Swindon Town 2-3 West Ham United U21s
EFL Trophy Southern Group D, Nigel Eady County Ground, Tuesday 28 October 2025, 7pm GMT
West Ham United U21s became the first development team to secure qualification to the knockout stages of this season’s Vertu Trophy, following a 3-2 victory over Swindon Town at the County Ground.
Goals from Josh Ajala, George Earthy and Josh Landers were enough to secure a crucial three points on the road against the joint leaders of League Two.
Climbing above Reading on goal difference in the group means that regardless of Swindon's result at MK Dons, our young Hammers have qualified for the Round of 32.
Swindon made a bright start, applying early pressure through a series of long balls and set-pieces, but Krisztián Hegyi remained alert in goal, gathering comfortably from efforts by Adam Murphy and Ryan Delaney.
Despite enjoying less of the ball, West Ham began to settle, with Preston Fearon, Mohamadou Kanté, and Josh Ajala linking neatly in midfield to push their side forward.
Their composure was soon rewarded. After 25 minutes, a loose ball from Kanté was nodded into Earthy’s path, who found Ajala wide on the left. The winger drove at his man, sent him the wrong way, and calmly found the bottom corner on his weaker foot to give the Hammers the lead.
The goal sparked confidence, and West Ham nearly doubled their advantage moments later when Fearon surged through midfield and played in Landers, whose shot was brilliantly saved by Swindon goalkeeper Lewis Ward.
Swindon continued to threaten, but the young Hammers struck again just before half-time. Captain Airidas Golambeckis won the ball high up the pitch, and Landers threaded a clever pass through to Earthy, who finished coolly beneath Ward to make it 2-0 heading into the break.
After the restart, Swindon responded quickly as Paul Glatzel halved the deficit, firing home after a goalmouth scramble.
The hosts pushed for an equaliser, but West Ham almost restored their two-goal cushion when substitute Gabriel Caliste was denied from point-blank range following fine work from Emeka Adiele down the flank.
They restored their two-goal cushion on 68 minutes, when Landers finished off a superb sweeping move. Fearon, once again driving forward from midfield, nutmegged his marker and combined with Kanté, who waited for the perfect moment to release Landers. The striker made no mistake this time, finishing confidently beyond Ward to make it 3-1.
Swindon hit back immediately as Glatzel claimed his second with a close-range header, setting up a tense finale. The home side poured forward in search of an equaliser, but Hegyi produced a string of outstanding saves, including a fingertip stop to divert Glatzel’s volley onto the crossbar, and a quick reaction block from point-blank range to preserve the lead.
After over seven nervy minutes of added time, the final whistle confirmed our young Hammers’ passage into the knockout stages for the second time in three seasons.
Swindon Town: Ward, Mabete (Wright HT), Delaney, Clarke ©, Glatzel, Ehibhatiomhan, Murphy (Ball 64), Knight-Lebel (Nichols HT), Bodin (Snowdon 76), McGregor, Gray (Kirkman 64)
Subs not used: Summers (GK), Foye
Goals: Glatzel 51, 71
Booked: Mabete
Sent off: McGreggor
West Ham United U21s: Hegyi, Briggs, Golambeckis ©, Oyebade, Battrum, Fearon, Kanté, Adiele, Earthy (Caliste HT), Ajala (Medine 74), Landers (Cummings 74)
Subs not used: Byrne (GK), Brown, Colau, Sowunmi
Goals: Ajala 25, Earthy 42, Landers 69
Booked: Golambeckis, Oyebade
Sent off: Brown
EFL Trophy Southern Group D
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
| 1 | West Ham United | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| 2 | Reading | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 3 | Swindon Town | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | Milton Keynes Dons | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -5 | 0 |
Lincoln: It’s golden for the players' learning and development
Head of Coaching and Player Development Greg Lincoln led the team for the fourth time on Tuesday evening since the promotion of Mark Robson and his coaching staff to the first team. In the young Hammers' biggest test of the season so far, against a Swindon side joint top in League Two, Lincoln acknowledged the level of competition the U21s have faced so far in the Vertu Trophy.
“This is a great competition to bridge that gap from academy into senior football. Swindon are a very good team. You can see that reflected in their position in the league.
“They're coached by a very experienced manager and coaching team. I think that was clear and evident, really, in the way that they approached the game and the way that they played. It was a great challenge for us.
“We spoke before the game about dealing with direct play. We recognised how important it would be, those first contacts and second balls, and trying to manage them the best we could. Then, I believe, as the game went on, we started to get a bit more control, certainly in the first half. Some really nice passages of play and their press was very, very intense.
“They forced us to be as clean as we possibly could with the ball. Any mistake was jumped on, so we had to be at our very, very best to play through them.”
The young Hammers have only lost one out of their five games against senior opposition this season. Their latest victory saw them qualify for the knockout stages of the EFL Trophy for the second time in the last three seasons.
Out of the 16 Category One academies, only Arsenal can replicate this feat, having qualified for the Round of 32 in 2023/24 and can reach the knockout stages should they beat Cardiff in their final group game.
“I think the people that have been working with our players, Mark Robson, Steve Potts, Gerard Prenderville and Billy Lepine, and Kevin Keen and Lauris Coggin previously; they've clearly given them a very good football education.
“This competition really helps to bridge that gap now, going from academy football into senior football, so it’s really pleasing on many levels to see our success in this competition.
“With West Ham teams, we always have that winning mentality. I think all those qualities that we talk about, all our values about being together, that really came out in the match tonight. We had to be at our very best to go through.”
Playing in front of over 2,000 fans at the County Ground will have been a relatively new experience for many of our young Hammers. Qualifying for the Round of 32 will give our U21s the opportunity to go out and perform in another high-stakes encounter, due to take place in early December.
“What this gives us now is another opportunity to have another game like this. It really is golden for the players' learning and development.
“Each group game has been completely different and there’s a lot of value in the diversity of those challenges, the level of professional football.
“Our U21s are used to playing against players in a very small age range, two maybe three age groups. Whereas here, you then jump into the Under-35s and you've got the best surviving players over a 15-20-year period. So, as you can see on the pitch tonight, there was a lot of experience for Swindon. That's the next step and the next level for the players.
“Ultimately, it's our job to try and help them be equipped to deal with the challenge of the first team the demands of the game. Our boys will have seen what that next level looks like with George Earthy. He’s been out on loan and played the first half for us and he was outstanding. The way that he led the team through his actions was excellent.”
