Tonight West Ham United taste the fruits of their labour after what has been a meteoric rise under David Moyes.
The Scot – not so long ago written off as a footballing dinosaur – has changed so much at West Ham it is hard to fit it in one article.
Indeed some of the things Moyes has transformed at, around and about West Ham over the last 18 months are not even tangible.
Whether it is demanding – and getting – total control of all football matters from the club’s co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold – where Sullivan was de facto director of football.
Moyes has transformed West Ham from a club perennially on the brink of a crisis to one that makes their fans proud
Or whether it is the continuing revamp of the club’s scouting and recruitment process.
Having a clear philosophy, plan and identity. Or perhaps – as is the case for many Hammers fans – instilling a work ethic, professionalism and attitude in his team that simply made West Ham fans proud of their club again.
Moyes has helped change so much for the better at West Ham.
And another change he made behind the scenes has come to light after former striker Oladapo Afolayan was interviewed by The Athletic.
It is a change that may not sound significant. But for West Ham, the academy of football, it is massive.
The Academy of Football had long since lost its way
A club steeped in history as a conveyor belt of young talent, West Ham had lost its way for some time. For far too long Mark Noble stood alone as the only last established academy graduate.
The fact he retires at the end of this season says everything about how far West Ham had fallen when it came to the efficiency, quality and success of their academy roots.
Of course Declan Rice has taken a huge step to filling the academy graduate void. And the likes of Ben Johnson, Jamal Baptiste and others will be sticking around too under Moyes it seems.
One academy player who did not stick around under the Scot was Afolayan.
Despite scoring on his debut in a cup trouncing of Doncaster, the striker was allowed to leave for Bolton – first on loan and then permanently upon being released by West Ham.
But he bears the Hammers nor Moyes no ill. In fact the 24-year-old says Moyes was responsible for reconnecting West Ham’s first team with its academy – and in doing so reconnecting a club with its soul.
Former Hammers striker reveals big change Moyes made behind the scenes which reconnected West Ham with its roots
“I’m a realistic person and having been at the club for three years and not being as close to the first team as I needed to be, I came to a point in my head where I knew I had to look elsewhere to get first-team football,” Afolayan told The Athletic.
“(Kevin) Nolan is great with the academy. He takes a keen interest in the young lads who go over and train with the first team. He helps them get integrated into sessions and he always gives us tips.
“It’s something that you don’t always get at clubs but ever since Moyes returned to the job he’s made sure at least one member of staff is at the (youth) games.
“Even players like Angelo Ogbonna and Issa Diop would always give me advice about things they wouldn’t like a striker or an attacker to do to them… It’s nice people at West Ham were so helpful because you don’t always get that family environment at other clubs.”
Proof that selfless Scot has West Ham’s long-term best interests at heart
Long-term that could well prove to be Moyes’s most significant impact at West Ham.
It is something which would have gone under the radar had Afolayan not mentioned it.
Therefore Moyes would not have been given the credit and in reality it is something that would probably benefit those who come after him.
So it speaks volumes about Moyes the man and the job he is doing on the day West Ham return to European football under his guidance.
In other news, ‘Almost time’ Video has West Ham fans absolutely buzzing ahead of Europa opener.
And Croatian ex Hammer tells Moyes what he must do with Vlasic ahead of West Ham debut.
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