Most would agree that one of the highlights of the season was witnessing George Earthy score his first senior goal for West Ham.
The young academy graduate had to bide his time in waiting for a second bite at the first-team cherry following an enforced hiatus due to concussion protocols after a nasty head injury.
However, Earthy was not to be deterred, and he made his mark by coming off the bench to score in our 3-1 victory over Luton Town.
Since then, the young Hammers fan has been on holiday and represented England’s under-20s before popping back to Rush Green for extra training. It was heartening to see Earthy playing such a prominent part in the first day of pre-season training under new Hammers Head Coach, Julen Lopetegui.
Now, Earthy is clearly excited about the new era and keen to get the chance to impress his new boss.
“It was a short but sweet summer,” he said. “We broke up for the summer, and I was away for ten days with England, and that was a good experience there during the close-season. Then I had a quick, short break afterward in Portugal. I went for a couple of days with my family, spent some nice time in the sunshine, and now we’re back to working. I can’t wait to start the season now.”
“You know the level you have to be at, and you see it around in all the players,” he explained.
“That’s why the off-season is so crucial, to build yourself back up for the pre-season at such a high level. It’s amazing to see all the testing and everything that goes on at pre-season now, but yes, it’s a very high level, so you have to try and maintain that.
“You have to sort of look after yourself, and that means a couple of weeks of just planning and working hard just to kind of get yourself back up to that level before you even come back. So, yeah, buzzing to be back here now.”