Throughout the 2024/25 season, we're taking a look at some of the best players to have worn a range of squad numbers for West Ham United, since they were introduced for the start of the 1993/94 campaign.
Vote for your favourite No6 from the four chosen nominees below!
All West Ham No6s since 1993/94 | |
|---|---|
1993-1995 | 2002-2004 |
1996-1997 | 2004-2006 |
1997-1998 | 2006-2007 |
1998-2000 | 2007-2008 |
2000-2002 | Summer 2008-present |
Martin Allen
DOB: 14.08.65 WHU: 1989-1995 Apps: 232 Goals: 35
From the moment he scored on his West Ham United debut against Plymouth Argyle, Martin Allen was always going to become a Hammers hero.
The combative midfielder had enjoyed a successful five-year spell at Queens Park Rangers before making the move across London to the Boleyn Ground for £670,000 in the summer of 1989.
A member of the famous footballing Allen family - his cousin Paul famously won the FA Cup with West Ham in 1980, while cousin Clive later joined him in east London - Allen developed a reputation for being a no-nonsense player who was tough in the tackle.
After announcing his arrival with three goals in his opening five appearances in Claret and Blue, Allen would net more than 30 times in 200-plus appearances in all competitions during his six years with the Club.
Following his departure to Portsmouth for £500,000 in 1995, he enjoyed a successful managerial career, starting out as an assistant to future Hammers boss Alan Pardew at hometown club Reading before going on to take charge of Barnet (five times), Brentford, MK Dons, Leicester City, Cheltenham Town, Notts County, Gillingham, Eastleigh and Chesterfield.
Danny Williamson
DOB: 05.12.73 WHU: 1992-1997 Apps: 58 Goals: 5
Danny Williamson was the perfect Academy star, a keen West Ham supporter who was born in Plaistow and played locally for Newham and Essex boys before committing his future to the Hammers.
At the end of the 1993/94 season, 20-year-old Williamson was given his debut by manager Billy Bonds as a late substitute in a surprising 2-0 victory over Arsenal at Highbury. Having retained his place for the following two games, away at QPR and at home to Southampton, Williamson got his Upton Park career off to a flying start by putting West Ham ahead after just eleven minutes against the Saints.
The appointment of Harry Redknapp and the arrivals of John Moncur and Don Hutchison, together with an unfortunate ankle injury, limited Williamson’s gametime, but he took his chance to become a regular starter in the first team in 1995/96 and made a total of 33 appearances, scoring four goals, including an outstanding 70-yard run and finish away at Bolton.
Unfortunately, Williamson was unable to kick on and properly establish himself in Claret and Blue, and after an injury-plagued three-year spell at Everton, he retired due to injury in 2000, aged just 26.
Michael Carrick
DOB: 28.07.81 WHU: 1999-2004 Apps: 159 Goals: 6
While the majority of West Ham United Academy stars hail from east London, Essex or elsewhere in the South East, Michael Carrick was born, raised, scouted and recruited from the fabled Wallsend Boys Club in the North East, which has also produced the likes of Alan Shearer, Lee Clark and Steve Bruce.
After signing a two-year YTS (now a scholarship) with West Ham as a youngster, Carrick was part of the squad that won the FA Youth Cup in 1999, and he made his senior debut for the Club in an Intertoto Cup game in the summer of the same year.
The current Middlesbrough manager would spend five years as a senior player at Upton Park, making 159 appearances, and was part of the team that was relegated under Glenn Roeder in 2003.
After the heart-breaking 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace in the 2004 Division One Play-Off final, he departed for Tottenham Hotspur, and later went on to spend 12 years at Manchester United, where he became one of the most decorated players in the country.
Besides five Premier League wins, one FA Cup, three League Cups, one UEFA Champions League, one UEFA Europa League and one FIFA Club World Cup, Carrick won 34 caps for England and went to two FIFA World Cups.
Matthew Upson
DOB: 18.04.79 WHU: 2007-2011 Apps: 145 Goals: 4
Matthew Upson was the last West Ham United player to wear the No6 shirt before it was retired in memory of the late Bobby Moore in summer 2008.
In January 2007, with West Ham battling relegation, Upson was snapped up by then manager Alan Curbishley for a reported £6million fee, only for the defender to be injured on his debut, then again in his comeback match, and miss the run-in that concluded with a miraculous escape from relegation.
However, Upson did enjoy a relatively injury-free run over the final four seasons of his career in Claret and Blue, scoring his first goal for the Hammers in a 2-1 triumph over Manchester United at Upton Park in December 2007.
After becoming a consistent performer his leadership skills were rewarded with the captaincy in 2009, and following 2009/10 he went on to become the first West Ham player to score at a FIFA World Cup since Geoff Hurst when he netted for England against Germany in South Africa.
Upson departed for Stoke City following the Club’s relegation at the end of 2010/11, and later enjoyed spells at Brighton & Hove Albion, Leicester City and MK Dons. Now 45, Upson is currently working as a pundit for the BBC.
