West Ham fans are rightly proud of the record their club has when it comes to producing professional footballers and helping launch their careers.

The likes of Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Rio Ferdinand and Michael Carrick all enjoyed their first steps into the game during their time in claret and blue, and that gives Irons fans something to shout about.

Mark Noble is an example of a player staying at the club all his life, whilst there will be hopes Declan Rice and Jeremy Ngakia do the same having come into the senior side from the youth set-up.

Plenty of names have been at the Academy of Football, then, but here are five you might well have forgotten were on the Irons' radar at one point...

Richardson was largely seen as a youth graduate at Manchester United but he was also on the books at West Ham as a kid.

He also played for the likes of West Brom, Sunderland and Aston Villa during a career largely spent in the Premier League.

Ridgewell is probably best known in this country for his time in the Midlands, having played for Aston Villa, Birmingham and West Brom.

However, he was at the Hammers for a period of time before Villa took him in in 2001.

He also spent a chunk of his career in America playing for Portland Timbers.

Best known for his spells at Ipswich Town and Charlton Athletic, Holland started at West Ham after being let go by Arsenal.

He never featured for the Hammers, though, and worked his way up from Farnborough Town and then to Bournemouth.

Britton is synonymous with Swansea City having been there for nearly all of his career and having risen through the divisions with them.

West Ham would have him around the turn of the century, though, having got him from Arsenal - though he never played for the Irons.

Hause spent time at West Ham, Birmingham City and Wycombe Wanderers during his youth career - with the latter giving him his professional debut.

A powerful defender, Hause is now in the Premier League with Aston Villa.