West Ham United send message as official retirement now confirmed
West Ham United have been reminiscing on the past during the international break, with Premier League football returning within days.
For Graham Potter, it will be all about planning for the future now and bringing new blood to The London Stadium to boost his side’s strength ahead of next season.
However, after James Tomkins announced his retirement from football on Monday (24 March), fans of the Irons and Crystal Palace remembered the defender.
West Ham send Tomkins message
After coming up through the West Ham academy, Tomkins made his Premier League debut for the East London side in 2008.
Although his career was affected by some injuries along the way, from the 2009-10 season, Tomkins was a fairly regular part of the West Ham side.
The centre-back stayed at Upton Park throughout the season in the Championship, making 47 appearances across that campaign as the Irons gained promotion back to the top-flight.
| Season | Appearances |
| 2007/08 | 6 |
| 2008/09 | 12 |
| 2009/10 | 23 |
| 2010/11 | 19 |
| 2011/12 | 47 |
| 2012/13 | 26 |
| 2013/14 | 31 |
| 2014/15 | 22 |
| 2015/16 | 25 |
After the 2015-16 season, Crystal Palace bought the defender for a fee of £10million, where he stayed until last summer when his contract expired.
Having not played since, the centre-back took to Instagram on Monday to announce his retirement from football as he posted a thank you to his family, the staff he worked with along the way and the supporters of the clubs he played for.
West Ham responded by commenting on the post: “An outstanding career, James.”
West Ham prepare for new era
Although Potter’s tenure at West Ham has got off to a bit of a slow start, the boss will be looking ahead to the summer transfer window with the hope of it being a turning point.
Resources were limited during the winter window, meaning the manager had to largely deal with what he already had in the squad.
Evan Ferguson was signed on loan from Brighton, and West Ham will be hoping he can get going now after a good international period with the Republic of Ireland.
West Ham look comfortably safe from relegation now, sitting 17 points clear of the drop zone, and therefore it’s about putting in good foundations for the new campaign.
In the summer window, it will then be Potter’s time to put his mark on the West Ham squad in the hope of pushing further up the table next term.
There will be several players who will have to prove in the remaining time that they can be part of the new era at The London Stadium.