Ebbsfleet United v West Ham United U21s
Pre-season Match, Kuflink Stadium, Friday 15 July 2022, 7pm
When & Where etc…
West Ham United U21s will continue their preparations for the 2022/23 season with a pre-season fixture away to Ebbsfleet United on Friday evening.
Having contested their first match of the summer at Sporting CP B in Portugal last weekend, Mark Robson’s development side return to English soil for a trip to Kent to take on National League South opponents.
The U21s have trained intensively back at their Rush Green base in the past few days, with a number of the young Hammers called into the senior squads for the concurrent first-team double-header at Ipswich Town and Boreham Wood on Tuesday evening.
Robson’s young Irons will take on the Fleet on Friday 15 July at 7pm.
Tickets…
West Ham United fans can attend Friday’s pre-season fixture at the Kuflink Stadium, with tickets available now here!
Adult tickets cost £10 while Concession tickets (available for those aged 60 and over, or in full-time education) are £5. Junior tickets (12-17 years old) are £2, while U12s can attend the fixture for just £1.
Fans can also purchase tickets on the day from the ticket office window at the Kuflink Stadium.
Travel…
The nearest stations to Ebbsfleet United's Kuflink Stadium are Northfleet and Ebbsfleet International. From Northfleet, go (more or less) straight ahead until you reach the main road. Turn left, walk to the bottom of the hill and the ground is on your right.
The high-speed rail service from London St Pancras to Ebbsfleet International (15-18 minutes journey time) will also take you to within walking distance of the ground. Supporters can also reach Ebbsfleet International on the Southeastern line, which runs from Stratford International and takes approximately ten minutes.
Supporters are advised to check their journeys before travel, with resources such as TfL's Journey Planner or the TfL Go app helping to avoid some essential works across the transport network. Supporters may also wish to visit the National Rail website to plan their journey if traveling on the rail network.
If you are driving, exit the M25 at Junction 2 and take the A2 signposted Canterbury. Leave the A2 at the Northfleet/Gravesend West junction. At the roundabout, follow signs to Ebbsfleet International Station/A226 which will take you on to Thamesway and past Ebbsfleet International. The stadium is at the end of the road.
For car parking, contact the club if you have specific parking needs (for example, disabled parking). Spectators are encouraged to use Ebbsfleet International Station which offers secure matchday parking in Car Park C for £3. It is just over five minutes walk from the ground.
How To Follow...
The U21s' pre-season fixture away to Ebbsfleet United will not be available to watch via a live stream, but match updates will be provided as they happen through tour Twitter feed.
A match report, highlights and exclusive reaction will be available at whufc.com and on our YouTube channel after the final whistle.
Team News…
The pre-season schedule has seen a host of U21s who featured heavily for the development side last season, to step up and train with the first-team squad during the opening fortnight of pre-season in St Andrews and Évian-les-Bains.
The likes of Keenan Appiah-Forson, Thierry Nevers, Remy Coddington, Jamal Baptiste, Michael Forbes, Levi Laing and George Earthy were also called up to the squads that travelled to Ipswich Town and Boreham Wood on Tuesday evening.
With the U18s also away on a pre-season training camp, the U21s' options to feature in Friday's match may be slightly more limited. Nonetheless, fans can look forward to seeing the likes of Brian Kinnear, Junior Robinson, Gonçalo Cardoso and Regan Clayton in action against Ebbsfleet.
Opposition…
Formed in 1946, Ebbsfleet United was established by a merger of Gravesend United and Northfleet United and was known as Gravesend & Northfleet before changing to its current name in 2007.
Having been owned by MyFootballClub between 2008 and 2013, the club was taken over by KEH Sports Ltd in May 2013. The Fleet were promoted to the National League in the 2016/17 season and reached the Play-Offs the following campaign, but were controversially relegated following the cancellation of the 2019/20 season as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The league was determined on a points-per-game basis and Ebbsfleet were relegated by 0.002 points, despite being outside the relegation zone and in the top three form sides of the league when the competition ended.
The side are managed by Dennis Kutrieb, a highly-rated German coach who took over in mid-2020, and finished third in National League South last season before losing to Dorking United in a thrilling Play-Off final that went to extra-time.
