adam Idah.
It is now West Ham who are reaping the rewards of Martin’s coaching.
Martin, under-23s manager Mark Robson and under-18s lead coach Kevin Keen are here to discuss David Moyes giving youngsters a chance, how West Ham have developed a thriving academy and why it has become a desirable club to join.
Since returning to the helm in December 2019, Moyes has handed 12 first-team debuts to players in the academy.
Arguably the proudest moment was Baptiste, Alese, Keenan Forson, Freddie Potts, Harrison Ashby and Emmanuel Longelo all playing in the Europa League against Dinamo Zagreb.
The 1-0 loss was insignificant, as that match will be fondly remembered for being the day West Ham’s latest crop of youngsters made the club proud.
“After the game against Dinamo Zagreb, I emailed staff thanking them,” says Martin. “It’s a team effort and I wanted to share the moment and data on how many years the players have been at the academy.
“The Europa League game was a standout moment, but so too was the FA Youth Cup game at Norwich last season (when West Ham won 5-0 in the fourth round). I’d probably say the proudest moment is the environment we have at the club. The output is only conducive if you have a right moment and a connection with the first team.
“The young players have an identity. They know what the West Ham way is all about. Now their role models are Declan Rice, Mark Noble and Ben Johnson. Declan celebrated 150 league appearances at 22. That is inspirational. Sonny playing at 17 in the first team with Aji, Jamal, Manny Longelo, Dan Chesters. It was only a couple years ago they were 14 or 15 and training in the sports hall at Chadwell Heath. That’s what our fans should be really proud about.”
There have been 158 academy graduates since the 1952-53 season and with Robson, Martin and Keen overseeing the next crop of young players, the hopes are this number will keep rising. Robson replaced Dmitri Halajko as under-23s manager in November. Since he came in, the under-23s are unbeaten in their last six outings.
Robson, who played for the club between 1992-93, joined from Championship side Peterborough United, where he had served as assistant manager. He also previously worked in development football with the Football Association, and as under-23s head coach at Norwich City and Charlton Athletic.
“We’ve got some talented players and potentially there’s a few that could go a long way,” says Robson. “What would be great for the club is to see some of those players get their opportunities, and the gaffer hasn’t been afraid to put some of the young lads on the bench in recent weeks.
“I’ve been fortunate that I worked with England’s youth team for nearly five years and I worked with some top players that are not only flourishing in the Championship and the Premier League, but also the England senior team. There’s one or two players here that have potential to go a similar way.”
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Declan Rice and Mark Noble are a big influence on the young players at West Ham (Photo: Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images)
Whether academy matches are held at the training ground or further afield, it has been a regular theme this season for Moyes and his coaching staff to attend them. What impressed Robson was the amount of insight they had about some the up-and-coming prospects.
“We have daily contact and Kevin Nolan is a great link for us,” he says. “If the gaffer is looking for one or two players, Nolan will let us know. I had a meeting with the gaffer on Tuesday and we had a great conversation about the under-23s’ win against Leeds United. On my first day, I spoke to the gaffer and his staff and I was impressed with their knowledge of the players. It was brilliant because you don’t often get that at most clubs.”
The under-23s are top of Premier League 2 Division 2 and two points ahead of Manchester City, with a game in hand. Their progress dates back to pre-season when Alese, Baptiste, Nathan Holland, Pierre Ekwah Elimby, Conor Coventry, Xande Silva, Jacob Knightbridge, Frederik Alves, Nathan Trott and Krisztian Hegyi were present during a week-long training camp at the St Andrews golf resort in Scotland.
Coventry and Baptiste impressed and both were on the bench for the league opener against Newcastle United. Summer arrivals Armstrong Oko-Flex and Thierry Nevers have also impressed, scoring a combined total of 17 goals in all competitions for the under-23s.
In October, highly-rated youngster Divin Mubama signed his first professional contract with West Ham. He joined the academy as an eight-year-old and before committing his long-term future to the club, was linked with a move to Manchester City. In the past, he probably would have left, following in the footsteps of Joshua Wilson-Esbrand, who left for City in October 2019. But youngsters at Rush Green and Chadwell Heath now know there is a realistic pathway into the first team.
“At West Ham, we have our technical board meetings, which consists of Stuart Pearce, Kevin Nolan and Mark Noble,” says Martin. “So you have an ex-player, a former captain and an academy graduate. Then you have myself, Steve Potts and Mark Robson. Six members of the coaching and football department and we meet up every four to six weeks. I chair that meeting and put together discussion points and players are discussed in great detail.
“Divin and others will be inspired that players in the under-18s and under-23s are getting opportunities, that’s why he committed his future to the club. Hopefully he will be in the next wave of young talent that gets opportunities.”
For the under-18s, a memorable highlight last season was the emphatic victory at Norwich City in the FA Youth Cup. Goals from Mipo Odubeko (two), Jayden Fevrier, Baptiste and Kai Corbett saw West Ham advance to the fifth round where they lost to Arsenal. Captain Mark Noble was in attendance at Carrow Road and congratulated the players in the changing room. For Keen, it remains a proud moment for the academy.
“We had one of those days where everything came off,” he says. “The fact we played at Carrow Road also lifted the players. It was a good day but unfortunately we lost in the next round.
“It was one of the highlights and winning away at Chelsea in the league was also a big step forward. Their under-18s have been really strong so to go to Chelsea with a young team, with under-16s playing, and win 2-1 was a fantastic result for their mentality knowing they can go to the best teams and compete.
“This season, we lost to Newcastle United in the third round, but the night before we had Sonny and Jamal make their full debuts in Europe. I don’t think there’ll be any other clubs in the country that has two youth-team players making their full debuts in the Europa League. It was an amazing night for the academy.”
Keen, who made 279 cup and league appearances for the club between 1986-93, works alongside assistant coaches Mark Phillips and Gerard Prenderville. The under-18s train at Chadwell Heath and in August, the trio made a decision that has had a positive impact on Perkins’ development.
“We started the season with a 3-5-2 formation,” says Keen. “One week before the start of the season Remy Coddington got injured, then Divin picked up a knock, so all of a sudden the two players who played in pre-season were unavailable. Our two attacking midfield players, George Earthy and Sonny Perkins, played up front in the season opener against Reading.
“Sonny scored a perfect hat-trick, I turned to Mark and said, ‘We have struck on something here’. Sonny’s movement, his touch, his finishing ability suited him to play as a striker. He ended up playing for the under-23s and all of a sudden he was making his debut for the first team.
“He said to me, ‘It’s amazing how quick it can happen’. He started the season playing for me in the youth team and two months later, he’s playing in Europe with the first team. We use him as an example to the younger lads that you never know when you’ll get an opportunity. But when you do you have to be ready for it.”
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Ben Johnson is the latest academy prospect to make the step up to the first team (Photo: Craig Mercer/MB Media/Getty Images)
Earlier this month, the club announced the arrival of Callum Marshall from NIFL Premiership leaders Linfield. The 17-year-old joined after a successful trial period and will play for Keen’s under-18s.
“We have three under-18s on trial and we’re doing our best to recruit the next generation of players,” says Martin. “We can’t rest on our laurels, we have to keep working.”
Keen agrees.
“With Sonny and Jamal, it’s been emphasised even more,” he says. “West Ham’s history as an academy is, ‘If you are good enough you will be given an opportunity’. That’s what attracts so many good young players to this football club. Over the next two years, we’re going to keep producing — some fantastic young players are coming through the academy.
“Quite a few trialists don’t want to leave. Most want to stay because they love it here. They’ll be walking down the corridor and say, ‘Oh, that’s Mark Noble’.
“I just walked into the coaches room and Mark was sat there. He comes over most weeks so we see Mark a lot. He loves the academy and you can see the way he interacts with the young lads. When I joined the coaching staff in 2002, Mark was in the under-15 team, so we have a close relationship. I don’t think there will be another club in the country, or in the world, whose captain turns up and watches the under-10s, under-12s, the under-16s and other age groups.”
Although Keen, Robson and Martin are delighted to see the academy thriving, they all agree it is important to have discipline in place so the players remain grounded.
“If they don’t work hard enough, they don’t play and aren’t sent across to the first team,” says Robson.
“When the players enter the building, we have a strict rule where they can’t use their phones in the canteen,” says Keen. “We have a system where we don’t fine players. But if they do three things wrong over a month, like lateness or they didn’t pump the balls up, we have a system of three strikes. Their fine, of sorts, would be having to travel with the under-12s on a Sunday morning and help out with the group. Since the start of the season, we’ve only had one player who has fallen foul of it, so it works. It’s all about being respectful to each other.
“But the academy and first team are in a fantastic place. It’s as good as we’ve been for a while. We have some special talent coming through. There are no guarantees and they know that, but I hope with hard work and good coaching, over the next five or six years we can get more Declan Rices, Mark Nobles and Ben Johnsons.”
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