What A Year For Jordan

I never got a chance to feature this yesterday so here is a nice little article about the latest young talent from Tony Carr's academy production line. Jordan Spence is captain of the England U17 side and is due to sign professional terms next month.

What a year for Jordan
Guardian-series

A little over a year ago Jordan Spence sat down in front of the home West Ham crowd before a Premiership match at Upton Park to sign on as a full-time youth Academy player at the east London club. That was a moment to savour, watched by his proud parents. A moment he had dreamed of since the age of five when he started kicking a football in earnest. Now aged 17 and not far short of six-foot tall, Jordan Spence is captain of the England U17 side and a regular in the West Ham U18 team. He will sign as a full-time professional player with the Hammers in July.

He has certainly fulfilled Hammers Academy Director Tony Carr's prediction of a year ago: "If he continues to progress and show the same dedication and enthusiasm he is definitely one for the future." Spence has followed in the footsteps of another former Ridgeway Rovers youth player, David Beckham, in successfully making the step up from park pitches. A former day boy at Chigwell School, Spence who lives at Woodford Green, demonstrated his commitment to schoolwork over football by gaining eight GCSE passes. "With that academic side of my life completed I was able, last year, to fully concentrate on football," said Spence.

He moved on from being the England U16 captain to taking over as skipper of the England U17 team, which has just celebrated its most successful period in international football for 14 years. In the recent UEFA European Championships, held in Tournai, Belgium, the England side progressed through to the final, narrowly losing 1-0 to Spain. But the best is still to come. Jordan explained: "Although we didn't win in Belgium we qualified, as a finalist, to play in the U17 World Cup in Korea, the first English team to do so." The mantle of an England captain also has an off-the-field role as Spence found out when the new Wembley Stadium was opened to VIP groups recently. Spence found himself rubbing shoulders with members of parliament and even sharing a joke with Prime Minister-in-waiting Gordon Brown.

Taken from the Citizen