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 No3 from the four chosen nominees below!
All West Ham No3s since 1993/94 | |
|---|---|
1993 | 2005-2007 |
1994-1999 | 2007-2008 |
1999-2001 | 2008-2009 |
2001-2003 | 2011-2014 |
2003-2005 | 2014-present |
Julian Dicks
DOB: 08.08.68 WHU: 1988-1993, 1994-1999 Apps: 326 Goals: 65
Signed by John Lyall from Birmingham City in March 1988 as an unknown 19-year-old, Julian Dicks became an instant crowd hero at Upton Park thanks to his fearless, no-nonsense approach combined with a cultured left foot and ability to score and create goals. Four-times Hammer of the Year, Dicks, who made 326 appearances for the Club, and scored 65 goals, experienced thrills and spills throughout his two spells in east London. From the lows of relegation to the second tier during 1988/89, to getting the Irons promoted twice under Billy Bonds, in 1991 and 1993. After initially leaving the Club in the summer of 1993, Dicks returned a year later, staying until the summer of 1999. Dicks joined the first-team coaching staff under Slaven Bilić in 2015 after a season in charge of West Ham United Ladies, whom he guided to the London FA Capital Women’s Cup final.
Stuart Pearce
DOB: 26.04.62 WHU: 1999-2001 Apps: 50 Goals: 3
Stuart Pearce was snapped up by then manager Harry Redknapp in the summer of 1999, having earlier spent 12 years at Nottingham Forest before a two-year stint at Newcastle United. The now 62-year-old, who was 37 when he arrived at Upton Park, showed no signs of weariness as he enjoyed two years in east London. He made eight appearances in 1999/00 as West Ham finished ninth in the Premier League table. However, his best season in Claret and Blue came a year later, at the end of which he was awarded Hammer of the Year after a stellar campaign in defence. The Irons might have finished 15th, but the 78-time capped England star featured on a joint-highest 42 occasions. After his playing career, Pearce first returned to the Club as one of David Moyes’ assistants in November 2017, then re-joined the coaching staff ahead of the 2020/21 campaign.
George McCartney
DOB: 29.04.81 WHU: 2006-2008, 2011-2012 (loan), 2012-2014 Apps: 153 Goals: 2
Left-back George McCartney arrived in east London at the age of 25 after an eight-year spell with boyhood club Sunderland’s senior side. Signed by then manager Alan Pardew, the 34-time capped Northern Ireland international was a key member of the Hammers’ squad, helping them to 15th and tenth-placed finishes in the Premier League. McCartney re-joined the Black Cats in 2008 and spent the next four seasons in the North East, though he spent time on loan at Leeds United and back at West Ham, before returning to Upton Park on a full-time basis in the summer of 2012. Perhaps McCartney’s best season in Claret and Blue arrived during that season-long loan in 2011/12, when he made 38 EFL Championship appearances, including featuring in the Play-Off final win over Blackpool at Wembley, as the Hammers earned promotion back to the top-flight.
Aaron Cresswell
DOB: 15.12.89 WHU: 2014-present Apps: 350 Goals: 11
When a fresh-faced, 24-year-old left-back named Aaron Cresswell signed for West Ham United in July 2014, no-one could have predicted the journey he would go on to enjoy with the Club. Cresswell, who made his 350th appearances for the Irons at Crystal Palace last month, made an outstanding start to his time in east London, producing a consistent series of displays that saw him voted Hammer of the Year for the 2014/15 season - a campaign that saw West Ham finish 12th in the Premier League table. The recently-appointed vice-captain has played his part in successful relegation battles, helped secure European qualification on five occasions, scored some spectacular goals, was involved in the final game at the Boleyn Ground and has also lifted the UEFA Europa Conference League trophy. Already the Hammers’ longest-serving player, the 34-year-old put pen to paper on a contract extension earlier this summer, that has seen him move into an eleventh season in Claret and Blue at the start of this term.
