Football Wonderkid Scout
Football Wonderkids
The Academy Of Football - West Ham's Youth Development
The Academy of Football is the nickname given to West Ham United due to the success in spotting and developing young talented players, many of whom have gone on represent England at international level. The title which was originally attributed by the press, has since been officially adopted by the club and is displayed around Upton Park. It was not only reserved for the education of young players but also the development of a modern approach to football, inspired by the success of the Hungarian national team in the late 1950's, inspired by Ferenc Puskas. Under the astute management of Ron Greenwood, the Academy of Football developed a golden generation of players including home-grown players such as Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters. The trio featured prominently in West Ham winning the 1965 European Cup Winners Cup over TSV 1860 Munchen at Wembley and the following year in 1966 they became football immortals as they inspired England to World Cup victory. Bobby Moore was arguably the greatest defender in the world and as captain of England played an instrumental in their 4-2 win over West Germany in the final, as well as Hurst and Peters who scored all four goals between them. The Academy of Football has continued to produce a number of talented players over the years. When Greenwood moved upstairs, new manager John Lyall built a new generation in the 970s, producing Frank Lampard Sr. and Trevor Brooking, who featured in the club's 1975 FA Cup win, with a team composed solely of English players, which no club has seen repeated. Over the
Former West Ham academy graduates
years the Academy has played an important part in the clubs identity and a regular source of players for the first team. In 2003, when West Ham were relegated from the Premier League, it was the sale of their young Academy stars which saved them from financial disaster. It is often argued that had West Ham been able to keep all of their Academy graduates since Rio Ferdinand, then they would be one of the best teams in England. Their return to the top flight of English football was largely due to the emergence of several new academy graudates which included Anton Ferdinand, Elliott Ward and Mark Noble.
One of the biggest influences in recent years at the Academy of Football is academy director Tony Carr, who began his Upton Park career as a coach in 1973. With over 30 years service in nurturing and developing West Ham's youngsters, Carr helped produced seven of England's World Cup squad in 2010, including John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Glenn Johnson, Michael Carrick, Joe Cole, Frank Lampard and Jermaine Defoe. These players combined have helped to bring over £80 million into the coffers at West Ham over the years. Carr's greatest legacy is perhaps switching Rio Ferdinand from a midfielder during West Ham's FA Youth Cup campaign in 1996, in which he has turned into one of the world's best defenders. Paul Ince remains the most successful Academy graduate, though this success has been at Manchester United. Recent graduates helping West Ham through their difficult financial problems include James Tomkins, Freddy Sears, Junior Stanislas and Jack Collison. Tony Carr remains an influential figure at the club and was recently rewarded with a testimonial in which a number of former players came back to honour their boss who nurtured them as youngsters. The East-London academy is arguably one of the most successful production lines in the English game over the past few years and their framework has been mirrored by a number of European clubs in recent years.
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