Hammers links with England squads

By Tony Fowles/Ironrowks Gazette
March 21 2005

West Ham supporters will be reminded of what might have been following the announcement of the England squads. Eighteen of the players involved in the forthcoming England internationals have West Ham connections, unfortunately only eight of them are still at the club.

England Head Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has named a 24-man squad for the two forthcoming World Cup qualifiers against Northern Ireland and Azerbaijan. Included are former Hammers David James, Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Jermain Defoe and Joe Cole. The first match is against near-neighbours Northern Ireland at Old Trafford on Saturday 26 March with Azerbaijan to follow at St. James' Park four days later. Both qualifiers are being shown live on BBC One as Sven's side look to continue their positive start to their World Cup campaign. The game in Manchester sees England take on Northern Ireland for the first time since a European Championship qualifier in Belfast in April 1987 when England came away with a 2-0 win.

Peter Taylor has named five players with West Ham links for the two important U21 home qualifiers as they aim for a place in next summer's European Championships, with Germany at Hull City's KC Stadium and Azerbaijan at the Riverside Stadium in Middlesbrough. Calum Davenport of Tottenham Hotspur was on loan at Upton Park earlier in the season and is now featuring for Premiership side Southampton. Glen Johnson came through the West Ham United Academy before being sold to Chelsea after the Hammers were relegated from the Premiership two seasons ago. Liam Ridgewell of Aston Villa and Kieran Richardson of Manchester United (currently on loan with West Bromwich Albion), both were at West Ham as schoolboys. Whilst Liam Rosenior (son of former Hammer Leroy) was previously on trial at Upton Park and played in a few reserve games.

Mark Noble is on stand by for Martin Hunter’s U19 squad who face Denmark, Sweden and Moldova in this month's elite round qualifying tournament for the UEFA Under-19 European Championships. The tournament, which takes place on Saturday 26, Monday 28 and Wednesday 30 March, will showcase the four nations' talented youngsters as they battle it out for top spot and a place in this summer's European U19 Championship Finals. Hunter's England side will also include David Martin, son of former Hammers legend Alvin Martin. David was on the West Ham staff as a schoolboy as an outfield player. So the story goes that when he decided to switch positions there were already enough goal-keepers on the staff so David moved on to Wimbledon.

The England U18’s do not actually have any games but there is a training camp and Kyel Reid and Chris Cohen have been invited whilst Moses Ashikodi is on stand by.

Hogan Ephraim has been selected for the England U17 squad. He joins seventeen other players in a strong looking group of players, as England aim to qualify for the European Finals and improve on their recent record of four successive semi-final appearances. England will take on Serbia and Montenegro, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in a mini-tournament which will see one side make it through to the finals in Italy. As England are ranked as Europe's top side in UEFA's seeding system, Peacock's side received a bye into this, the final stage of European Championship Qualifying. The six matches in the group will be held over five days in the Midlands with Stoke City, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Walsall hosting the England matches. The matches in Elite Round Qualifying, Group 2 start on 26 March.

England Under-16s coach Kenny Swain has named an 18-man squad for this month's Montaigu Tournament in France. James Tomkins is in the squad whilst two Hammers schoolboy players – Lee Hales and Jordan Spence are on the stand by list. England have been placed in Group B of the eight-team tournament alongside Cameroon, Portugal and Japan and will face those three sides as well as a fourth play-off game which will decide where England finish.