As West Ham United Academy Manager Ricky Martin surmised when speaking to whufc.com this week, 2021 has yielded a multitude of moments of real pride for the Academy of Football.
Here, we list ten of the best from a spectacular year for all involved – players, coaches, support staff, parents, families and supporters alike – at Chadwell Heath and Rush Green Training Grounds…
1. Young Hammers shine on the international stage
International recognition for the Academy of Football’s outstanding efforts arrived in its droves in 2021.
With Declan Rice continuing to shine for England’s senior side, the Academy’s most successful month for call-ups at youth international level was October, when no fewer than eight of its professional players (U18s and U23s) were selected by their countries.
Over the year, Conor Coventry led the way in captaining – and scoring his first goal for – Republic of Ireland U21s, for whom Armstrong Okoflex earned a first selection, with other U21s call-ups for Harrison Ashby and Brian Kinnear (both Scotland), Krisztián Hegyi (Hungary) and Frederik Alves (Denmark) – the latter helping his side reach the UEFA European U21 Championship knockout stages in June.
Current U23s skipper Ajibola Alese earned a recall and played for England U20s in November, while Pierre Ekwah’s fine form upon signing for West Ham in the summer led to his first France appearances in over three years, representing their U20s several times this season.
While Jamal Baptiste, Michael Forbes and Laurence Shala have played for England, Northern Ireland and Kosovo U19s in their respective European Championship qualification campaigns, Sonny Perkins and Divin Mubama have both scored their first respective goals for England at U18s level, with Jacob Knightbridge also featuring for the Young Lions.
2. And the Academy Awards go to…
A greater prize for any aspiring footballer than anything handed out in Los Angeles, Ben Johnson and Jayden Fevrier were named the 2020/21 Young Hammer of the Year and Dylan Tombides Award winners respectively over the summer.
Both young talents enjoyed landmark campaigns in Claret and Blue, with Johnson making a career-high 20 first-team appearances and Fevrier, a scholar last season, fought back from knee ligament treatment to reach double figures for U23s appearances and put in several superb performances in the FA Youth Cup.
But that wasn’t all for the Academy in 2021, as Mipo Odubeko claimed the Premier League 2 Player of the Month award for April – having scored all five of the U23s’ goals as they came from behind to record crucial 3-2 and 2-1 wins away to Manchester United and at home to Everton respectively, helping them retain their top-flight status.
Baptiste and Perkins have already both received nominations for the award so far this season – for October and November respectively – so there remains the prospect of more individual accolades heading the Academy’s way this season.
3. Mark Robson returns as Dmitri Halajko heads on
In November, West Ham United welcomed home one of their own with the appointment of Mark Robson as the Academy of Football’s Senior PDP Coach/U23s Lead Coach.
The former Hammers midfielder joined from Championship side Peterborough United, where he had served as assistant manager, to replace the successful Dmitri Halajko, who departed to take up a new coaching development opportunity at the Premier League.
Born in Upton Park and growing up in the East End, Robson returned to his boyhood Club, for whom he made 56 appearances over two seasons, scoring eight goals as West Ham won promotion to the Premier League a year after its formation.
And with a return of four wins, and three clean sheets, in five U23s games since his arrival, Robson has made a flying start to his return to east London, with his new side sitting clear at the top of the Premier League 2 table.
4. New contracts, new chapters
No fewer than four of the Academy of Football’s brightest prospects signed their first professional contracts as footballers during the course of 2021, with a further four new signings arriving and another two putting pen-to-paper on long term deals.
Teenagers Fevrier, Levi Laing, Divin Mubama and Potts all signed their first deals as fully-fledged footballers this year, with U23s captain – and recent first-team squad members – Alese and Emmanuel Longelo also penning long-term extensions at the Academy.
And a busy summer also saw four new faces welcomed at Chadwell Heath in the form of goalkeeper Kinnear, midfielder Ekwah and forwards Thierry Nevers and Okoflex, as the Hammers strengthened their U23s' ranks to table-topping effect.
All of the Academy's new professionals have made strong starts to their next chapter in Claret and Blue - expect more to come.
5. Debut days galore
Perhaps the clearest barometer of the Academy’s progress over 2021 has been the seven first-team debuts that David Moyes has handed to its young charges, bringing the manager’s total to 12 since returning to West Ham United at the very end of 2019.
A raft of these debuts arrived in January in the FA Cup, with Mipo Odubeko appearing in the closing stages of the third-round win over Stockport County, before three more in the fourth round win over Doncaster Rovers: Oladapo Afolayan – now at Bolton Wanderers – memorably scored, as goalkeeper Nathan Trott and defender Baptiste also made their bows.
In the UEFA Europa League, four more players have made their first-team bows this season.
Midfielder Dan Chesters appeared against KRC Genk; Perkins came so close to making an instant impact against Rapid Vienna; and midfielders Keenan Forson and Potts fulfilled self-admitted lifelong dreams in coming on for the final few minutes against Dinamo Zagreb.
6. A five-star FA Youth Cup win at Carrow Road
The Academy of Football has experienced its fair share of struggles in the FA Youth Cup in recent seasons, but produced a quite phenomenal display back in March to advance to the fifth round for the first time since 2011/12.
The young Hammers were first-class on a Monday afternoon at Carrow Road, putting a highly-fancied Norwich City U18s side to the sword with a storming 5-0 win in East Anglia.
Steadfast in their defending, efficient in their attacking – and decisive in the moments that mattered either side of half-time – Odubeko (two), Fevrier, Baptiste and Kai Corbett got the goals to cap an outstanding team performance at a first-team stadium.
U18s lead coach Kevin Keen later surmised: “I’m really, really proud of the boys, the way they went about the game and the way they played and managed the game.”
7. Academy welcomes developing coaches to its talented staff
Not only developing the next generation of footballer, but the next generation of coaches and support staff, the Academy of Football welcomed two promising additions to its existing talented coaching staff over the summer, providing high-quality personal development work placements to coaches from under-represented groups in football.
Nicole Farley – who had worked in both men’s and women’s development football at clubs including LA Galaxy, Reading, Arsenal and Chelsea – arrived as the Club’s first female coach, having applied through the Premier League’s Coach Inclusion & Diversity Scheme (CIDS) 2020/21.
Farley is now immersed in a 23-month coaching placement, with additional financial support provided for her development. In that time, Farley will benefit from rotational work experience with schoolboy and professional teams across the full range of Academy age groups, learning from a strong coaching workforce to better equip herself for future full-time coaching work.
Elliot Whitely, meanwhile, arrived at the Academy in January after the Club committed to enrolling in the Football Association’s Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic/female coaching programme.
Starting out in grassroots football before brief spells at Chelsea and Fulham’s academies, Whitely, who joined West Ham via the FA’s Club Placement Programme, has enjoyed a carefully structured programme of learning and development opportunities.
The Club is proud to use its influence and resources to inspire and deliver on a range of inclusion schemes from Active United - Walking Football, Premier League Kicks and Young Adult Diabetes, to more traditional grassroots through to elite level. In addition, West Ham has previously supported pilot coaching schemes with the FA, with Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates successfully going into permanent roles in football.
8. U23s top the table at Christmas
West Ham United U23s have enjoyed some quite breath-taking results so far in 2021/22.
Victories over esteemed fellow academies have been plentiful, including a 1-0 win over reigning Premier League 2 champions Manchester City, a 4-3 win away at nearest challengers Tottenham Hotspur, and brilliant wins over Liverpool (3-0), Manchester United (6-0) and Chelsea (2-1).
The tone was perhaps set by a remarkable opening-day 6-1 win over Arsenal U23s at London Stadium, a team who themselves lie fourth in the table, which culminated in an Okoflex hat-trick against his former side.
But it was perhaps the 4-2 win away at Crystal Palace U23s earlier this month which stood out – a game in which Okoflex also struck a hat-trick.
Not only did it guarantee the young Hammers top spot in the Premier League 2 table at Christmas, where they sit four points clear, but for the tremendous resilience, desire and ability demonstrated by a much-changed, and youthful, side.
These results have been no flash in the pan; with a current crop impressing, and the next generation excelling, the Academy of Football looks well set for a prosperous future.
9. The Academy stars in the community
It has been well-documented that, through its extensive programmes, the Academy of Football not only aims to produce outstanding young footballers of the future, but also outstanding young people who champion the community the Club is embedded within.
In the summer, West Ham United strengthened its links with the South Asian communities of east London through the appointment of the Club’s first Academy Link Mentor, Rashid Abba, who has worked to provide opportunities and pathways for male and female players and coaches from South Asian backgrounds.
Moreover, the Academy’s internal programme has encompassed a plethora of development activities including donations to local community charities; remote development challenges over lockdown; Ramadan awareness workshops; Remembrance and Rainbow Laces-themed sessions and activities; and visits from former players, including Brian Dear, who discussed the legacy of the late, great Bobby Moore.
As Martin summed up: “Within the overall Academy programme, that’s one thing I’m really proud of: our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion work, and the forums, groups and life skills programme we deliver to our players.
Some of this work goes on behind-the-scenes, and some is more prominent, but we’re delighted with the work we’ve done within this space, both internally and within the community.”
10. The Academy of Football graduates in Europe
While West Ham United admittedly did not get the result they wanted from the UEFA Europa League defeat to GNK Dinamo Zagreb, the match still amounted to decades of blood, sweat, tears – and pride.
Six Academy of Football graduates started: the entirety of the back four, comprising 20-year-old Harrison Ashby, 18-year-old Baptiste, 20-year-old Alese and 20-year-old Longelo; plus Club captain Mark Noble and 17-year-old Perkins.
By the end of the evening, seven had made their European debuts, three their full West Ham United debuts (Baptiste, Longelo and Perkins), and two their senior bows (Potts and Forson). Another, Kamarai Swyer, was named in a senior squad for the first time.
Playing worlds away from their more usual, and modest, couple-of-hundred-strong attendances commonplace, the youngsters did themselves proud, with only Mislav Oršić’s wondergoal settling the game in the Croatian champions’ favour.
It was a triumphant occasion for the collective Academy of Football family – for the scores of coaches covering age groups from Under-23s right down to Under-9s; for the performance psychology and the player care teams, the medical staff and the kitmen, the education and administration and recruitment departments, and the hundreds of other staff members working tirelessly across Chadwell Heath and Rush Green training grounds.
Once more, Academy players’ Instagram stories lit up with messages of congratulations and celebration – and then there were the images of the seven youngsters embracing their families and friends at full-time, drinking in the memories of the first time any of them had played in front of a 50,000-strong Claret and Blue crowd.
It was, simply put, the culmination of a lifetime’s journey.