West Ham United by the numbers: Who wore each number best?

West Ham United is a club that historically has kept certain numbers to certain positions. The 10, 12, 9, etc… but who wore each number the best?

History, passion, traditions, and numbers… really numbers? For West Ham, the answer is yes because over the years they have kept the same numbers in the same roles for the club. Either the big man up front or the general in the middle to the attack, each number represents the position and the player. So, who wore each number best for the club? Let us all take a look.

Working from highest to lowest, we start with the honorable mentions. The highest number in West Ham history was Dan Kemp at 68. The numbers 49, 50, 51, 53, 55, 59, 61, 62, 64, 65, and 66 were all only ever used by one player each. Out of those, the most promising would be Ben Johnson wearing 53.

From the ’50s to the ’40s, they look a bit like this. At 54, clearly Connor Conventry. 52, the young and currently promising Jeremy Ngakia. Number 48 sees Kemp’s name again but the club pedigree put Dan Potts ahead of him. 47, Elliot Lee and 46, the younger version of Junior Stanislas.

Number 45 has to be Grady Diangana as he has proven us all wrong. 44 has only been worn for a max of one year by each player and Reece Burke probably tops that list with promise. Marcus Browne is the most memorable 43 but really only because he wore it the longest.

Martin Samuelsen is the most notable 42 even though he rarely played at all for the senior team. At 41… do we even need to say? Declan Rice will go down as the best player to ever wear that number even with all leagues combined. And at 40, Freddie Sears. He only wore it one year but the promise that followed him was huge and it far exceeded what really happened.