In recent weeks, the West Ham United Academy has been delighted to announce long-term contracts for five of its young Hammers.
Dylan Tombides Award winners Ezra Mayers and Preston Fearon have extended their deals until 2028, while U21s captain Airidas Golambeckis has committed his future to the Club until 2029. Development squad players Mohamadou Kanté and Josh Landers also signed new contracts in October.
Arguably the most famous Academy graduate of them all, Mark Noble, now serving as Sporting Director at the Club he represented 550 times, was delighted to get the deals completed and shared his excitement for the future, especially following Freddie Potts’ full Premier League debut against Newcastle United at the start of November.
Potts became the second Academy player to make his full Premier League debut in 2025, following Ollie Scarles’ first start in our 1-0 win at Arsenal in February. Both players earned the Player of the Match award on debut, too.
“To do five of them [contract signings] in just over a week is pretty special,” Noble said. “You’ve got to keep your best players.”
“We know how incredibly difficult it is, but we need to give them a chance. They deserve this opportunity, but now it’s over to them. We believe in them, that’s why they’ve got the contracts they have.”
While Fearon, who joined at U15 level, and new arrivals Kanté and Landers are more recent additions to the Academy, Golambeckis and Mayers have been developing at Chadwell Heath and Rush Green since their earliest footballing years.
Golambeckis joined the West Ham United Foundation’s football development programmes in Beckton at five years old, before moving to the Academy at Chadwell Heath at eight. Mayers also joined the Academy in the U9s age group.
“It’s a real credit to the coaches from the younger age groups,” Noble continued. “The staff in the Academy work tirelessly to help them grow, not just as footballers but as people, too.
“It’s an incredibly tough profession. The chances are small, but our job is to give them the best opportunity possible, and to instil belief in them and their families, who put in so much time and effort getting them to and from training.
In recent seasons, the last few U18s cohorts have shown exactly why the Academy of Football is so renowned for producing such exciting talent. In 2023, the U18s won the FA Youth Cup for the fourth time, beating Arsenal 5-1 in front of 34,000 fans at the Emirates Stadium. This year, the latest group of U18s were crowned Premier League Cup champions with a team Mayers, Fearon and Golambeckis were all a part of.
Noble continued: “We want them to push on, like the boys that have done that in recent times. The likes of Freddie Potts, Calum Marshall, Ollie Scarles and George Earthy.
“The Academy’s job is to keep supplying the first team with players who are ready to go. You look back at myself, then Declan Rice and Ben Johnson, that’s the tradition. We’ve got to keep producing players from within. That’s our job, and that’s what we want to keep doing.”
As the group continues to progress towards senior football, Noble says maintaining focus and drive are the key ingredients in making the next step to the very top level.
“Sometimes after signing a new contract, a player might ease off a little, but I’m here to make sure that doesn’t happen. I want to push them and make sure they never take it for granted. They’ve got to work hard to play for West Ham every single day.
“You’ve got to stay hungry. It’s down to us to keep them hungry and keep pushing them. I’ve made that journey myself, I know how hard it is. We need to keep giving them that platform to push on and try to become a West Ham player.”
