The season was a good start. A 3-1 win over West Bromwich Albion on the opening game, followed by two draws against Leicester and Tottenham, leaving the youngsters in a strong position at the end of August.
September began with a tough game against Chelsea, which ended in a 2-2 draw after a late equalizing goal from Marcus Browne. That was then followed by a 3-2 win over Southampton, and a resounding 4-0 away win against Reading. Coach Steve Potts gave regular starts to U16s such as Jahmal Hector-Ingram, Tunji Akinola and Vashon Neufville, with the latter becoming a regular after Joe Linley left in October.
October was a mixed month. A good start with a 3-0 win against Brighton and a 0-0 draw against Arsenal, but the youngsters eight match unbeaten run was ended with losses against Fulham and Aston Villa.
The Hammers got on winning terms at the start of November, with a 1-0 win against Norwich, followed by defeats from Leicester and a thrilling 4-3 loss to Tottenham. The Hammers almost came back with two late goals from Jeremiah Amoo and Oscar Borg, but unfortunately the Hammers couldn’t earn the point.
That was followed by another thrilling match. 2-1 down with five minutes to play, goals from Emmanuel Onariase, Kieran Bailey and Decarrey Sheriff gave the Hammers three points, capping off November.
But sadly, the festive month of December saw two losses to Southampton and Chelsea, despite strong performances in both games. That run continued into the first match of January, with a loss in the reverse fixture against Southampton, but a 2-1 win over Brighton and a superb 5-0 victory over Arsenal gave the Hammers something to cheer about.
That game against Arsenal was a superb performance in a side that mainly contained schoolboys and first-year scholars, with schoolboys Hector-Ingram and Neufville being on the scoresheet alongside Emmanuel Onariase and prolific striker Jordan Brown. But sadly that performance wasn’t replicated in the first three games of February, with two losses and a draw seeing the Hammers slip down the table. But a 4-0 win over Reading on the last day of the month brightened spirits. That concluded the first stage of the Barclays U18 Premier League, seeing the Hammers finish in sixth place, going into Group 2 in the playoffs.
This started in March, with a 0-0 draw against Brighton and a very young side losing 2-0 to Derby. Despite the loss against Derby, coach Mark Phillips and Head of Youth Development
Terry Westley were very pleased with the number of schoolboys fielded, which included regulars Akinola and Neufville plus the likes of Declan Rice, Jake Eggleton and Idris Kanu. But the Hammers got back to winning ways with a 1-0 win over Wolves and a thrilling 3-2 victory against Liverpool, in which U15 striker Idris Kanu was brought on with ten minutes to go, seeing him score twice to change the score from 1-2 to 3-2.
The final three games of the campaign were all losses unfortunately, but again with pleasing performances, particularly on the last game against Leicester, which saw six U15 players on the field, and hardly any scholars playing, seeing the Hammers finish sixth in the playoffs.
Overall, it has been a rather good season for the academy. Several schoolboys have featured regularly, and scholars have played up for the U21s. Next season’s intake looks promising, and the U18s will aim for a Tier 1 spot next season.
