Five ex West Ham players are on the brink of facing their old club in the Premier League ahead of the Championship play-off final between Luton and Coventry.
West Ham are well known for producing top talents through the famous Academy of Football.
But not all of them can make it as first team stars at West Ham.
Many go off and forge careers in the EFL or elsewhere. But it is rare to see players West Ham have let go or moved on, make it back to the Premier League.
The likes of Junior Stanislas have been exceptions in the past.
Former Hammers midfielder Josh Cullen will follow in his footsteps after his promotion with Burnley via a spell at Anderlecht.
Now five ex West Ham players are on the brink of facing their old club in the Premier League ahead of the Championship play-off final between Luton and Coventry.
The two clubs have sealed their place in the play-off final following wins over Sunderland and Middlesbrough respectively.
What some fans may not know is that there are five former West Ham players among their ranks.
Four of them are at Luton and one at Coventry.
One of them has a brother on the fringes of the West Ham first team squad, whose dad is a club legend too.
Here are the five former West Ham players hoping to face their old club back in the big time next season.
Five ex West Ham players on brink of facing their old club in the Premier League ahead of play-off final between Luton and Coventry
Luton
Dan Potts
Academy graduate and son of West Ham legend and coach Steve Potts made five senior appearances for the Hammers including two in the Premier League. Dan joined Luton after being released by West Ham in 2015. Barking-born defender’s brother Freddie is trying to make it as a central midfielder under David Moyes.
Reece Burke
Now 26, the Newham-born centre-back was another West Ham Academy graduate. He made seven senior appearances for the Hammers, five in the Premier League, and scored in the FA Cup for his boyhood club. West Ham loaned Burke out to Bradford, Wigan and Bolton twice before he was sold to Hull City and has since moved on to Luton.
Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu
A powerful midfielder who can also play in defence, Pelly-Ruddock was picked up by West Ham’s Academy from Boreham Wood back in 2011. He spent three years with West Ham and made one senior appearance in the League Cup. He was loaned to Luton in 2013 before signing permanently the following year. The ex West Ham academy has made Luton his home, remaining there for 10 years and racking up 322 appearances.
Henri Lansbury
Not an academy product of West Ham’s but Hammers fans will never forget Lansbury. Sam Allardyce took the midfielder on loan from Arsenal back in 2011 when he lead the club back to the Premier League. And Lansbury played a key role in many big games as he made 24 appearances. It would have been more were it not for a knee injury. He will be best remembered at West Ham for going in goal against Blackpool when Rob Green had been sent off for a professional foul with West Ham leading 2-1. Allardyce had not named a goalkeeper amongst his substitutes. But West Ham, down to 10 men and with Lansbury in goal, went on to win the game 4-1. Hammers fans fans chanted “England’s Number 1” and “Are you Ludo in disguise?” to Lansbury in honour of his emergency shot-stopping stint between the sticks.
Coventry
Sean Maguire
West Ham’s Academy brought Irish striker Maguire in from Waterford United In January 2013. He was an unused substitute in West Ham’s infamous 5-0 FA Cup defeat to Forest when Allardyce fielded virtually an entire youth side. Maguire was released by West Ham in 2015 and has been at the likes of Preston before joining Coventry in the January window. Ironically Maguire was born in Luton.
Good luck to all the former West Ham boys.
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