West Ham’s all-time home-grown XI: Moore, Hurst, Lampard but no Defoe
West Ham fans are a proud bunch. Their youth products helped England win the World Cup in 1966 and, in recent years, several stars have left the 'Academy of Football' to form the backbone of several illustrious sides. So talkSPORT has decided to see what a team full of their all-time greatest homegrown talents would look like.
The first name on the team sheet is legendary captain Bobby Moore. His heroics at the back and his impeccable timing made him a great of the game, and he is joined by Rio Ferdinand, Glen Johnson and Frank Lampard.
Ferdinand played more than 100 times for the Hammers before heading to Leeds and then Manchester United for transfer fees totalling a reported £48million, while excelling on the international stage and winning multiple trophies including the Premier League and Champions League. Johnson has had a similarly glittering career with spells at Chelsea, Portsmouth and Liverpool seeing him lift five trophies, so far, during his career.
Lampard, father of Chelsea hero Frank, played nearly 700 games for West Ham at left-back, despite being right-footed. With Johnson at right-back, the Hammers would have two great marauding full-backs to make up for a possible lack of width in midfield.
These four would be perfect to protect goalkeeper Ernie Gregory, who was an old fashioned 'keeper capable of making good saves and battling with physical centre forwards during the 1940s and 1950s. He played more than 350 times for the Hammers.
But here is where it gets even tougher to pick a homegrown XI for West Ham. Currently their fans fawn over Mark Noble's all-action midfield displays, but he is nowhere near the level of this crop of midfield graduates.
Michael Carrick and and Joe Cole both came through the ranks and have had extremely successful careers in the past decade, with Cole now returning to the East End to finish his career.
1966 World Cup goal-hero Martin Peters also lays claim to a spot in the middle along with inspirational Hammers legend Trevor Brooking, who has a stand at Upton Park named after him, to complete, what we think you'll agree, is a formidable midfield.
Up front we're left with two spots and they go to Geoff Hurst, another member of England's World Cup winners, who scored 242 times in 500 appearances for the Hammers and 24 in 49 for the Three Lions. His partner could have been Jermain Defoe who, despite his fury-inducing exit from Upton Park, has undoubtedly been a huge star of the Premier League era.
But Tony Cottee wins the role thanks to his impressive goal record of 145 strikes in 335 games during his two spells in East London.
West Ham's all-time homegrown XI
See how West Ham's home-grown XI compares to Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal.
Have we missed out any other homegrown heroes? Disagree with our line-up? Tell us your thoughts below…