Spurs legend Ledley King should have played for West Ham says John Terry but the Hammers made a costly decision which saw him leave.
Most West Ham fans know that Chelsea hero Terry started life in West Ham’s famous academy.
But it may be news to many that Tottenham Hotspur hero and coach King – the cousin of West Ham right-back Ben Johnson – was with the Hammers as a youngster too.
Terry, who comes from a family of West Ham fans, would have formed part of the ridiculously talented Hammers golden generation.
And he revealed his West Ham nut dad ‘absolutely kicked off’ when he left his beloved Hammers to sign for Chelsea (The Mirror).
But it seems West Ham could have had one of the best central defensive partnerships the Premier League had ever seen because former Tottenham star King was on their books with Terry too.
King, who was born and raised deep in the West Ham territory of Bow, left the east Londoners and ended up at bitter rivals Tottenham, though.
King had been compared to West Ham great Bobby Moore as a young player. And at Tottenham he established himself as one of the finest defenders in the league, earning England honours.
Spurs legend Ledley King should have played for West Ham says John Terry but Hammers made costly decision
The Spurs legend saw his career riddled and eventually curtailed due to knee injuries.
And now Terry, who joined Twitter last week, has revealed he and King could have been playing for West Ham had the Irons not made the costly decision to get rid of then youth development officer and former West Ham and Spurs winger Jimmy Neighbour.
“I left (West Ham) at the age of 12 or 13,” Terry said on Twitter.
“Shame because in our team was Ledley King, Bobby Z(amora), Paul Konchesky, J Lloyd Samuel.
“West Ham let Jimmy Neighbour go and we all left.”
West Ham fans will be aware of Bobby Zamora, Paul Konchesky and the late J Lloyd Samuel’s roots at the club.
Zamora and Konchesky of course returned to the club as professionals during excellent careers.
Tottenham and Chelsea fans will be grateful for West Ham’s decision to let Neighbour leave.
The fact three West Ham academy stars – in the shape of Terry, Frank Lampard and Joe Cole – went on to be key to Chelsea winning multiple trophies is galling.
Thankfully Spurs did not enjoy that kind of success with King in their ranks.