The ‘Homegrown’ Hammer – Club Rethink!

Not often that a subject exorcises so many Hammers fans – who always  like to correct me and argue amongst themselves: My story from earlier  regarding Cyrencio Summerville and the ‘is he or isn’t he‘ classified as a ‘homegrown player’ saga caused a flurry of comments on Claret and Hugh’s forum.

Following my piece, the original answer received from the club and published- (that he is NOT eligible to be registered as a homegrown player) -was challenged  by C and H’s own Sean Whetstone. who cited Premier League Handbook Rule A 1.128  to club officials.

Without me repeating the whole rule here,  Sean suggested that, contrary to West Ham United’s official stance, Summerville did indeed satisfy Homegrown Regulations.

This was based on the fact that:

‘He signed for Leeds United on 16 September 2020 and had his 21st Birthday on 30 October 2022. The season start is defined by the rules as when the summer transfer window closes -which was 5th October 2020 due to Covid. 

That means he played three seasons for Leeds which is within the definition of homegrown in the PL handbook and FA rulebook”.

Back came the answer, from the club: ‘You are right”.

So, forget everything that I wrote earlier:  Cyrencio Summerville is young, gifted and according to both Sean now, and top Hammers sources, definitely ‘homegrown’.

Now if officials at West Ham aren’t certain, where does that leave the rest of us?

Thanks to Sean Whetstone for the info. This will have major implications for the squad size and recruitment of new players – so, great that it is now sorted out – with a little help from Sean Whetstone and C and H!