West Ham All-Time Premier League XI – Midfielders

Mr. West Ham and Scott Parker are voted to start in the midfield for the West Ham Premier League XI. Declan Rice joins them on the bench.

West Ham fans from around the world were asked to vote and determine the players to be in West Ham’s All Premier League side. Some players were shoe-ins to make the squad while the debate raged heavily for other positions within the team.

In order to have been eligible to make this team, a player must have played for West Ham for at least one season during the Premier League era. Therefore, legends such as Bobby Moore, Trevor Brooking, and Billy Bonds were ineligible to make this team.

With the help of our friends at American Hammers Network and COYIrons, along with 8,500 West Ham fans, a full squad was chosen. This week’s instalment will focus on the midfielders to make the squad. To see the positions we have announced before, see below:

Goalkeeper: Starter – Fabianski; Bench – Miklosko

Fullback: Starters – Dicks, Potts; Bench – Glen Johnson

Centre-Back: Starters – Ferdinand, Martin; Bench – Collins

Starting Midfielder: Mark Noble

• Joined West Ham: Academy product
• Debut: August 2004
• Hammer of the Year: Winner (2012, 2014); Runner-Up (2005)
• Appearances: 506 (T-7th all-time)
• Stats: 60 goals; 61 assists

Mr. West Ham. It’s enough said really. Mark Noble has always been a Hammer. The Canning Town-born player joined the Academy at a young age and was the youngest player to make an appearance for the reserve team at just age 15-years-old.

His first-team debut came just two years later at the age of 17, one of the youngest debutants in the club’s history. Noble played exceptionally well in his first year at the club, achieving a runner-up position in the Hammer of the Year award in 2005.

After two loan spells at Hull and Ipswich Town, he began to play more and more for the first-team, with his first goal for the club coming against Brighton in January of 2007.

He continued to play more and more, eventually earning a starting spot in the midfield that he has more or less consistently kept for several years. He has had his share of criticism, however, as there have been times where large swaths of the fanbase have called for him to be removed from the starting lineup.

But for all of those criticisms, Noble has produced some excellent moments in a West Ham shirt. He won two Hammer of the Year awards in 2012 and 2014 and arguably had his greatest season during the final campaign at the Boleyn in 2015-16. Some even called for him to be called up to the England squad that season, something that will most likely never happen in his career.

While Noble has certainly lost his pace and his spot in the starting lineup, no West Ham fan can ever argue the passion and commitment Noble has given to our great club. He truly is Mr. West Ham and should have a statue built for him one day.