Get the lowdown on our next opponents: West Ham United.
The Opposition
Last season, West Ham United’s academy continued to underline its reputation as one of the Premier League’s most productive youth systems, combining competitive results across age groups with meaningful first-team progress.
The Under-21s enjoyed a strong 2024/25 campaign, finishing fourth in the Premier League 2 with 12 wins from 20 games, while the Under-18s showed resilience in a challenging league season but capped it memorably by lifting the U18 Premier League Cup after a 2–1 victory over Reading.
From that cup-winning group, five players — Ezra Mayers, Josh Ajala, Emeka Adiele, Airidas Golambeckis and Preston Fearon — earned promotion to the U21 setup, highlighting the Academy of Football’s clear pathway of development.
The season also brought senior breakthroughs, with Ollie Scarles making his first Premier League start in a 1–0 win at Arsenal and Lewis Orford debuting against Crystal Palace, both reinforcing the bridge between Chadwell Heath and the London Stadium, while a number of players have since gone on to secure loan moves elsewhere, with Orford moving to current League One leaders Stevenage, and has been followed by Kaelan Casey (Swansea City), Gideon Kodua (Luton Town) and Michael Forbes (Northampton Town) at EFL clubs, while Finlay Herrick (Boreham Wood), Regan Clayton (Braintree Town) and Mason Terry have begun to gain experience within National League sides.
As the 2025/26 campaign began, West Ham’s academy have maintained momentum. The Under-21s opened the new Premier League 2 season in solid form, sitting 14th after six games and recorded an emphatic 5–1 win over MK Dons in the EFL Trophy group stage, with braces from both Preston Fearon and Callum Marshall seeing kick-start their campaign with a thumping victory, though they currently sit second in the group after losing to Reading in their last outing.
However, they have also enjoyed a positive start to their National League Cup campaign, and will be looking to leapfrog the top two with a game in hand on Brighton & Hove Albion and Truro City, winning their only game so far against Woking under slightly different management at the time.
Indeed, a number of coaches have been promoted to the First Team to join Nuno Espírito Santo’s backroom team following his appointment from Nottingham Forest, and has led to temporary Academy coaching changes, with Head of Coaching and Player Development Greg Lincoln leading the Under-21 development squad in the short term, assisted by Academy Transition and Pathways Manager Mark Phillips, Under-18s coach Zavon Hines, and Under-18s Goalkeeper coach Chris Lewington.
The Manager
Greg Lincoln
Greg Lincoln was appointed as Head of Coaching and Player Development at West Ham’s Academy in the summer of 2025.
A former midfielder, Lincoln spent time with Arsenal’s Academy as a youngster, turning professional in 2001, and was part of England’s squad at the 1999 FIFA Under-20 World Cup alongside Ashley Cole, Peter Crouch and future West Ham winger Matty Etherington, before spending the bulk of his playing career in the lower leagues.
A move to Torquay United preceded a brief trial with Swedish side Hammarby IF, before returning to England in 2002 to join Northampton Town. He spent two years with the Cobblers before stints at Redbridge, Chelmsford City, Cambridge United and Thurrock saw him end his career in non-league.
Lincoln subsequently transitioned into coaching and gained his UEFA Pro Licence, becoming an Academy Phase Coach at Tottenham Hotspur before moving across North London to return to Arsenal, enjoying an 11-year stint with the Youth Team, and combined his role as Professional Development Phase Technical Coach with a role in the Football Association.
That position saw the Hertfordshire-born former midfielder take charge of England’s U16s and U17s, while he was part of the coaching staff as England U19s won the UEFA European Championship title in 2022.
A successful four-year spell as England National Head Coach preceded a move to West Ham in 2025 though, and he has gone on to lead the Under-21’s following the arrival of Nuno Espírito Santo, with Mark Robson, Steve Potts, Gerard Prenderville and Billy Lepine all being named as part of the former Wolverhampton Wanderers, Spurs and Nottingham Forest boss’ backroom team at the London Stadium.
One to Watch
Josh Landers
Josh Landers joined West Ham from Scottish Premiership side Hibernian in January 2025 after a successful trial period with West Ham United Under-21s.
An energetic modern day striker who can hold up play but also run in behind, Landers has consistently playing above his age group, making his debut for Hibernian Under-18s at the age of 14 and playing in the UEFA Youth League at the age of 15, signing his first professional contract with Hibernian in the summer of 2023.
He made his senior debut in the Scottish League Cup semi-final against Aberdeen at Hampden Park in November of the same year, and remained in his native Scotland until the start of 2025, before joining West Ham in January.
Despite this, Landers ended his first season at the Hammers by notching double figures in goal contributions, scoring nine times in the Under-18s Premier League South and once in the Premier League Cup as the young Hammers went on to win the competition with a 2-1 win in the final against Reading.
The Scotland Under-16 international scored his first goals at Under-21s level came in his first Premier League 2 start where he scored a brace in a 4-2 away win at Sunderland in August 2025, and he has enjoyed a stellar start to the current campaign, notching five goals in four Premier League 2 games.
Photo Credit: West Ham United Football Club
Recent Form
Arsenal 2-2 West Ham United
Reading 3-1 West Ham United
West Ham United 3-3 Brighton & Hove Albion
West Ham United 3-0 Birmingham City
MK Dons 1-5 West Ham United
Sunderland 2-4 West Ham United
Last Time Out
West Ham United U21s twice led away at Arsenal but were forced to settle for a point after Louie Copley’s late equaliser denied them victory in an entertaining 2-2 draw at Boreham Wood’s Meadow Park.
The opener arrived on 35 minutes from a set-piece. Emeka Adiele’s delivery to the back post was headed across goal by Mayers, and when Arsenal failed to clear, Fearon was first to react, creating his own space before firing in from close range for his third goal of the season.
Parity was restored almost immediately as Arsenal’s Max Dowman drove forward down the middle and found the bottom corner from outside the box with his weaker foot, giving Wooster no chance and ensuring the sides went in level at the break.
If the first half had been largely about containment, the second began with a statement. Within nine minutes of the restart, West Ham started the strongest and struck again through Mayers. Adiele was again the provider, lifting a free-kick to the far post where Mayers rose highest to nod home his first goal at U21 level, capping a superb all-round display from the defender.
It looked as though the visitors had done enough to withstand the pressure, but deep into stoppage time Arsenal found a way through. After Andre Harriman-Annous recycled a scuffed cross at the back post, he stood the ball up for Copley, who nodded home from close range to restore parity for a second and final time.
A frantic end-to-end last few minutes of stoppage time ensued but the full-time whistle confirmed a share of the points, extending our young Hammers’ unbeaten run in the league to four matches.
