Mark Noble’s top five moments for West Ham United

Testimonial

The last moment on this list and arguably the most special, was Noble’s testimonial at Upton Park in 2016. Only a few players have had testimonials at West Ham and Noble joined that elite list which included names of West Ham legends such as Bobby Moore, Trevor Brooking and Billy Bonds.

It was a fantastic day for Noble and his family, as well as West Ham fans as they got to see some former Hammers stars return for the game of West Ham XI vs West Ham all-stars. The likes of Dean Ashton, Paulo Di Canio, Rio Ferdinand and Trevor Sinclair were just some of the names playing in a sensational all-star team.

It was a very entertaining game to watch and it had some great moments ranging from Di Canio scoring return, Adrian running the length of the field to score, Ashton’s spectacular bicycle kick and Taylor Tombides scoring the last goal of the game in memory of his late brother and academy product Dylan Tombides.

Thankfully the West Ham XI side came out eventual 6-5 winners as it would have been a little bit embarrassing if the current side had lost to a team filled mainly with retired ex-players.

The day wouldn’t have been complete however if Mr. West Ham hadn’t gotten himself on the scoresheet and he did so in the 25th minute to level the game with a clever outside of the boot effort. It was a great day and it was a fitting tribute to one of West Ham’s greatest and loyalist servants.

It will be a sad day when Nobles final game in Claret and Blue comes around, not only for West Ham but for football in general. They just don’t make them like Noble anymore and it will be a long time before we see another one-club player in world football.

There have been calls from some West Ham fans to retire Nobles famous number 16 shirt out of respect for our captain but it remains to be seen whether or not this will officially happen.

There were rumours that Noble was set to retire at the end of this season but it is clear to see from the Englishman’s recent comments on why he has decided to extend his deal for an extra year.

"“My final ambition as a West Ham player now is simply to experience the thrill and the honour of stepping out in front of you again.” – Mark Noble"

It is quite clear that Noble is waiting to retire in front of the fans and that is completely understandable. If any player deserves to have the full 62,000 fans on their final game, its Mark Noble.