A full Wales international at the age of 19, young midfielder Jack Collison has made huge strides forward since leaving his teenage years behind.
Collison began his career with Peterborough United as a youngster before moving to Cambridge United. However, the U's relegation from the Football League led to the club disbanding its youth set-up and left Collison without a club.
A host of clubs expressed an interest in the midfielder, but it was West Ham United whose offer of a scholarship was accepted in the summer of 2005.
Collison continued his development under Academy Director Tony Carr and his staff at Little Heath before being made reserve-team captain at the start of the 2007/08 season. That summer, the teenager also featured in pre-season friendlies against Hornchurch and MK Dons.
After impressing in Kevin Keen's reserve side, Collison was handed his first-team debut in the 2-0 Barclays Premier League defeat by Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on New Year's Day 2008. Having replaced the injured Freddie Ljungberg midway through the first half, the youngster was not overawed by the occasion and produced a composed, confident display.
Six weeks earlier, Collison had made his debut for Wales Under-21s, scoring on his debut in a 4-0 UEFA European Championship qualifying win over Bosnia-Herzegovina on 17 November 2007. Despite being born in Watford, Collison opted to play for Wales after qualifying through his grandfather, former Welsh rugby union captain John Gwilliam.
Collison's first start at club level arrived on 12 April 2008 in the 1-0 loss at Bolton Wanderers, with his senior debut for Wales arriving in the 1-0 friendly success against Iceland in Reykjavik on 28 May. Four days later, the teenager had the pleasure of tracking Real Madrid's Wesley Sneijder as Wales lost 2-0 to The Netherlands in Rotterdam.
A dream summer was completed as Collison signed a new five-year contract with the Hammers shortly before joining the first-team squad on the pre-season tour of North America. There, he appeared as a second-half substitute in the 3-1 win over MLS side Columbus Crew and 3-2 defeat by the MLS All-Stars.
The 2008/09 season began with Collison in Alex Dyer's reserve team, and a loan move to League One promotion-chasers Peterborough had been lined up before he made an impressive substitute appearance in the 2-0 Barclays Premier League loss at Manchester United on 29 October.
That performance convinced manager Gianfranco Zola that Collison would be better served by remaining at Chadwell Heath and training with the first-team squad. From then on, the midfielder did not look back.
A first senior goal arrived on his home debut against Everton on 8 November, followed by a beautifully lofted winner against Manchester City at the Boleyn Ground on 1 March.
Not even a dislocated kneecap suffered at Wigan Athletic could slow Collison, who returned from a six-week lay-off for the final four fixtures of the season. His consistent performances throughout the 2008/09 campaign earned the popular youngster the Young Hammer of the Year award.
At international level, further caps came his way as the West Ham Academy graduate confirmed his status as one of Wales' stars of the future.