Former Premier League wonderkid makes emotional return to club 13 years after leaving as fans joke ‘I feel old’
FORMER wonderkid Freddie Sears has made an emotional return to West Ham.
The striker burst onto the scene aged 18, scoring a late winner against Blackburn just five minutes into his debut in 2008.
Over 500 appearances later, Sears has returned to his boyhood club to manage West Ham‘s Under-12s.
The 35-year-old has completed a Uefa B licence course to get his coaching career started.
On his return to the Hammers, an emotional Sears said: “I hadn’t been back since I left in 2012. It was surreal being back in the building. Everyone’s made me so welcome.
“I’ve loved being in the building. Being back at the club where I started has been fantastic.
“The first day I came back for coaching, I saw Kevin Keen, one of my coaches here. Mark Phillips too, I’ve known him all my life.
“Zavon [Hines], who was in the scholarship year above me, is now coaching the Under-18s. I saw Nobes [Mark Noble] and Anton [Ferdinand] too.
“It’s a really familiar club. When you come back, you feel like you’ve never been away.
“For me, this is just the start. This year is about experience on and off the pitch.
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“One of the boys I coach, his granddad used to coach me at West Ham. I’ve got a picture of it. It’s quite mad to have a full circle moment like that.
“He coached me at Under-12s, and now I’m coaching his grandson at Under-12s. It’s a pinch yourself moment.”
Sears, who was capped three times by England‘s Under-21s, had spells at Crystal Palace, Coventry and Colchester in his career.
After loans away from Upton Park, he established himself at Ipswich, where he played 218 times.
Sears has not hung up his boots just yet, however, and he balances his new coaching role with playing for non-league Chatham Town.
West Ham fans can not believe the once teenage sensation is now back to help the nurture the next star to come through the club’s famous academy.
One said: “Time flies, I remember his debut. I’m feeling old again.”
Another added: “Good to see you back Freddie, once a Hammer, always a Hammer.”