Southampton U18s v West Ham United U18s
U18 Premier League South, Staplewood Training Ground, Saturday 16 August 2025, 11.30am BST
West Ham United U18s begin their 2025/26 competitive campaign with a trip to Staplewood Training Ground on Saturday to face last season's U18 Premier League South runners-up Southampton.
Lauris Coggin’s young Hammers come into this one having played seven pre-season fixtures, the last three of which came against international U19s sides at the NEXTGEN CUP in Prague, a pre-season tournament Southampton also competed in.
How To Follow…
A report and post-match reaction will be available on the Club’s website and app following the final whistle, with highlights to follow.
Opposition…
Runners-up in the U18 Premier League South last season, Southampton won seven of their last eight games, climbing from mid-table to second, just two points short of FA Youth Cup and U18 Premier League double winners Aston Villa.
Saturday's encounter will be the first competitive game in charge for U18s coach Andrew Surman, a Southampton academy graduate who made 144 Premier League appearances for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Norwich City and Bournemouth. Surman joined the Saints’ academy as assistant coach in 2024 before stepping into the lead coaching role this summer.
The two sides met three times last season, sharing a win, a draw, and a loss apiece. Southampton edged the Hammers over the two league fixtures, but West Ham’s 3-1 victory in the final Premier League Cup group-stage match proved decisive in securing qualification for a knockout run that ended with Coggin’s side lifting the trophy.
Ones To Watch...
With most of his appearances coming from the bench during his first year as a scholar, Lewis Beckford will be looking to push on in the 2025/26 campaign. Now one of the more senior members of the West Ham squad, he captained the U18s in their pre-season 1-1 draw against Premier League Cup semi-finalists Liverpool at St George’s Park. Most recently, Beckford caught the eye in the NEXTGEN CUP in Prague with his close control and range of passing.
For Southampton, winger Harry Gathercole will most likely be their biggest goal threat should he feature. A key part of the Saints’ late end-of-season spike in form, the 17-year-old, who has been at the Saints academy since the age of nine, concluded his first year as a scholar with 12 goals in his last seven games, including a 30-minute hat-trick at Cobham Training Ground against Chelsea. He carried that goalscoring form into pre-season, scoring in Southampton’s 2-0 win over NEXTGEN CUP hosts AC Sparta Praha.
The Story So Far…
Our U18s have had a busy pre-season schedule which has included trips to York and Prague. During that period, they have played seven matches in total, registering wins over Leeds United, Salford City, Northampton Town, draws against Liverpool and NEXTGEN CUP winners FC Midtjylland U19s, while falling to narrow defeats against SK Slavia Praha U19s and Rangers U19s.
