Mark Noble Senior recalls his son’s journey from young West Ham United fan to pulling on the Claret and Blue…
Mark Noble Senior can remember it all.
Every game. Every training session. Each and every car journey.
The Noble family has been a fixture of Canning Town for over 100 years. Ancestors of the legendary West Ham United captain lived just across from where the Club’s forefathers – Thames Ironworks FC – would play their football in the late 1800s.
The Club and the Noble name have been linked since the very beginning.
Throughout Mark Noble’s entire career, indeed his life, his father and namesake has a been a consistent presence; a guiding hand. A sense of reality in the great times, and perspective in the tough times.
Before West Ham United, before training with Arsenal, before Newham District, and before even Barking Colts, Noble Senior can recall the very first time his son – who would go on to be hold countless records and captain the Club they both loved so dearly – even kicked a ball.
“A close friend of mine took him over the park,” he said. “They got involved in a football match for youngsters. This friend said to me ‘You want to get him into a side’. I thought it was a bit early because I didn’t know there were sides for eight-years-olds and younger, but Mark wanted to get into a side.
“I told him he was in before I’d actually phoned up! I spoke to the fella at Barking Colts – his name was Bill, and I remember him saying to bring him on a Thursday night. I took him down for his first session and he was outstanding.
“He got in the side for a five-a-side tournament on that Sunday – the first time he’d ever played match football in his life – and he scored about ten goals! I was shocked at how good he was.”
GUNNER BE SCOUTED
A young Mark Noble Junior would quickly become a regular in Barking Colts, and for his school team.
It was not long before scouts from across London were travelling to east London, all to take a look at the youngster from Canning Town.
One scout in particular caught the attention of Noble and Noble Senior, leading to regular trips to north London.
Noble Senior confirmrd: “He captained Barking Colts. He was school captain, and he was picked for Newham, and captained Newham. That’s when the scouts got involved and we had scouts there from Millwall, Arsenal, Chelsea, and West Ham. Scouts started driving us mad, to be honest!
“There was a scout who was a nice fella, and I got on with him really well. He was actually with Millwall and he wanted us to go and train there. I said we would at one of their local centres. They wanted us to sign but I said it was a bit early.
“About two weeks after that this fella rang me. He said ‘I’ve got a new job and I’m going to go to Arsenal, and I want Mark to come with me’. So, we went to Arsenal.
“It was crazy. On the M25 every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. It was a lot of mileage and it was hard work. We used to get a sandwich on the way to training.
“At his age group at Arsenal, he was one of the better boys. They wanted to sign him, and we were going to go along with it…until West Ham came along.”
HEADING TO THE HAMMERS
For the Noble family, the emotional connection to the Irons was an obvious tie. Noble Senior left the decision to his son – but a decision did not really need to be made.
He continued: “Once West Ham was mentioned, it was Mark’s call. I told him it was up to him. The scouts got talking to us.
“I told Mark it was his call, to go to bed and to think on it. Mark told me straight away I was mad and he was going to go to West Ham. It was Mark’s call, but I was buzzing.
The first time I drove him into Chadwell Heath, I was over the moon. We got to know Rio and Anton Ferdinand’s Dad. We got close to George Cole (Joe Cole’s father).
“Mark’s first West Ham game was at Ipswich; ether Under-10s or Under-11s. The week before, I had watched the age group and they were a really good side, so I was a bit worried about the game. But Mark did really well. A guy came around the pitch and said to me ‘that number eight is a good player’, and it was Mark.”
Despite not being the biggest on the pitch, or at Chadwell Heath, Noble would quickly progress through the groups, always playing up the ages before making his first team debut in 2004 at 17-years-old.
What stood a young Noble out? From the man’s father himself, it came down to hard work, tenacity, and a love of the game.
“I did a little bit of football myself. I tried my best, but I don’t think I was dedicated," he smiled. “Mark was different. He always wanted to train and he always wanted to work hard.
“He also did a bit of athletics. He got in the school team for that. But I don’t know what he would have done if he wasn’t a footballer...”
MAKING THE GRADE
Once he had arrived at Chadwell Heath, Mark Junior's one ambition was to graduate from the Academy of Football and play first-team football for West Ham United.
It was a long journey, and one based on hard work, commitment and total dedication, but one which saw the young midfielder break records on his way to pulling on a Claret and Blue shirt for the first time at senior level in a League Cup tie with Southend United at the Boleyn Ground in August 2004.
“Mark was never the biggest or the fastest, but he started playing a year up at 13 or 14, then it was another year up, then obviously the reserves, which was obviously a bit crazy because he had some of the older pros around him and they all helped him,” Noble Senior recalled, pointing to his record-breaking debut for the reserves against Ipswich Town in .
“When he played for the reserves for the first time at 15, he came out of school and they loved it, but I'm not sure if that would happen now with the youngsters because school is super-important, isn't it? They were over the moon, though, and said 'Go and have the afternoon off'!
“Kevin Keen was his coach and he looked after Mark and even played alongside him on his reserve-team debut. They got on well and he was involved a lot, and Mark started doing really well with the reserves.”
Having impressed greatly for the reserves, Noble was rewarded with his first professional contract, but not without a little worry for his old man.
“They were doing the YTS contracts on a Tuesday night but there was nothing for Mark, so I rang Jimmy Hampson the next day and I said 'Nothing was said' and he replied 'That's because he's got straight pro' and I was like, yes, that's proper,” he continued.
“It wasn't too long after that when he started playing for the first team. Once he got in, he loved the little bonus he got, so he worked even harder and he kept playing!"
DEBUT DELIGHT
When Noble's big night did arrive, incidentally, his father was out of the country on holiday in Cyprus with his sisters, meaning Mark Senior missed it.
But there is no bitterness in Mark Senior's voice when he recalls the news that his son had become a West Ham United player, only pride.
“It came out of the blue!,” he recalled. “We were in Cyprus and we found out he was on the bench and then he came on. A close friend of mine was across the table and he had someone at the ground and he was on the phone and he said he was doing alright!
“Then after the game, he walked [his now wife and then girlfriend] Carly home, which is lovely, isn't it! She is good as gold... that's the best contract he ever signed.”
Four months later, in January 2005, Noble was handed his full debut in an FA Cup third-round win over Norwich City, and he played the full 90 minutes in a 1-0 win.
Some fathers might have sat back and congratulated themselves on a job well done, but not Noble Senior: “It was nice, but I sat him down at home and said 'You ain't made it yet, you've got to keep working hard, because a couple of games means nothing, you've got to keep working hard.”
Thankfully for West Ham United, Mark Junior heeded his father's words and, 18 years later, the rest is history.
MAGIC MEMORIES
As his son's career blossomed, Mark Senior travelled the length and breadth of the country - and over land and sea - to watch him in action for Club and country.
Mark Junior was called up by England at age-group level, helping both the U19s and U21s to UEFA European Championship finals, with his Dad in the stands in Sweden and the Netherlands respectively for each and every match.
It was the same for West Ham, with Mark Senior riding the same rollercoaster as his boy as the Hammers were relegated, promoted, relegated again, promoted again, established themselves in the Premier League and made the move from the Boleyn Ground to London Stadium.
“Mark was only 20 when he played in the Great Escape and helped keep the Club up, beating Man U in the last game, which was magic,” he remembered.
“Then we had the Play-Off finals in 2005 and 2012. The 2012 one was a great day. Then he went to Dubai on his stag do with his mates as he was marrying Carly the following weekend. Did I go? No, not with that firm! The wedding was great, though, a great night.”
Mark Senior's passion for West Ham and his family was nearly matched by his passion for watching his son play for his country.
He confirmed: “I went everywhere watching him - Sweden, Portugal, Spain, Italy... all over Europe. I drove to France and Portugal for a few games in my van, so we'd put a settee in the back of the van and Carly would sit in the back with my girls. When you think about it, it was mad!
“I was just buzzing that my boy played for West Ham and, if he'd had a bit of pace, maybe he'd have got a senior England cap, because he certainly had the football brain.”
So, as his son prepares for retirement, how is Mark Senior feeling about seeing his boy wear Claret and Blue for the final time? And what will his legacy be at the Club they both love?
“I'll be in bits,” he said. “I just want it to be over, really, and out of the way and move on. We've had requests for tickets and shirts to be signed every week for years and that'll go away! Seriously, though, it will be very emotional.
“He's played for West Ham for all these years and loved every moment of it and he deserves to be Mr West Ham because he loves the Club and loves the supporters and if he can do anything to make West Ham better or more successful, he'll always do his best.”
