 Since the late 1990s , Rio Ferdinand , Frank Lampard , Joe Cole , Michael Carrick and Glen Johnson began their careers at West Ham and all went on to play for much bigger clubs . Most recently , the likes of first teamers Mark Noble and James Tomkins , as well as Welsh international Jack Collison , have emerged through the Academy . <unk> for fans and managers alike , the club has struggled to retain many of these players due to ( predominantly ) financial reasons . West Ham , during the 2007 – 08 season , had an average of 6 @.@ 61 English players in the starting line up , higher than any other Premier League club , which cemented their status as one of the few Premier League clubs left that were recognised to be bringing through young English talent and were recognised as having " homegrown players . " Between 2000 and 2011 , the club produced eight England players , as many as Manchester United and one fewer than Arsenal . Much of the success of The Academy has been attributed to Tony Carr , who has been West Ham youth coach since 1973 . 
