Up and coming Northern Ireland striker Callum Marshall is the subject of a new documentary produced by his parent club, West Ham United.
Callum Marshall: Up and Coming focuses on Marshall’s roots in Northern Ireland, his love of playing football and his progression with West Ham. It even reveals the first word he spoke as a child was “ball”.
The documentary tells the story of the 19-year-old Northern Ireland international's journey to the east London-based Premier League club, his first team debut earlier this month and everything before and in between.
West Ham TV followed his dramatic senior international debut in Denmark last June, travelled to Belfast for a home international debut in October, and also spoke to Callum - plus many others - about his career to date.
The documentary features Linfield manager David Healy, Linfield Academy manager Glenn Ferguson and various people who have followed his journey from the very start, including his mother and father, Cathy and Ciaran Marshall.
It reveals Marshall, who hails from Glengormley in Co Antrim, has always had a knack for scoring goals.
Bangor Rangers were his first team but he was quickly snapped up by Glentoran at the age of seven. He subsequently attended Club NI, the forerunner to the Irish FA JD Academy and National Performance Programme, and eventually signed scholarship terms with Linfield, aged 15.
After impressing in Linfield’s youth teams, he started banging in the goals for their Reserves, and that brought him to the attention of West Ham scout Scott Boyd, who was impressed by what he saw.
The young striker only made three senior appearances for the Blues before signing a scholarship contract with the Hammers in January 2022.
What has followed has been some journey.
Playing in a group of outstanding youngsters, Marshall and his fellow U18s triumphed, securing an FA Youth Cup and U18 Premier League South double in 2022-23.
A first professional contract followed and it was extended until June 2027 earlier this month ahead of a loan to EFL Championship club West Bromwich Albion.
This season Marshall scored 16 goals in 10 Premier League 2 games and was nominated for four PL2 Player of the Month awards and won two prior to his temporary transfer to The Hawthorns.
He made his senior international debut against Denmark in Copenhagen last June, and in October he returned to the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park, a stadium where he was a ballboy, to make his first Northern Ireland appearance on home turf.
In the documentary Marshall admits the last few years have all been a bit crazy. Three years ago he was on the bench in the NIFL Premiership – this coming weekend he could debut for West Brom in England’s second tier in a West Midlands derby against Birmingham City.
You can view Callum Marshall: Up and Coming below.
