When England travel to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, manager Fabio Capello will owe huge gratitude to one man with whom he has exchanged only one word.For more than 30 years, Tony Carr has headed up the West Ham United youth academy. Now graduates of its acclaimed development programme are likely to provide a quarter of the international squad.
Seven current England internationals, with a total of 345 caps between them, have passed through the east London set-up.
Rundown on the Academy's 'Magnificent Seven'
And while Capello has, so far, only said the word 'hello' to him, Carr's service to the club he supported as a boy will be rewarded on Wednesday night when many of those stars turn out for his testimonial at Upton Park.
Imagine Rio Ferdinand playing in a team alongside his brother Anton for the first time since they were youngsters; then picture Chelsea icons John Terry and Frank Lampard, usually guaranteed a hostile reception, playing at the Boleyn Ground in West Ham shirts.
It is set to happen at the tribute for 59-year-old Carr, whose values of hard work, discipline and fun, have oiled the conveyor belt of talent which has netted the east London club a fortune in transfer sales.
THE BIG ACADEMY SALES
£18m Rio Ferdinand (Leeds)
£11m Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
£6.6m Joe Cole (Chelsea)
£6m Jermain Defoe (Spurs)
£6m* Glen Johnson (Chelsea)
£2.75m* Michael Carrick (Spurs)
*Plus sell-on/appearance clauses
"The ethos of the football club has always been to produce the best local young talent that they can attract," said Cockney Carr, who was born a penalty kick away from the famous Bow Bells.
"Although it's getting tougher, we are still trying to maintain that ethos.
"It's a very working class area with lots of kids that love the game. People are keen, there's lots of leagues, there's enthusiasm for the game. We've just been lucky it's a fertile area for young talent."
The talent developed by West Ham includes current England captain Ferdinand, his predecessor Terry, plus international team-mates Lampard, Joe Cole, Michael Carrick, Glen Johnson and Jermain Defoe.
All left, for a variety of reasons, including one after relegation from the Premier League in 2003 with a side that contained four of those seven in Cole, Carrick, Johnson and Defoe.
"Rio was sold for £18m, Frank £11m. Someone added it up and said you're talking about £80m," said Carr, who has been ably aided down the years by chief scout Jimmy Hampson.
"Other players, not so much the bigger names, have gone for half a million here, or a million there, so you are talking about possibly that amount for the club in the last 10 years or so."
606: DEBATE
I hope on the night there's an amnesty and fans respect the likes of Frank Lampard and Paul Ince
westhamuwhat
The presence of Terry and Lampard shows the respect which Carr commands and he hopes fans appreciate their appearance at the match.
"I've spoken to the players individually and they are all happy. Even though one or two have gone away and not enjoyed the best receptions, they have all been fantastically willing to come back," he said.
Carr could see the Boleyn Ground floodlights from his childhood home and as a teenager joined the academy, where he cleaned the boots of World Cup winners Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters.
Moore captained the 1966 England side which won the sport's biggest prize, while hat-trick hero Hurst and Peters provided the goals.
"I joined in that summer as a 15-year-old apprentice and was bumping into Moore, Hurst and Peters who had just won the World Cup so it was surreal, but at the time you took it for granted," said Carr.
"The lack of success at England level since then has made it a very big deal.
"Bobby was a great role model and example to young players in terms of the way he conducted himself, the way he trained and everything about him. Everybody looked up to Bobby as the captain, and the man to aspire to.
"I was a very young player and he was the captain of England but he always had time for young players and wasn't aloof in any shape or form."
Young Michael Carrick. Joe Cole and Frank Lampard with a photo of World Cup heroes Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters
Will Carrick, Cole and Lampard emulate the boys of '66?
The parallels between 1966 and 2010 are not lost on Carr, with another academy graduate in Rio Ferdinand set to captain the side, and he said the guiding principles remained the same.
"What you try to do with all the young players is try to give them good habits, on and off the pitch," he said.
"That means working hard, practising, trying to be the best player you can be and when you're off the pitch, conducting yourself in the right way and steering clear of trouble."
Carr did not make the grade as a West Ham player and moved to Barnet before a broken leg ended his career, and he was recruited by future manager John Lyall as a part-time junior coach in the early 1970s.
He has helped England internationals such as Tony Cottee and Paul Ince, worked under eight managers, witnessed two FA Cup wins, several relegations and promotions, and radical changes to the world of football.
"With the likes of Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard, not so long ago, they didn't really come into clubs until they were 13 or 14 years of age, that's when the recruitment started to hot up. But now you are talking about seven and eight year olds and it's tough," said Carr.
"To spot talent that's going to go all the way at that stage is almost an impossibility, but we do try our best. Competition around London now is immense."
Evidence of the academy's continuing success can be seen in the current first-team squad, which boasts Welsh midfielder Jack Collison, England under-21 internationals James Tomkins and Mark Noble, along with the country's former under-19 players Junior Stanislas and Freddie Sears.
They are likely to feature in Wednesday's match, which could also see current Hammers boss Gianfranco Zola donning his boots.
"Tony has done a brilliant job, not only for West Ham, but for the whole nation," said the 43-year-old former Chelsea striker.
"So many important and influential players with the national team have started here and that tells you what he is all about."
Carr said there had been no suggestion West Ham's new joint owners David Gold, a former Hammers youth player, and David Sullivan would change the youth set-up despite cost cutting at the club to alleviate debts of about £100m.
"I've still got a year to run on my contract and hopefully the new owners see fit to renew it at the right time. I've got no intentions of retiring at this point," he said.
With more youngsters set to progress into the main squad, they may reap the benefits of staying loyal to the successful system.
And if England thrive in South Africa, there might even be another word for Carr from Capello.
* Tickets for Wednesday's match, between West Ham and Tony Carr's Academy All-Stars, are available via the official West Ham website.
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