West Ham United Academy youngsters Lewis Orford, Finlay Herrick, Airidas Golambeckis and Lanre Awesu have all received call-ups to Young Lions squads for the upcoming September internationals.
Premier League 2 Player of the Season nominee Orford will join up with England U20s having represented the Young Lions at U15s, U16s, U18s and U19s. Last season, Orford made seven appearances for the U19s, scoring twice and captaining the side in a 4-1 win over the Netherlands.
Last season’s Premier League 2 Golden Glove winner Herrick could be set to make his debut for a fifth England age group when he joins up with the U20s, having already featured for the U16s, U17s, U18s and U19s across the past four years. In the U19s last term, the 19-year-old goalkeeper earned five caps for Will Antwi’s side, keeping two clean sheets in European qualifiers. He was selected for the final tournament in Albania, though Arsenal’s Tommy Setford was preferred in goal as England exited at the group stage.
The U20s will host Italy in a friendly at Chesterfield’s SMH Group Stadium on Friday 5 September.
For England U19s, Golambeckis makes the step up after representing the U18s during the 2024/25 campaign. Golambeckis, also playing an age group up at domestic level, has captained West Ham United U21s in all three of their competitive fixtures so far this season. Having previously represented his parents’ native Lithuania at youth level, the centre-back switched his allegiance to England last September and went on to earn nine caps at U18s level across the season.
England U19s will travel to Murcia, Spain, for three internationals, facing Ukraine on Wednesday 3 September, Spain on Saturday 6 September, and the Netherlands on Tuesday 9 September.
Finally, goalkeeper Awesu has been selected for England U18s. The 17-year-old, who signed his first professional contract with West Ham earlier this year, made his Young Lions debut almost exactly a year ago, keeping a clean sheet in a 5-0 win over Mexico in Duisburg, a match in which Hammers teammate Andre Dike was on the scoresheet. Last season, Awesu featured four times for the U17s and was part of the squad for the U17 European Championships.
Neil Ryan’s U18s will play three fixtures in Cádiz, Spain, as preparation for November’s FIFA U17 World Cup, meeting Uzbekistan, Morocco and Canada.
Fixtures in full
Wednesday 3 September
Airidas Golambeckis | England U19s v Ukraine - International Friendly, Pinatar Arena, Murcia, Spain, 10am BST
Lanre Awesu | England U18s v Uzbekistan - Costa De La Luz U18 Internacional, Estadio Antonio Barbadillo, Cádiz, Spain, 4pm BST
Friday 5 September
Finlay Herrick & Lewis Orford | England U20s v Italy - International Friendly, SMH Group Stadium, Chesterfield, 7.30pm BST
Saturday 6 September
Airidas Golambeckis | England U19s v Spain - International Friendly, Pinatar Arena, Murcia, Spain, 10am BST
Lanre Awesu | England U18s v Morocco - Costa De La Luz U18 Internacional, Estadio Antonio Barbadillo, Cádiz, Spain, 4pm BST
Tuesday 9 September
Airidas Golambeckis | England U19s v Netherlands - International Friendly, Pinatar Arena, Murcia, Spain, 11.30am BST
Lanre Awesu | England U18s v Canada - Costa De La Luz U18 Internacional, Estadio Antonio Barbadillo, Cádiz, Spain, 11am BST
