Worthing v West Ham United XI
Pre-season Match, The Sussex Transport Community Stadium, Saturday 12 July 2025, 3pm BST
West Ham United’s development team return to action with a pre-season match at Worthing.
Having been working at Rush Green since 1 July, the U21s will travel to West Sussex to face their National League South hosts at Sussex Transport Community Stadium on Saturday 12 July at 3pm.
Lead Coach Mark Robson will send his new-look squad into action for the first time this summer against senior opposition who will be determind to do well themselves after a disappointing end to the 2024/25 campaign.
Worthing finished last season fourth in National League South, just a point behind champions Truro City, but then lost to Maidstone United in the promotion play-off quarter-finals.
Tickets…
West Ham United supporters will be situated in the East Stand and enter the Sussex Transport Community Stadium via the north east turnstile.
Tickets are priced at £9 for Adults, £5 for Under-18s and are free for Under-6s. To secure your place in the Away section, click HERE.
Accessible tickets are available via the same link. Should supporters require accompanying assistance, this person will not be charged an entry fee.
A limited number of accessible parking spaces are available at the ground, and must be booked in advance. To do so, please email [email protected] or call 01903 233444.
Travel…
The Sussex Transport Community Stadium is situated in Woodside Road, Worthing, West Sussex, BN14 7HQ.
Parking is limited in the residential streets surrounding the stadium, with restrictions in place, so travelling supporters are urged to use local public car parks, with the nearest being in Queen Street.
Should you travel by train, both Worthing and West Worthing railway stations are within ten minutes’ walk of the stadium. Direct Southern services leave London Victoria, or alternatively you can take a Thameslink service from London Bridge and change at Brighton.
How To Follow…
Saturday's match will be live streamed on our official website and app and YouTube channel.
A live blog will be available across the Club’s website and app. A match report, reaction and highlights will follow after the full-time whistle.
Opposition…
Formed in 1886, Worthing Football Club won their first trophy, the Sussex Senior Challenge Cup, in 1893, were founder members of the West Sussex League in 1896, and won the latter in 1898/99.
Mergers with Worthing Athletic and Worthing Rovers followed, as did further success as the Mackerel Men won the double in 1903/04, 1907/08 and 1909/10, three other West Sussex League titles and the Sussex RUR Cup contested against the East Sussex League champions on four occasions before the First World War.
In 1920, after hostilities had ended, Worthing joined the Sussex County League and were its inaugural champions, then topped the table five more times before the Second World War.
Worthing won three final Sussex RUR Cups in 1949, 1953 and 1954, moved to the Corinthian League in 1948, then the Athenian League in 1963, and won the Amateur Football Alliance Invitation Cup in 1964.
In 1977, Worthing moved to the Isthmian League, where they won promotion to the Premier Division in 1981/82, then finished as runners-up twice in 1983/84 and 1984/85. A series of relegations and promotions followed over the next three-plus decades.
The club also reached the FA Cup proper on a number of occasions, including a record run to the second round in 1982/83, and added a number of Sussex Senior Challenge Cups to their trophy cabinet.
After the COVID pandemic twice denied them a chance to win promotion from the Isthmian League Premier Division – Worthing were top when both the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons were cancelled – the Mackerel Men were champions in 2021/22 and promoted to National League South. A 23rd Sussex Senior Challenge Cup was won in 2022/23, as Bognor Regis Town were beaten on penalties at Brighton & Hove Albion FC.
In recent seasons, Worthing have challenged for promotion to the National League, but have lost in the play-offs in each of the previous three seasons, including a 4-3 extra-time home defeat by Braintree Town in May 2024.
Ones To Watch…
The Dylan Tombides Award winner for the Academy of Football’s outstanding scholar in 2023/24, defender Ezra Mayers helped the U18s win the Premier League Cup for the first time last season, catching the eye with an incredible recovery tackle in the quarter-final win over Manchester United at Rush Green Stadium. A regular for the U21s while still a scholar, Mayers now makes the step up to the development team on a full-time basis.
Daniel Cummings (pictured) will hope to make an immediate impact after completing his transfer from Scottish Premiership club Celtic on 1 July. The 19-year-old scored in the Hoops’ 2023 Scottish Youth Cup final win over Rangers, enjoyed a prolific 2024/25 season with Celtic B and made his senior debut in Celtic’s UEFA Champions League group stage defeat at Aston Villa in January this year.
As for Worthing, Brighton & Hove Albion Academy graduate who featured twice for the Seagulls in the EFL Cup, Jack Spong was an ever-present in 2024/25, his first full season with the Mackerel Men. The Surrey-born 23-year-old appeared in EFL League Two for Crawley Town in spring 2023, then spent the first half of the 2023/24 season with Scottish Championship club Queen’s Park, before returning to Sussex and signing for Worthing in February last year. He was an ever-present last season.
For Worthing, Nick Wheeler continues to tie opposition defenders in knots at the age of 34. The former Charlton Athletic youngster has caught the eye during spells with Lewes, Tonbridge Angels, Dagenham & Redbridge, Billericay Town, Woking, Eastbourne Borough and Dorking Wanderers, winning promotion to the National League with the last two.
The Story So Far…
This will be the development team’s first pre-season match ahead of the 2024/25 Premier League 2 campaign, which will start in mid-August.
Lead Coach Mark Robson will welcome back a number of players who were out on loan last season – Mohamadou Kanté, Patrick Kelly, Gideon Kodua and Michael Forbes among them – as well as new signing Daniel Cummings and the intake of first-year professionals from the Academy of Football.
Robson talked of the need to provide his players with stern tests in pre-season, with Saturday’s game being the first of five against senior opposition.
Chris Agutter’s Worthing, meanwhile, kicked-off their own pre-season schedule with a 3-0 friendly defeat at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion U21s last Friday afternoon.
