1. Premier League debuts
The ultimate objective of any academy outweighs any other - getting young players into the first team. And this season, despite mixed results on the pitch, that mission stayed firmly on course.
Starting the season with the U21s and signing long-term contract extensions, FA Youth Cup winning teammates Ollie Scarles and Lewis Orford joined an illustrious list of West Ham United Academy players to have worn the famous Claret and Blue in England’s top division.
Scarles, who had made his senior debut at 16 in West Ham United’s UEFA Europa Conference League winning season against FCSB, enjoyed a great year of development, making his Premier League bow against Bournemouth in December before delivering Man of the Match performances in both his FA Cup full debut at Aston Villa in January and his Premier League full debut in a 1-0 away win at Arsenal in February.
A Premier League start and a @JetonPayments POTM award for Scarles ⚒️
Well done, Ollie! 👏 pic.twitter.com/wql2tEePHD
— West Ham United (@WestHam) February 23, 2025
Having joined the Academy at the age of six, Orford continued his rise through the ranks by making his senior debut for his boyhood Club, in the Premier League no less. After making 12 senior matchday squads over the previous two-and-a-half seasons, Orford’s time finally came against Crystal Palace in January, making a half-an-hour cameo, becoming the 1,007th player to make a senior appearance for the Club. Following that up with another appearance against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge a couple of weeks later, Orford finished the season strongly with the U21s, picking up the April Premier League 2 Player of the Month award and receiving a nomination for the PL2 Player of the Season award, alongside teammate and goalkeeper Finlay Herrick.
A special moment for Lewis Orford ✨ pic.twitter.com/InYIIp48bz
— West Ham United (@WestHam) January 19, 2025
2. Premier League Cup glory
Two years on from lifting the FA Youth Cup, another generation of young Hammers brought silverware back to east London.
Lauris Coggin’s U18s became just the fifth side to win the U18 Premier League Cup, joining a select group of clubs including Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.
West Ham topped a tough Group D, which included Nottingham Forest, Premier League South runners-up Southampton, and Premier League North third-placed Everton. In the knockouts, they beat defending Premier League and Cup champions Manchester United, breezed past Derby County in the semi-finals, and faced Reading in the final.
In front of 2,000 fans at the Select Car Leasing Stadium, and against a Reading side boasting several players with senior experience, Josh Ajala’s brace sealed a 2-1 win, making this U18s cohort the first in Club history to win the U18 Premier League Cup.