Mail Sport, with the help of our readers, is on a mission to find the greatest player of all time at each of the 20 Premier League clubs.
Today we look at the legends of West Ham United, from pre-war record goalscorer Vic Watson, through three World Cup winners, to the fantastic modern captain, Mark Noble.
And once you’ve decided who’s the best of all, it’s time to vote…
As a team predominantly from the traditionally working-class area of England’s largest city, it is perhaps surprising that West Ham from London’s East End have not lifted more trophies.
However, as their fans will tell you, they won the World Cup for England in 1966 and seem to be fulfilling their potential – last season they had the second-biggest crowd in the Premier League.
Mark Noble was a modern-day Captain Fantastic before becoming sporting director in 2023.
Trevor Brooking (right) was considered one of the most technically gifted players of his generation.
Legendary England captain Bobby Moore came to embody the gentleman of English football.
For all the stars who have worn claret and blue, their top scorer remains Vic Watson, who scored 326 goals between 1920 and 1935, more than recouping his £50 transfer fee from Wellingborough Town.
Powerful in the air and a lethal finisher as his stats suggest, Watson scored 13 hat-tricks for the Hammers and occasionally celebrated a goal by eating a patch of grass from the Upton Park turf, decades before Novak Djokovic made it fashionable at Wimbledon.
The most glorious period in the club’s history came in the mid-1960s, when Bobby Moore lifted the FA Cup and European Cup Winners’ Cup at Wembley in successive campaigns, then completed a unique treble by captaining England to the World Cup.
Immaculate on and off the pitch, Moore benefited from having a coach, Ron Greenwood, whose training was years ahead of its time and encouraged defenders to play football rather than kick it long.
Moore came to embody the gentleman of English football. The image of him hugging Pelé and exchanging shirts at the 1970 World Cup became iconic. When Moore died in 1993, Pelé paid tribute to him: “My friend and the best defender I ever played against.”
The West Ham captain’s team-mates in England’s 1966 triumph were Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters, who scored all four goals between them in the 4-2 victory over West Germany in the final.
Hurst, who scored a famous hat-trick, also enjoyed great success at club level, scoring the Hammers’ second equalising goal in the 1964 Cup Final against Preston, enabling them to win 3–2.
Peters had become part of the team that defeated Munich 1860 and won their first European title the following year. He was the first midfielder to score goals in such prodigious fashion with the pace of his forays into the penalty area.
Vic Watson scored 326 times between 1920 and 1935 and is the Hammers’ most prolific player of all time.
Moore (lifting cup) captained the Hammers to the 1965 European Cup Winners’ Cup.
Geoff Hurst (left) and Martin Peters (right) won the World Cup with captain Moore in 1966
His nickname The Phantom (so called because his defenders found it difficult to track him) became so well known that he titled his autobiography The Phantom of ’66.
After the World Cup generation left, West Ham continued to entertain fans and won the FA Cup twice in 1975 and 1980, largely due to the silkiness of playmaker Trevor Brooking and the steeliness of new captain Billy Bonds.
Brooking was arguably the most technically gifted player of his generation and played for West Ham between 1966 and 1984, the only English club he played for.
Brian Clough tried to belittle Brooking before the 1980 Cup final by saying he floated like a butterfly and stinged like one too.
Brooking responded by heading in the only goal of the game for his Second Division side as 500,000 people turned out for the East End victory parade to salute their heroes.
Bonds, meanwhile, served the club for 21 years between 1967 and 1988, captaining them in both cup finals and being voted the club’s player of the year four times.
What’s more, Bonzo came to symbolise the kind of person you’d want at your side in the trenches of football. Fellow centre-back Alvin Martin was fond of brave tackles and blocks and said: “He was totally straight. You always knew where you were with him.”
Martin also spent 21 years at Upton Park from 1975, having arrived from his native Liverpool to sign for the club. He was part of Bobby Robson’s England squad that travelled to Mexico for the 1986 World Cup, but after impressing in earlier games he was left out of the quarter-final against Argentina, which England lost.
West Ham was the only club Brooking played for before leaving for New Zealand.
Brooking (centre) lifts the FA Cup alongside Frank Lampard Snr, father of the future Chelsea great
Billy Bonds served the club for 21 years, between 1967 and 1988, and was voted the club’s player of the year four times.
West Ham’s highest league position came in 1986, when they finished third under manager John Lyall; their attractive style won the admiration of neutrals.
Their Hammer of the Year was striker Tony Cottee, who formed a lethal partnership with Frank McAvennie and scored 146 goals in two spells at the club.
The diminutive Cottee was a West Ham fan from childhood, had pace and a poacher’s instinct. When he left West Ham in 1988, Everton had to pay a then-record £2m for his services.
He returned to The Boleyn six years later and became the first West Ham player to score a Premier League hat-trick against Manchester City.
For West Ham fans of the Premier League era, Paolo Di Canio was an idol whose magic feet fitted in with the club’s finest traditions.
The Italian arrived from Sheffield Wednesday under suspicion (he had been punished for pushing referee Paul Alcock), but it turned out to be a signing inspired by Harry Redknapp.
His scissor-kick volley against Wimbledon in 2000 was voted goal of the season, and his index-finger celebration became almost as famous as his own. One of Redknapp’s favourite after-dinner anecdotes is when Di Canio asked to be substituted when they were losing 4-2 to Bradford, but the Italian stayed on and inspired a remarkable 5-4 victory.
Tony Cottee scored 146 goals in two spells at the club and formed a lethal partnership with Frank McAvennie.
Paolo Di Canio was an idol whose magic feet fitted in with the best traditions of the club.
Despite arriving under a cloud of controversy, Di Canio would become a fan favourite.
The teething problems that accompanied West Ham’s move from Upton Park to the stadium used for the 2012 London Olympics have been overcome by two recent heroes, Mark Noble and Declan Rice.
Noble is regarded as one of the greatest players never to have been capped by England, but his place in West Ham history is assured.
Noble, who grew up just over a mile from The Boleyn, was hailed as Mr West Ham when he retired in 2022 after 550 appearances for his boyhood side, remaining loyal despite many ups and downs, from relegation to European qualification. Considered so valuable to the club’s ethos, he was appointed sporting director in 2023.
Rice joined West Ham aged 14 after being released by Chelsea. When he left for Arsenal in 2023, his transfer fee was worth £100m.
Rice’s athleticism and drive in midfield saved West Ham from the championship and when he was appointed captain he lifted their first trophy in 43 years on an emotional night in Prague as they beat Fiorentina to win the Europa Conference League.
Declan Rice’s athleticism and drive in midfield saved West Ham from the championship.
West Ham legend Noble is regarded as one of the greatest players never to have been capped by England.
Survey
Who was West Ham’s greatest player of all time?
- Alvin Martin 1 votes
- Tony Cottee 1 votes
- Paulo Di Canio 4 votes
- Marco Noble 3 votes
- Declan Rice 0 votes
- Other 3 votes
Survey
Who was West Ham’s greatest player of all time?
- Vic Watson 1 votes
- Bobby Moore 10 votes
- Geoff Hurst 1 votes
- Martin Peters 0 votes
- Trevor Brooking 0 votes
- billy bonds 1 votes
To select your best West Ham player, click the vote button or email great@dailymail.co.uk if you want to choose someone not on the list.
We’ll reveal the all-time leading player results from all 20 Premier League clubs ahead of the start of the 2024-25 season.