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 No10 from the four chosen nominees below!
All West Ham No10s since 1993/94 | |
|---|---|
1993-1994 | 2009 |
1994-1996 | 2009-2010 |
1996 | 2010-2014 |
1997-1999 | 2014-2016 |
1999-2003 | 2016-2023 |
2003-2007 | 2023-present |
2007-2009 |
|
John Moncur
DOB: 22.09.66 WHU: 1994-2003 Apps: 203 Goals: 9
There is no doubt that John Moncur is a hero among West Ham United supporters - and rightly so. Born in Stepney, just a few stops down the District line from Upton Park, he was always likely to be a die-hard West Ham fan.
Moncur lived the dream of every young east Londoner, having grabbed the opportunity to move to his beloved Hammers in 1994, being signed by Billy Bonds before playing under Harry Redknapp, and featured in a host of iconic West Ham moments, including winning the UEFA Intertoto Cup and the incredible 5-4 victory over Bradford City in 2000.
Over his nine years at the Club, during which time he played 203 times in all competitions and scored nine goals, his unique combination of skill and aggression saw him become a true Hammers cult icon.
Moncur experienced every emotion in Claret and Blue, which summed up the roller-coaster nature of life at West Ham during that era, following two relegations and two promotions around the start of the 1990s, while he played in the first team as the likes of Joe Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Michael Carrick and Jermain Defoe were coming through the Academy of Football and transitioning into the senior side.
Paolo Di Canio
DOB: 09.07.68 WHU: 1999-2003 Apps: 141 Goals: 51
With over 50 goals and a number of iconic performances for the Hammers in 141 appearances, Paolo Di Canio endeared himself to the Claret and Blue Army with his passion and skill over four-and-a-half years in east London.
Our Italian maestro and West Ham were essentially star-crossed lovers, and he packed so many moments into his West Ham spell that it’s hard, at times, to believe it all happened in such a short space of time.
Having had stints at his hometown club Lazio, followed by glimpses of greatness at Juventus, Napoli, Milan and Celtic, Di Canio featured regularly at Sheffield Wednesday, but it was only once he got into double figures goals-wise that Harry Redknapp made a move that changed the future for both Di Canio and West Ham United.
Paolo had it all: he could twist and turn, could beat players with incredible ease, but not only would he slink past the opposition, he would also absolutely humiliate them. He could score goals but, even better than that, he could score insane, impossible-to-describe, spectacular goals.
Di Canio scored a glut of unforgettable strikes in his West Ham career, but really there’s only ever going to be one at the top of the list. It’s often cited as among the best goals in the history of the Premier League, the scissor kick against Wimbledon. In truth, it’s quite possibly the best goal West Ham have ever scored.
Marlon Harewood
DOB: 25.08.79 WHU: 2003-2007 Apps: 170 Goals: 56
A Championship Play-Off winner, a Premier League hat-trick scorer, and the man who fired West Ham United into the 2006 FA Cup final. Marlon Harewood’s four-year spell in Claret and Blue was filled with unforgettable goals and iconic, history-making moments.
Joining the Irons in November 2003, Harewood would become the spearhead of the West Ham attack through the mid-2000s, netting 56 goals in 170 appearances.
The Hammers were hurting heading into the 2003/04 season. Relegation from the Premier League, despite achieving 42 points, meant a first season in the second tier of English football since the 1992/93 campaign. When Alan Pardew moved to east London from Reading in 2003, Harewood was at the top of his list of targets, and with the latter convinced that his future was with the Hammers, things moved very quickly.
With two goals under his belt on his home debut against Wigan Athletic, Harewood would go from strength to strength. The attacker would score 14 goals in 35 appearances in his first season for the Irons, followed by 22 finishes in the 2004/05 campaign, as the side returned to the Premier League.
Back in the top flight, Harewood continued to fire. The striker would play all but one of West Ham’s Premier League matches in the 2005/06 season, scoring 14 goals, including a hat-trick against Aston Villa. With two FA Cup goals that campaign, including the historic semi-final winner over Middlesbrough, Harewood’s status as a modern West Ham hero is secured.
Manuel Lanzini
DOB: 15.02.93 WHU: 2015-2016 (loan), 2016-2023 Apps: 226 Goals: 32
A firm favourite among Hammers fans and his teammates alike, Manuel Lanzini marked his final home game for the Club with a goal to round off a 3-1 win over Leeds United at London Stadium in May 2023, before ending his Hammers career in the best possible manner, with the UEFA Europa Conference League trophy in his hands.
Lanzini netted 32 times during his eight years of magnificent service in Claret and Blue, and left having earned himself a place on the list of West Ham United’s top 70 all-time appearance makers.
The Argentine midfielder joined the Hammers, initially on loan, from United Arab Emirates side Al Jazira in the summer of 2015, making the move permanent the following year. Lanzini made 226 appearances in all competitions and twice won the Club’s Goal of the Season award, for his unforgettable last-gasp strike at Tottenham Hotspur in 2020/21 and then a superb, volleyed finish at Crystal Palace the following campaign.
Hammer of the Year runner-up in 2016/17, Lanzini bravely fought back from a serious knee injury, that cost him a place in Argentina’s FIFA World Cup finals squad in 2018, to regain his national team spot and play a key role in West Ham’s success over recent years.
