An era in West Ham United history has ended.
After nearly 18 years and exactly 550 first-team appearances, Mark Noble has retired.
The east London-born lifelong Hammers supporter, long-serving midfielder and Club captain has hung up his boots, so here we look back on the facts and figures of a unique career in Claret and Blue.
Noble retires sixth in the Club’s all-time appearance list with exactly 550 to his name. Only Billy Bonds (799), Frank Lampard Senior (670), Bobby Moore (647), Sir Trevor Brooking (643) and Alvin Martin (596) have worn a West Ham shirt on more occasions.
Of Noble’s 550 appearances, 484 have been starts, with the other 66 coming from the substitutes’ bench, with the latter constituting a Club record.
Some 414 have come in the Premier League, another Club record, some 159 ahead of Aaron Cresswell in second place on 255.
Overall, he ranks seventh in games played for a single club in the Premier League, behind only Ryan Giggs (632 for Manchester United), Jamie Carragher (508 for Liverpool), Steven Gerrard (504 for Liverpool), Paul Scholes (499 for Manchester United), John Terry (492 for Chelsea) and Frank Lampard (429 for Chelsea).
When you add Noble’s 64 Championship appearances, including six in the Play-Offs in 2005 and 2012, his total of 478 League games overall ranks him sixth overall, behind Bonds (663), Lampard (551), Moore (544), Brooking (528) and Ruffell (505).
Elsewhere, the midfielder has played in 32 FA Cup ties, 25 EFL Cup ties and 15 times in European competition, including nine UEFA Europa League ties this season, making him the Club’s joint-highest appearance maker in European matches.
Those 550 appearances have come against no fewer than 67 different opponents, with the first being Southend United on his debut in an EFL Cup second-round tie on 24 August 2004, and the most-recent being Olympique Lyonnais in a Europa League quarter-final second leg in France on 14 April this year.
Noble’s most-frequent opponent down the years has been Manchester United, who he has faced on 28 occasions, ahead of Chelsea (26), Tottenham Hotspur (25), Arsenal and Liverpool (24) and Everton (23).
Incidentally, Southend is one of the nine opponents the Canning Town-born player has faced on just one occasion, with Bristol Rovers, Cheltenham Town, Colchester United, Hartlepool United, Shrewbury Town, Stockport County, Kidderminster Harriers and Lyon being the other eight
Noble’s most-common teammate was Carlton Cole, who he shared a pitch with on no fewer than 217 occasions, followed by Cresswell (208), James Tomkins (201), Winston Reid (182), Robert Green (181) and James Collins (151).
It is Tomkins, though, who he has played the most minutes alongside, with 15,542, ahead of Cresswell (14,870), Green (14,773) and Reid (13,983).
His most-common opponent has been Gary Cahill, with 21, followed by César Azpilicueta (18), David de Gea, Robert Huth, Phil Jagielka, Aaron Lennon and Ryan Shawcross (all 17).
Wins-wise, the 35-year-old’s favourite opponents down the years have been Southampton, with eleven, followed by Sunderland (nine) and Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur and Watford (all eight).
The biggest victory Noble has enjoyed as a player came on 14 April 2012, when he started the 6-0 Championship win over Brighton & Hove Albion at the Boleyn Ground. Premier League-wise, he has been part of four 4-0 wins, with the most recent of course coming at Carrow Road in the final month of his career.
In the FA Cup, he has been part of two 5-1 wins, over Burnley on 21 February 2011 and at Blackburn Rovers exactly five years later.
Noble’s also ranks joint-second in the Club’s all-time Premier League goalscorer list with 47, level with Paolo Di Canio and eight behind Michail Antonio. Of those 47, 28 have come the penalty spot, placing him third in the all-time Premier League successful spot-kick rankings behind Frank Lampard Jr (32) and Steven Gerrard (29).
All in, Noble has scored 62 goals in Claret and Blue, including 40 penalties, and five goals each against Southampton and Watford, making those two his favourite opponents.
So there you go - Mark Noble's West Ham United career by numbers!
