Declan Rice has revealed his greatest motivation in football – being the captain of a great club named West Ham.
The 23-year old’s astonishingly probably outstrips that of Mooro given that he didn’t need to wait for injury to get and eventually cement his place in the team.
The immortal Bobby got his chance when replacing former great Malcolm Allizon who whilst suffering tuberculous told the manager Ted Fenton back in 1958 to “select the boy.”
The rest is fabulous West Ham history but Declan’s rise to the top of his profession 64 years later at a time when even Mooro would surely admit the game has advanced physically technically and is played at a much-increased pace.
Whatever happens over the next year or two, Declan was groomed at this club and will forever be seen as one of ours.
He has been discussing his career thus far on www.whufc.com and admits he’s been astnished at his progress.
He said: “It does blow the mind. In football, there are no guarantees of anything. Anything can happen. Injuries or going on loan.
There is luck involved and you do need a little bit of luck on your side, but you need to take your chance when you get it.
“You need to have the full package and the character and personality, and you need to be willing to learn as well. I feel like I had that and had those characteristics. Regardless of anything, I just wanted to have a career in the game. At any level.
“But the more it’s gone on and on, I know I can push on even more, and over the last couple of years my development has rocketed.”
Rice has told his story of disappointment and redemption so many times before. His heartbreak, at 14, of being released by Chelsea, to his delight at training with and signing with West Ham in the days that followed.
“It was extremely tough,” he recalls. “I was 14 and it was all I’d ever known, really, being at one club. To get the setback at that age, it was really tough.
“But I can say that, once I knew West Ham wanted me, there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to come here and I can proudly say now that it was probably the best decision I ever made.
“I got released on the Wednesday night and I trained here the next night on the Astro outside at Chadwell Heath. I remember my dad being pulled aside after one training session and being told the Club wanted to sign me.”
Rice’s progression through the Academy of Football was quick. Once into the U18s, a place in the development side quickly followed.
May 2017 saw the first team debut he had been waiting for finally come. Away to Burnley, Rice was brought on for the final minutes of the 2016/17 season by Slaven Bilic.
“I felt like I’d been ready for a while. I’d been training with the first team and Slaven Bilic for a while and they’d seen my personality and qualities. I felt comfortable around the lads, which was a big thing as well.
“It got to the last game of the season and I can remember warming up for almost all of the second half thinking ‘please bring me on!’
“He called me back over on about 82 minutes but I didn’t get on until about 90 minutes. I got three or four minutes but, to get that feeling, it was so special. No one could take that away for me.
“Then I got the train home after with my mum and dad! That topped the day off really! I didn’t want to do the coach journey from Burnley so I got the train with them, and obviously I wasn’t as recognisable then as I am now. But I did have my West Ham tracksuit on so my dad gave me his coat to wear.”
Rice has always had something to prove.
First, he had to prove he was worthy of a first team debut. Then prove it to a new manager in David Moyes. Then another new manager in Manuel Pellegrini, which was accompanied by a change in role; from defence to midfield.
Now, Rice is arguably the first name on the West Ham team-sheet every week. Already, it could be claimed he has nothing left to prove to anyone. So where does his motivation now come from?
“I just know that I can go wherever I want to go. I know that in myself. I know I can go up another five or six levels and I’m working towards that.
“But my motivation is being captain of this great Club. Getting to walk out every week as captain is special and if that doesn’t motivate you then I don’t know what will.
“But also, being talked about as one of the best in my position and being compared to top other players as well. You want to prove your worth and you want to show that you are one of the best so you’re constantly fighting with yourself to keep improving and keeping yourself at a consistent level where you perform really well each week. I tried to do that as much as possible.”
Hi Hugh,
Unlike my gripe about your rating of Pablo Fornals, this one isn’t a matter of opinion :o)
Ted Fenton was our manager on September 8th, 1958 when Bobby Moore made his debut, Charlie Paynter having been replaced some eight years earlier. My first match was around 5 months later which makes me feel very old as it means I’ve seen The Irons play under every manager, in their entire history, apart from the first two. Yikes!!
Keep up the good work
Wow, Claret Veins, I am impressed with that stat! I started going to Upton Park in 1961 as an 11 year old when Ron Greenwood was the manager. I lived a few streets away from Bobby Moore in Barkingside and was actually his newspaper delivery boy for a while.
I went to Wembley to watch us beat TSV Munich 1860 2-0 in the European Cup Winners Cup and the following year was back there to watch West Ham (oops, England) beat West Germany 4-2 in the World Cup Final. And it hasn’t been home since!
Come On You Irons AND the Three Lions!
I emigrated to Australia in 1971 so I am a long distance devotee. There have been a few family visits back to the UK when I have gone to watch the Hammers but not since they moved to the London Stadium.