Mark Noble

He had entered the game as an 83rd-minute substitute for Shaun Newton.

We think very highly of Mark.

If he keeps on working hard and continues to develop as he has, there is no reason why he can't become a top player for this club.

Noble won the Young Hammer of the Year and the runner-up to the Hammer of the Year awards despite making his debut only four months previously.

Mark James Noble (born 8 May 1987) is an English former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder and is well remembered for his time at English club West Ham United, spending eighteen years with the club where he is now sporting director.

Eventually, the club showed an interest in him and Noble signed as a youth player in 2000.

He became the youngest player ever to appear in their reserve team, aged 15.

Noble has the most Premier League appearances for West Ham, in addition to being the longest serving player in their squad at the end of his time with the club having been in the first team since 2004.

He became a trainee in July 2003 and made his debut in the senior team at the age of just 17 in the League Cup on 24 August 2004 in a 2–0 win against Southend United, replacing Luke Chadwick for the final 22 minutes of the game.

On 8 January 2005, on his third appearance for West Ham, Noble made his first start for the club, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 FA Cup third round win against Norwich City.

He made his league debut in the Championship a week later, 15 January 2005, in a 4–2 defeat away at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

On 30 May 2005, Noble played in the 2005 Football League Championship play-off final which saw West Ham beat Preston North End 1–0 to secure a return to the Premier League.

Upon West Ham's return to the Premier League, he featured in only five League games in the 2005–06 season, including those against Tottenham Hotspur on 20 November 2005 and against Manchester United on 27 November, but after a game against Blackburn Rovers on 10 December, he found regular playing time harder to come by and was sent out on loan.

Apart from two short loan spells at Hull City and Ipswich Town in 2006, he played all of his first team football for the Hammers, which earned him the nickname "Mr West Ham".

He did not play for West Ham at all in 2006.

Noble was subsequently loaned to Hull City by manager Alan Pardew in order for him to get some games.

He made five appearances, his debut coming on 18 February 2006 in a 1–0 away defeat by Cardiff City.

Noble's loan ended early after he suffered an injury to his lower back.

Noble signed a three-month loan in August 2006 with Ipswich Town in the hope of gaining necessary first-team experience.

He played 13 games in the Championship under manager, Jim Magilton and scored his first professional goal on 12 September in a 2–1 home win over Coventry City.

He played 11 games in all competitions, scoring three goals in the 2006–07 season.

Noble scored his first goal for West Ham against Brighton & Hove Albion, the side's first of three in a 3–0 home win in January 2007 in the third round of the FA Cup, from an assist by Carlos Tevez.

On 4 March, he scored his first Premiership goal and the opening goal of the game, against Tottenham at Upton Park in a game West Ham eventually lost 4–3 in the final seconds.

Noble established his place in Alan Curbishley's side during the 2007–08 season, starting nearly all games when fit.

He scored his first penalty for the club on 18 August 2007 in a 1–0 away win against Birmingham City after Colin Doyle had fouled Craig Bellamy.

He was out for several weeks in November 2007 after he had played through an injury for the last several months without letting the medical staff know.

In January 2008, Noble scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory over Liverpool from the penalty spot, after Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher had brought down Freddie Ljungberg in the last few seconds of second-half added time.

His performance in the match was described as "exceptional".

The 2008–09 season did not start well for Noble, as he was sent off for two bookable offences in a 3–0 loss away at Manchester City, the first away game of the season.

After serving his suspension he came back to score an equaliser against West Bromwich Albion after West Ham went a goal down with West Brom coming back to win 3–2.

This was one of five goals he scored in the season with three coming from the penalty spot.

He won the club's Hammer of the Year trophy twice, as well as being voted Hammer of the Decade at the end of the 2010s.

Noble played for England at U16, U17, U18, U19 and U21 levels.

He captained the U21 side, scoring three goals in 20 games.

In 2020, Noble was rated as the player with the second highest conversion rate for penalty kicks in the world over the last 20 years.

His 90.5% conversion rate was only beaten by Robert Lewandowski's rate of 91.1%.

Noble is currently sporting director at West Ham United, a role he commenced on 2 January 2023 after a short break after retiring as a player at the end of the 2021–22 season.

Born in Canning Town, East London, Noble played for Barking Colts and moved to Arsenal's academy at age 11.

His father, however, who would drive him to training, could not always arrange the time to get Noble to training sessions due to the distance between their home in Beckton and Arsenal's academy in Hale End.

Noble supported local club West Ham United as a boy, and grew up just one mile away from Upton Park.