As debuts go, the opening day of the season at Arsenal is about as daunting as it gets.
But Reece Oxford not only delivered a composed display at the heart of West Ham’s midfield he did it at the tender age of 16, becoming the second youngest player to play in a Premier League fixture.
Yes, the man boy who kept Mesut Ozil quiet and completed 95 per cent of his passes was born on December 16, 1998, and yes, that makes SportsJOE feel terribly, terribly old.
And, just so we’re not alone, get your head around this:
– The week Oxford was born, Rush Hour was the biggest film at the box office and Cher’s Believe was top of the charts.
– Only four teams have won the Premier League in Oxford’s lifetime, Manchester United, Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea.
– He was 12 days old when Hammers boss Slaven Bilic played his last game for the club.
– He was still in nappies as United won the treble in 1999.
– Mankind was WWF champion
– Fifa 99 – the sixth edition of the game – was on the shelves.
– We were two weeks away from officially joining the euro
– Tiger Woods had already won the first of his 14 majors
– Randy Couture was the UFC heavyweight champion
– We were already spending most of our time on our mobile phones. Mostly doing this
… on one of these:
