West Ham United can confirm the Academy of Football will kick-off 2024/25 with an exciting and experienced coaching team in place to develop the Club’s promising young players.
Led by Sporting Director Mark Noble and Academy Manager Kenny Brown, the Academy will seek to continue the outstanding work that has developed a succession of future first-team players and won prestigious titles in recent seasons.
With over 2,500 senior playing appearances between them, the coaching staff has huge experience to draw upon as they work with the Club’s schoolboys, scholars and young professionals and developing them into ‘not only good footballers, but good men’ in the vision of the Academy’s architect, former manager Ted Fenton.
An Academy graduate who went on to become the Hammers’ captain and all-time record Premier League appearance-maker, former midfielder Noble has overall oversight of operations at Chadwell Heath and Little Heath, continuing to work closely with his fellow former West Ham defender Brown, who has been in position since November 2022.
Kalam Mooniaruck, who played for Manchester United as a young professional and is a former Mauritius international, has been appointed to the role of Head of Coaching & Player Development. The 40-year-old had previously held the position of Head of Academy Coach Development since October 2018.
Former West Ham winger, first-team and reserve-team coach Kevin Keen has moved from his role as U18s Lead Coach, where he guided his players to a FA Youth Cup and U18 Premier League South Division double in 2022/23, to Lead Professional Development Phase Coach, overseeing the development of players aged from U17s to U21s.
As previously confirmed, Mark Robson (pictured above, presenting the 2023/24 Young Hammer of the Year Award to George Earthy) returns to his position as Academy Under-21s Lead Coach, having spent last season as a member of the first-team coaching staff. The former Hammers winger will work closely with U21s Coaches Steve Potts and Gerard Prenderville, who led the Under-21s through a successful 2023/24 season that saw them finish second in the Premier League 2 regular season and reach the play-off quarter-finals, as well as getting to the semi-finals of the Premier League International Cup and the last 16 of the EFL Trophy.
Academy graduate Potts played over 500 matches for West Ham and returned in 2011, since when he has held a number of important coaching positions. Both he and Prenderville have worked closely with all the young players who have gone on to play first-team football in recent seasons.
Lauris Coggin takes on the role of U18s Lead Coach, succeeding Keen, and continues his own career development. The former Southend United scholar joined the Academy as a Foundation Phase Coach in 2016, moved up to Youth Development Phase in 2018 and was appointed U18s Assistant Coach in summer 2023.
Coggin will be assisted by Academy graduate and former striker Zavon Hines. The 35-year-old returned to West Ham in 2019 as a Youth Development Coach working with the U14s.
The Academy’s young goalkeepers will also be well supported, with the long-serving Billy Lepine continuing in the role of Head of Academy Goalkeeping & U21s Goalkeeping Coach, a position he has held since 2020. Dan Hill, who joined West Ham in 2022 and previously worked with the Academies at Fulham and Portsmouth, is the U18s Goalkeeping Coach.
Finally, long-serving Academy coach Mark Phillips will continue in his role of Academy Transition and Pathways Manager, providing valuable experience in supporting our young players as they work through the phases of the Academy and into senior football.
