Rio and Anton Ferdinand believe West Ham United’s Academy of Football remains the perfect place for young footballers to make their way in the game.
The older Ferdinand joined the Club at the age of 13 and developed into one of his country’s greatest-ever defenders under the tutelage of Academy Director Tony Carr, assistant Paul Heffer and their coaching staff and mentors at Chadwell Heath.
The centre-back reached the FA Youth Cup final and made his senior debut at 17 in 1996, established himself in the first-team squad at 18 in 1997 and was voted Hammer of the Year at 19 in 1998, becoming the youngest player to win the award.
Ferdinand went on to win 81 caps for England, six Premier League titles and the UEFA Champions League with Manchester United and was elected to the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2023. He was also made an OBE for services to football and charity in 2022.
None of those medals and accolades would have been possible had Ferdinand not joined a football club in West Ham that puts the growth and evolution of young players at the heart of its ethos.
“There are not many clubs who love young players coming through,” he told NBC Sports. “There are a lot of clubs who have it, but I felt something different at West Ham when I came through.
“Everyone [associated with the club] felt like they were playing through you, and they make you feel like that and it’s a great thing as a young player to go out there and you feel really supported and you take on that responsibility not being pressured.
“It’s a great thing at West Ham.”
The Club’s philosophy was evident again on Saturday evening, when the Hammers fielded Academy of Football graduates Freddie Potts, 21, Ollie Scarles, 19, and Preston Fearon, 18, in their 2025 Premier League Summer Series opener against Manchester United in New Jersey.
Each is at a different stage of their development as young players and people, with Potts having made over 80 senior appearances on loan in the EFL, Scarles having won the FA Youth Cup and featured 15 times in the Premier League last season, and Fearon making his first senior appearance for the Club at MetLife Stadium.
None of the trio looked overawed in front of around 50,000 fans, impressing as West Ham finished the game strongly before going down to a narrow defeat.
While emulating the Ferdinands and the likes of Mark Noble, Joe Cole, Michael Carrick and others who went on to excel at senior level, younger brother Anton - an FA Cup finalist and England U21 international himself - believes pre-season is the right platform for the current crop of aspiring players to impress.
“It’s really important to the Club and on this tour we have lots of young players who are here,” the junior Ferdinand told NBC Sports. “I made my way into the team in pre-season and you get opportunities in pre-season but when you get them you have to take them with both hands.
“One thing our fans want to see is young players in our team and when they do get in the team they give you a chance, an opportunity and time.
“West Ham is built on the Academy of Football and we came through it.”
