It has been one of the richest assets of any club, and a glowing gem of British football for decades.
The prized West Ham academy has produced an abundance of star names, many of whom at some point in their career could have laid legitimate claim to being one of the best players in the country, if not the world.
The goldmine of talent has benefited West Ham well – to some extent on the pitch, but rather more disappointingly in the coffers of the club’s hierarchy.
For almost 40 years, Tony Carr has overseen the development of hundreds of players, guiding a large number from youth team obscurity, to first team fame, before all too soon, seeing them fly the nest.
The problem in recent years though, has been a dearth of emerging options. Maybe we were spoilt when the generation of Lampard, Ferdinand, Cole, Carrick, Defoe, flooded through the gates. But in the past few seasons, it has been nothing more than a drip.
Good as Noble, Collison and Tomkins are, they are well beyond new graduates of the academy.
I interviewed Gianfranco Zola at the start of the 2009/10 season, when those three were already established, about further youth team prospects getting a chance to prosper.
He said the door was always open at the club for players to stake a claim. Those at the time who were expected to knock on the door were Bondz N’Gala, Josh Payne and Zavon Hines. Need I say more…
So the news this week that yet another promising player has seemingly failed to make the grade is somewhat of a worry.
Rob Hall has been around the squad for a few years, without ever breaking into the team in a big way. Even in the Championship, he was never given much of a chance.
He has received positive reviews, and scored goals at Development Squad level, but anyone who saw Defoe play at 16 could see what real explosive goal scoring ability is. By the same age as Hall is now, he was a regular in the top division.
Whether this is a reflection of the fact Big Sam is cautious of blooding young stars when there remains pressure on him to perform in the Premiership, or a simple lack of good enough players, it is difficult to tell.
The signing of Danny Whitehead, from Conference North side Stockport County, suggests the gaffer wants to invest in the next generation, but his penchant has always been to opt for experience to build his squads.
He has already brought in young players, such as Ravel Morrison, but for whatever reasons, he has not had a run-out of note at West Ham.
I don’t get to the reserve games like I used to, what with living over in Sydney, and my perspective can really only be taken from the names making, or not making, the team sheet on a Saturday.
But given the relative safety with which West Ham approached the end of last season, it seemed a great opportunity to give players such as Matthias Fanimo, Elliot Lee, Leo Chambers, a game other than in the League Cup.
The concern is that the spark may have gone from the academy jewel, which would be a costly loss, at a time when extravagant transfer fees mean home-grown talent is priceless.
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I take your point about giving youngsters a chance towards the end of the season but given that each place in the league is worth around £750k, it can become an expensive experiment.
Completely agree wth you i hate seeing places on the bench being taken by players whos est days are behind them. Taylor, o’neil etc. not that they are proper old, but they arent exactly going places either
In my view I think its time that the Prem forced teams to have a minimum of 3 English/British players (under 19) on the bench for every Prem game and also force each team to play at least 2 home trained players per game…it would stop Arsenal from fielding an all French team etc. It would also give encourage to these guys. I hoped Rob Hall was going to be the next Defoe/Cottee but he got played as a winger for the past couple of seasons and that probably did his head in!!
Come on guys give Youth a chance!!
If Hall was going to be good enough he would have been playing regularly by now,being a good young player doesn’t mean he will be a top pro. I feel our academy players are not up to the standard we have enjoyed over the years and i do agree that we may not see the standard of Ferdinand, Cole, Lampard etc for a very long time to come
We were spoiled at the end of 90s/start if 2000s! It is unlikely we will produce so many top players all at the same time again!
With regards to the likes of hall etc, they’re not good enough, and with our debts by playing youth once we were safe could’ve cost us a few million. Too many of our fans see our youth through rose tinted glasses and think they are better than they really are. Hall has decided himself that he will not crack the 1st team yet (if ever) and turned us down to play at a level where he gets to play. Potts and spence (though Potts did ok) showed when they played that they are not good enough to be 1st team regulars yet
I think Big Sam is too cautious & I do worry that we will lose our young players. How can they develop without first team experience? £750K isn’t a lot when you consider how much players cost & you can’t put a price on loyalty which you get with homegrown players.
They’ve been getting first team experience when they are loaned out. The current crop are not good enough! If they’re good enough they’ll play, if not (and like the vast majority of youth players at any top team ) they will ply their trade at a level where they can have success, in other words the lower leagues! And as for homegrown players being loyal, what happened when we went down under roader, don’t remember much loyalty then!
Yeh but Peter, if we had played around with selection towards the end of the season and drop 4 or 5 places that’s equivalent to £3m-£4m. Not small change in our current state. Perhaps as an accountant I am thinking too much about the financial side, but I do understand and appreciate what the Daves are doing for our club and until they get us on a firm financial footing we can’t afford to play around with money like that.
Some folk say that our dreadful away performances throughout the season meant we couldn’t afford to luxury of throwing any of the youngsters into the fray near the seasons end. If we had managed maybe 6 to 8 extra away points then we would have been eyeing a Europa Lge spot and Sam would not have wanted that distraction. Its a cup that no one wants to qualify for. Sam also seems disinterested in the League and FA Cups so it’s hard to see where our young lads will get their opportunity this year.
the will get no chance under fat sam only plays one way.
Yeah that’s right we all loved getting smashed every week under Zola and grant playing beautiful football! Youth got more than a chance then and now our stars such as Hines, sears and stanislas are playing in the lower leagues. Lets sack our manager and get our youth in the first team; that’ll give you something else to moan about when we get relegated next season
Truth is the short period when we produced those exceptional players carsick, Fernandez et al in modern times is an exception, we went long polls prior to that without producing a decent payer and some year since.
Fact is that all those players except Defoe whom we did not originally pick up remember, were not from our own catchment area and since then all clubs are keen to pick talent up in their own backyard (unlike Keegan at Newcastle for example). The sad fact is that local talent has inevitably one to Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea and United leaving us mostly crumbs. The ones that got away far outnumber those we actually brought through so its no surprise that we have lean spells. Hopefully the OS will start to change this, Turgott has already expressed his excitement at the prospect of playing there so hopefully for the first time in decades we my have a chance to exploit e talent in our own area.
Sorry without auto correct.
Truth is the short period when we produced those exceptional players Carrick, Ferdinand et al in modern times is an exception, we went long period prior to that without producing a decent payer and some years since.
Fact is that all those players, except Defoe whom we did not originally pick up remember, were not from our own catchment area and since then all clubs are keen to pick talent up in their own backyard (unlike Keegan at Newcastle for example which is how we got Carrick). The sad fact is that local talent has inevitably gone to Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea and United leaving us mostly crumbs. The ones that got away far outnumber those we actually brought through so its no surprise that we have lean spells. Hopefully the OS will start to change this, Turgott has already expressed his excitement at the prospect of playing there so hopefully for the first time in decades we my have a chance to exploit the talent in our own area for a change.
I think most people are forgetting that Hall is only 19 years old. I mean when was he meant to break into the team? Last year we sent him out on loan so he would have been only 17/18 when we were in the championship. A baptism of fire for any young player. I think we should be realistic. How many players are starters for their clubs at 19 years old. So if you are starting at 19 you aren’t good enough. It’s all a load of shit. I thought he had another year on his contract anyhow but if he can get game time at Bolton then good on him and wish him nothing but the best.
I have to be honest don’t think the players we have been producing last couple of years have been up to standard and grade we expect . Hall is a good player but is he the next big thing ? other clubs are now producing better players off the academy line , think tony Carr has done fantastic over the years but are we as a club planning what’s gonna happen once he’s gone .
IMO, only blair turgott is anywhere near good enough. Too many foriegn youngsters being signed by all. Perhaps this wont affect prem teams too much but it will and is affecting our national team! I fear that in 5 to ten years England will be no better than than scotland or eire :-(. Still by then WHU will be top 4! So who cares. Keep on dreaming lol!
Actually, I do care. If Britain no longer as talented players, then that is yet another loss our county has. Local players tendto spend their money in the UK creating Jobs and improving our financial cash flow. Foreign players send their millions back to their countries. Westham without London players, let-a-lone British talent is not a Westham side, it might as well be Barcelona or a South America club. Laws should change to prevent this. I would rather be average and British than top 4 and foriegn. Thank God wqe have British London Owners, that in itself is almost exstinct, in the Premier. I am proud of Gold and Sulivan for coming home!! IMHO
you wilnevr gt young talented players coming through when you have got a manager like fat sam
All im saying is whats happening. Regarding top 4 remark I was being flippant :-/ . Course I want england and west ham to both be successful! I’m just being realistic.
So you want the laws to be changed to restrict foreigners playing in England? Except of course when Dicanio and Tevez are over here.
It’s not the amount of foreigners here that make our national teams so shit, where were they in 1974, 1978 etc, the problem is dad’s standing on the touchline shouting “get stuck in son”, plus the unavailability of any half decent facilities, Thatcher sold off most of the pitches, “no ball games” signs go up on every housing estate and of course the kids of today are fat lazy gits.
With the money we spent on Carroll & considering how thin the squad is now, I don’t think we’ll have any choice but to give young players a chance this coming season.