Former student debuts for West Ham aged 16

We are thrilled for former Trinity student Ollie Scarles who made his debut for the West Ham first team last night, at just 16 years old. 

Ollie was an active member of the football community at Trinity, getting involved in all the available programmes while also training with the West Ham Academy from the age of 12. He left the school at the end of the last school year to pursue football full time with the academy as one of nine talented youngsters to sign a Scholarship contract.

Ollie is the sixth youngest player in the club’s history to play for West Ham’s first team and travelled to Romania this week for the match against FCSB – which West Ham won 0-3 – with manager David Moyes commenting, “’I thought Ollie Scarles played exceptionally well.” 

Ollie certainly made his mark in the game, with overwhelmingly positive commentary on his performance, and a lot of excitement about what the future holds for him. In a post-match report, a writer at West Ham Zone said, “Very, very impressive display for the teenager… [in an] almost perfect debut with a shot, inches past the post late on”. 

In interviews after the match Ollie describes the experience as, “something every kid dreams of”. He said his parents would be very proud of him, and he was texting his dad before the game as “he couldn’t believe it as much as me!” 

The whole school community, including his friends who are still at Trinity, are very excited for him and are looking forward to seeing what happens next. 

Mr Wilson, Head of Football, says, “He’s a huge inspiration to all the students at school, and we wish him all the best for the future.” 

Football forms a major part of the sporting landscape at Trinity, particularly in the Autumn Term, with training sessions and fixtures running throughout the week alongside the boys’ and girls’ other sporting commitments.  

Last year saw the largest number of football fixtures ever in the school’s history, surpassing the previous record by nearly 50 fixtures. We were able to field A-E teams and this year are looking to grow that further. We enter cup competitions across the first and second term including, ISFA, ESFA, Surrey & Croydon Schools.  

Last season saw the U13s go all the way to the quarter finals of the ISFA Cup losing narrowly to Shrewsbury House. It will be great to see what this season holds for us in those competitions. 

Photo credit (l) – West Ham United