West Ham great Sir Geoff Hurst says the club's academy deserves greater recognition.
England World Cup winner Hurst wrote for whufc.com: "Our Captain, Mark Noble, has previously talked about the importance of celebrating our heritage at the Academy of Football, and it's that set of values, isn't it, that define West Ham?
"It is remarkable what you can achieve if you go to the right place, and that place has got an Academy, you've got senior players who are interested in coaching, and you've got the success with Ron Greenwood taking over.
"As Harry Redknapp would say, Ron's the best coach he'd say he's ever worked with, and Harry's been involved in football for a long time, so that's his kind of stature.
"Ron he took me, within three years of placing me up front for the first time against Liverpool in September 1962, from a midfield player that was playing more cricket than football, to playing in an FA Cup final, a European Cup final and winning a World Cup – so my own particular story is amazing.
"I think, significantly, England could win the World Cup again – things are going very well – but whether we will ever see a Club providing the captain and two goalscorers [in the Final with] England winning a World Cup, that is going to be hard to beat.
"You will probably never see that happening again, and that all started with the Academy.
"It all started with our coaching and our upbringing, all of us coming from nowhere, just local kids, to what we could achieve in the right area, in the right club, with the right Academy.
"You know, it's just like a bunch of schoolkids, just growing up, the way you start. We were just teenagers when we all started, and it's amazing what you can achieve in the right surroundings.
"We were very fortunate – Bobby, Martin and myself – to be around at the time, to grow up at that time when things were happening within the Club with the Academy.
"You don't really appreciate it at the time, but then you look back, as we are doing with that statue, of what can be achieved at the right Club."
