West Ham Academy Stalwart Tony Carr Given Minimum Redundancy Payment of £14,000

West Ham academy stalwart Tony Carr has been told he is surplus to requirements at the club after 43 years, and offered only the statutory minimum redundancy payment of £14,000.

The Daily Mail reports that Carr, 65, is distraught over the club's decision, but has reluctantly accepted the offer. He worked as a coach and academy director at West Ham between 1973 and 2014, and is credited with helping the club earn over £50m profit on transfer fees from selling academy graduates.

Carr mentored dozens of high-profile youngsters during his time as academy boss, including Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick, Joe Cole, Jermain Defoe and Glen Johnson. He has also played a major role in shaping the team during recent years, with Reece Oxford and James Tomkins – recently sold to Crystal Palace for around £10m – both coming through the academy on his watch.

Carr was moved into an ambassadorial role in 2014, but was told the position was no longer full-time earlier in the summer. He was reportedly offered a one-day role or the minimum redundancy payment, and chose to accept the £14,000.

Carr has expressed his deep disappointment at the decision, and also at the fact it was dealt with entirely by the human resources department instead of the senior hierarchy at the club. He told The Mail: "I'm very disappointed because I still feel I've got a lot to offer, and West Ham has become a way of life for me after all these years.

"The way it was done with people from HR, who have been here hardly any time at all, was particularly disrespectful in my opinion. But that's the way of the world these days."