FA Youth Cup draw pits junior Hammers against Charlton

Amadou Diallo

West Ham United U18s will host London rivals Charlton Athletic U18s in the third round of this season’s FA Youth Cup.

Details for the game against the Addicks are yet to be confirmed, but in line with the competition’s schedule, it will be played before 14 December.

The third round proper draw for England's premier U18 knockout competition was made at Wembley on Friday, with clubs from the Premier League and Championship entering at this stage.

Kevin Keen’s junior Hammers side have proved an impressive outfit in the U18 Premier League South so far this campaign, sitting fourth in the table after nine matches played.

West Ham have won the FA Youth Cup on three occasions previously – 1963, 1981 and 1999 – while also finishing as runners-up in four further seasons. Their last medals from the competition came courtesy of a resounding 9-0 victory over Coventry across a two-legged final in 1999.

Last season, the U18s bowed out to a strong Brighton & Hove Albion side on penalties in the third round, with a number of the Hammers squad that day now regularly representing Dmitri Halajko’s in-form U23 side. 

64 teams will now battle it out to reach the final once more, with Liverpool this season’s defending champions.