West Ham United fans don’t need any more reasons to love homegrown heroes Declan Rice and Mark Noble.
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But former Academy director Terry Westley has just given them another one.
West Ham have a long, proud history when it comes to producing top players from their academy.
West Ham’s proud academy roots
Not just for the Hammers first team but also England.
Rice is the latest example of that. And while Noble never earned the England cap he deserved, he is set to follow legends like Trevor Brooking in being a one-club man through to retirement – besides his loans at Ipswich and Hull as part of his development.
The West Ham production line is alive and well.
And there is another clutch of hugely promising young players emerging, including centre-back Jamal Baptiste.
The 17-year-old signed his first professional contract with West Ham this week. It was a huge boost for the Hammers because Manchester United had been sniffing around the starlet (ExWHUemployee).
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But it appears Noble and Rice have been playing a huge role encouraging up-and-coming academy stars like Baptiste to stay with West Ham.
Speaking to Claret & Hugh, Westley revealed that Rice and Noble have been regular visitors to the academy’s training base in a bid to guide and inspire the emerging talent.
“Jamal knows big clubs have been sniffing around him but signed for the Irons as soon as he could,” Westley told Claret & Hugh.
Former academy boss reveals big role Noble and Rice play encouraging the next West Ham stars
“He and the family live in Little Heath and that allows him to walk into training and play his football with guys with whom he is good friends. That’s important to a teenager too but he loves West Ham.
“I must put in a word here for Mark Noble and Declan who were always regular visitors to the training ground where they were always encouraging Jamal and the other lads.”
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