As an aspiring footballer, there is no feeling quite like being released. The years of hard work, sacrifice and constant hope can suddenly seem for nothing. It can feel like the end of the road, but for West Ham United Academy midfielder Preston Fearon, it was the start of a new one.
After seven years of development at Cobham Training Ground, Fearon was released by Chelsea at U14s level. A huge disappointment at the time, five years on from swapping west London for east, he can now reflect fondly on his journey with the Hammers. A DT38 Award recipient and an U18 Premier League Cup champion, Fearon was handed his senior debut against Manchester United in the Premier League Summer Series in July.
“I’d been at Chelsea since U8s, so getting released after seven or eight years was obviously really hard at the time,” he reflected. “But my Dad says to me now, it's the best thing that's ever happened to me.
“All the coaches, the players, you could tell there was more of a family feel. I got treated so much better, and there was no doubt I was signing for West Ham.
“First season here, we won the Floodlit Shield, I gelled into the team well, and earned a place in the starting XI.”
Progressing through the age groups under current U18s lead coach Lauris Coggin, first-team involvement seemed a distant dream just 12 months ago, when Fearon was preparing for his first full U18 campaign after his opening season as a scholar had been spent largely recovering from a fractured vertebrae.
Named U18s captain by Coggin, Fearon and his teammates bounced back from a disappointing third-round exit in the FA Youth Cup by going all the way in the Premier League Cup.
Despite playing a huge part in getting the team to the final, assisting five goals in five games, the captain was forced to watch the showpiece from the sidelines, ruled out by an ankle injury picked up in the days before the big trip to Reading.
In the months that followed, though, Fearon was named the recipient of the DT38 Award, given to the Academy’s outstanding U18 scholar of the season, before making his first-team debut against Manchester United during the Premier League Summer Series.
“It was all crazy to me and my family, we couldn't believe it at all,” he said, reflecting on his involvement in the first-team’s pre-season camps. “Speaking to the physios during pre-season, when everyone else was away on holiday and I was coming in, doing gym and conditioning training, I was just hoping to be back fit for the first session. And then a week into pre-season, to be told I'm going to Germany, that was already crazy.
“I was not expecting it at all. And then coming back from Germany, I did quite well in training and also got an assist [in a behind-closed-doors friendly] against Ipswich after we got back!
“Everything was happening so fast. It was one thing after another. I was then told I was going to the USA. I was just so happy to be there, training with everyone.”
Not just there to get a taste of the environment, Fearon was handed his senior debut in the Hammers’ opening game of the Summer Series. Despite only being on the pitch for ten minutes, the 18-year-old brought control and energy to the West Ham midfield, immediately endearing himself to the Claret and Blue Army watching around the world.
He continued: “In that first game of the Summer Series, when I was told to warm up, I thought it was a 'just in case' scenario. Then, Bruno [Saltor] started calling out names and I was the last name. I couldn’t believe it, I had to double check and pointed at myself almost in disbelief.
“I went jogging over and my heart was racing. I was shaking when I came on. But once you take your first touch and you’re in the game, it’s all good!
Remember the name, Preston Fearon 🌟 pic.twitter.com/9If7dJ4Rsd
— West Ham United (@WestHam) July 27, 2025
“To be on the pitch was amazing. It was really reassuring to get praise from the coaches after.
“The next morning, my brother made me aware of all the reaction on social media. He’s texting me saying I’m like number two on the sports category trending on Twitter. I remember sitting there with Airidas [Golambeckis] thinking this does not feel real at all.
“Just a month before, I was doing rehab work in the gym at Chadwell Heath. If someone said to me I’d be playing against Manchester United next month, I obviously wouldn’t have believed them.”
Now a full-time member of the development squad at Rush Green, having completed his scholarship with the U18s at Chadwell Heath, Fearon continues to make a case for further first-team involvement. Just last week, he found the net as a substitute in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Watford.
Fearon added: “It was a little tap in, but I had to be there to score it! It was my first goal in ages as well, but I only seem to score in friendlies, which is a bit annoying. I want to add more goals to my game with the U21s.
“Airidas and I came over together from the U18s to the U21s last November so it doesn’t feel like our first year at development level.
“We were playing really well and became a big part of the team. Towards the end of the season, I was training with the first team a lot more and obviously getting injured broke my stride. But with everything that has happened during pre-season, I feel like I’ve just got back into it. It’s all happened so fast and it’s been amazing. I’m so excited for the season ahead.”
