Lifelong West Ham United supporter Lewis Orford has been with the Club since the age of five. A cultured central midfielder, Orford debuted for the U18s at the age of 14 years and eight months, then played an influential role as Kevin Keen's squad secured an historic FA Youth Cup and U18 Premier League South double triumph in 2022/23.
The Havering-born player was named in the first-team squad for a UEFA Europa Conference League tie away at FCSB in Romania in November 2022, made his Premier League 2 debut in January 2023, signed his first professional contract the following month, signed a long-term contract extension in September 2024, then made his senior debut in a Premier League fixture with Crystal Palace at London Stadium in January 2025.
A 2024/25 Premier League 2 Player of the Season nominee, Orford has been capped by England at U16, U18 and U19 levels.
Career
Signed a new five-year contract until summer 2029 on 4 September 2024...Made his Premier League debut as a 66th-minute substitute in a 2-0 home Premier League defeat by Crystal Palace on 18 January 2025...Made his second Premier League appearance as a substitute in a 2-1 defeat at Chelsea on 3 February 2025...Started all three EFL Trophy group-stage ties at Reading, Newport County and Cheltenham Town...Started 17 of 20 Premier League 2 matches, scoring three goals and registering seven assists...Scored in the Premier League 2 round of 16 home win over Sunderland on 26 April 2025...Registered an assist in the Premier League 2 quarter-final defeat at Manchester United on 5 May 2025...Scored his first goal for England U19s on his debut in a 2-1 home win over Bulgaria in UEFA Euro U19 Championship qualifying on 16 November 2024...Totalled 24 appearances for West Ham United across all levels and competitions, scoring four goals and registering eight assists.
Transitioned from the U18 squad to development team at the age of 17...Made his England U18 debut as a substitute in a 2-0 defeat in France on 6 September 2023 - the first of eight caps he won in 2023/24...Appeared in all 20 Premier League regular-season and two play-off ties, scoring four goals and registering two assists...Registered assists in all three EFL Trophy group-stage ties at Bristol Rovers, Newport County and Cheltenham Town as the development team reached the knockout stages...Scored in a 4-0 EFL Trophy second-round win at Colchester United in December 2023...Named in the matchday squad for three Premier League matches in January 2024 against Brighton & Hove Albion, Sheffield United and AFC Bournemouth...Named in the matchday squad for the Premier League fixture at Crystal Palace in April 2024...Named in the matchday squad for five UEFA Europa League ties, including all four knockout ties against SC Freiburg and Bayer Leverkusen...Played 29 times across all competitions, scoring five goals and registering five assists.
Enjoyed a standout campaign for the U18s...Started 19 of 22 U18 Premier League South matches, scoring nine goals and registering ten assists...Registered an assist in five consecutive U18 Premier League South matches between September-November 2022 - all of them victories...Scored and assisted in the same match on five occasions in U18 Premier League South...Made his EFL Trophy debut as a substitute in a group-stage defeat at MK Dons on 4 October 2022...Named in matchday squad for UEFA Europa Conference League group-stage win at FCSB on 3 November 2022...Made his Premier League 2 debut as a substitute in a 2-1 win at Everton on 6 January 2023...Started all six ties as the U18s won the FA Youth Cup, registering a goal and assist in the fifth-round win at Stoke City and an assist in the semi-final victory over Southampton at London Stadium...Signed his first professional contract on 23 February 2023...Scored his first Premier League 2 goal in a 5-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers on 20 March 2023...Started the U18 Premier League national final extra-time defeat at Manchester City on 10 May 2023...Totalled 31 appearances, eleven goals and 12 assists across U18s and U21s in all competitions.
Registered an assist on his first start in the opening-day U18 Premier League South home win over Reading on 14 August 2021, aged 15 years and six months...Made his England U16 debut in a 3-2 home friendly win over Scotland at St George's Park on 19 August 2021...Registered an assist on his FA Youth Cup debut in a 3-2 third-round home defeat by Newcastle United on 10 December 2021...Scored his first U18 Premier League South goal in a 3-1 win at Birmingham City on 25 January 2022...Earned two further England U16 caps in friendly internationals with Germany and Portugal in February 2022...Finished the season with three goals and nine assists, eight of them in U18 Premier League South.
Made his debut for the U18s as a substitute in an U18 Premier League South win at Brighton & Hove Albion on 24 October 2020, aged 14 years and eight months.
Honours
England U18s
Pinatar Super Cup (2024)
Tri-Nations Trophy (2024)
West Ham United
FA Youth Cup (2023)
U18 Premier League South (2022/23)
Premier League 2 Player of the Month (April 2025)