Not since the days of Joe Cole and Michael Carrick at the end of the last century have West Ham been able to lay claim to having the best youth team in the country, but an emphatic 5-1 victory against Arsenal in the FA Youth Cup final showed that the future could be very bright in east London.
With Declan Rice and Mark Noble watching on from the stands, a sensational chip from nearly 40 yards out from the captain, Gideon Kodua, plus goals from George Earthy, Callum Marshall, Kaelan Casey and the substitute Josh Briggs rounded off a stirring comeback after Omari Benjamin had given Jack Wilshere’s Arsenal an early lead. More than 8,000 fans in the away end celebrated raucously when Kodua lifted the trophy after the full-time whistle.
Kevin Keen, the West Ham coach, said: “This is my 40th year in football and that’s the proudest I’ve ever been. The crowd were like an extra man for us. It’s a massive moment for a club that is very well known for our academy and hopefully some of them can go on to have really strong careers for the club.”
Despite not having won this competition since 1999, West Ham came into the game as strong favourites after finishing as Premier League Under‑18 South champions. But it was the hosts who made the brighter start when Michal Rosiak’s free‑kick struck the crossbar. Less than a minute later Arsenal took the lead after an excellent run from the defender Reuell Walters set up Amario Cozier‑Duberry, with Benjamin slamming in the rebound after Mason Terry’s save.
Their lead did not last long, however, as Earthy equalised with a brilliant long-range shot and less than a minute later an excellent Kodua cross from the right was tapped in by Marshall. Wilshere, who took over as Arsenal Under‑18s coach at the beginning of the season, won this trophy as a teenager in 2009, while Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe were part of the side beaten over two legs by Chelsea in the final five years ago.
But their hopes of ending a 14-year wait to be crowned winners again seemed slim as West Ham dominated possession after going ahead. A mistake from Josh Robinson just before half-time left Arsenal with a mountain to climb when Kodua lobbed the ball over the stranded goalkeeper Noah Cooper for a stunning goal.
Mikel Arteta’s senior side had faced a similar deficit in their Premier League match against Southampton here on Friday night before fighting back to earn a point and the omens looked promising for a similar response after a bright start to the second half. But it needed an excellent save from Cooper to keep out a powerful drive from Earthy as West Ham sensed a chance to kill the game.
It took some dogged defending to keep Arsenal at bay as Ethan Nwaneri blazed his shot just wide of the post after a goalmouth scramble. “We have to learn lessons from tonight but we have made so much progress this season,” Wilshere said afterwards.
“The players are on the floor in the changing room but youth football is never make or break. It’s important that they continue to develop but whether they can make it to the first team will be down to them.”
Casey’s header from a corner and another in injury time from Briggs – his first touch after coming off the bench – finally settled it to give the visiting fans extra reason to party.
