West Ham United U21s v Southampton U21s
Premier League 2, Rush Green Stadium, Friday 23 August 2024, 7pm BST
West Ham United U21s will host their first home game of the 2024/25 campaign at Rush Green Stadium on Friday evening as they take on Southampton.
Despite defeat in their last outing in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy against Reading, the young Hammers will take great encouragement from their strong start in the Premier League 2, where goals from Sean Moore and Emeka Adiele were enough to secured a valuable win away at Brighton & Hove Albion.
Tickets...
Tickets can be purchased at the turnstiles, priced at just £3 for Adults and £1 for Under-18s. Season Ticket Holders can attend for free.
Travel...
The postcode for Rush Green Stadium - West Ham United’s first-team training ground - is RM7 0LU.
To access the ground via public transport, fans can take a train to Romford station, then board a 5, 103 or 175 bus for the 15-minute ride and get off at the Barton Avenue stop.
Supporters using public transport are advised to check their journeys before they travel, using resources such as TfL’s Journey Planner and the TfL Go app. Supporters may also wish to visit the National Rail website if travelling on the rail network.
Fans wishing to attend this Premier League 2 fixture by car should note that parking at Rush Green Stadium is extremely limited and cannot be guaranteed.
How To Follow…
A live stream of the fixture will be available across the Club’s website, TikTok, and YouTube channel. A match report, highlights and reaction will also follow shortly after the full-time whistle.
Premier League 2 Explained…
To minimise the impact of relegation on future groups of U21 players, the Premier League introduced a new format to its development phase competition in 2023/24.
Replacing the two-division system, the 26 Category One academies now compete in a single tier with 20 regular-season fixtures before the top 16 seeded teams advance to single-elimination play-offs.
Regular-season fixtures are determined by a draw made according to clubs’ performances over the last three seasons. Each team plays 20 different opponents before the play-offs in May, where they will be drawn against each other based on league positions, with the higher seeded team playing at home. The top 12 are also rewarded with a place in the following season’s Premier League International Cup competition.
Coach’s View…
Lead coach Mark Robson is under no illusions about the challenge ahead and praised Southampton for their strong footballing philosophy and ability to nurture young talent.
The Saints' commitment to youth development was evident last weekend, with two homegrown teenagers featuring in their first team’s Premier League opener against Newcastle.
Robson said: “Southampton are consistent in producing excellent young players. There’s a handful of them who have moved on to the first team. They have a way of doing things, a style of play that revolves around keeping the ball, so I have no doubt it’ll be another tough game.”
Opposition…
Our opponents Southampton come into Friday night’s game having opened their Premier League 2 account with a win.
The young Saints came from behind to defeat Leicester 2-1 thanks to second-half strikes from Joe O’Brien-Whitmarsh and Princewill Ehibhatiomhan.
Southampton will be determined to fight for every point this season having missed out on the play-offs in 2023/24 by just a single point.
The Story So Far…
The U21s kicked off their Premier League 2 campaign with a 2-0 victory away at Brighton & Hove Albion last Friday.
With several players returning from first team duty during pre-season, the young Hammers gave an excellent account of themselves in their season opener.
A first-half strike from Sean Moore and a stoppage-time winner from Emeka Adiele saw the visitors earn all three points while keeping a clean sheet, despite going down to ten men.
Their opening day win sees them sit in eighth place going into their first home game of the Premier League 2 campaign.
