Top 10 best West Ham players ever

From Jarrod Bowen to Bobby Moore, we rank the greatest ever players to have worn a claret and blue shirt.

One of the biggest clubs in English football, West Ham have enjoyed plenty of successes over the years since they were established as Thames Ironworks in 1895. 

In that time the Hammers have won three FA Cups, one European Cup Winners’ Cup and, most recently, one Europa Conference League, while also placing a big emphasis on promoting youth players into the first-team and playing attractive football – known among fans as the West Ham way. 

Many excellent players have donned the famous claret and blue kit over the years and we have taken the difficult task of ranking the top 10 West Ham players of all time. 

Best West Ham players ever

10. Jarrod Bowen

Having only joined in 2020, some may see this inclusion as premature, but there is no denying that Jarrod Bowen has been excellent ever since joining from Hull and he also gave the Hammers their greatest moment in recent history when netting the last-minute winner in the 2023 Conference League final. 

Bowen, now the club’s captain, has scored 67 goals and provided 42 assists in just 225 West Ham appearances (as of 25th February 2025), and he’s currently an outsider in the football betting to win the Premier League Golden Boot. It won’t be long before he usurps Michail Antonio (68) as the side’s all-time Premier League goalscorer, sitting just 18 off his Jamaican team-mate – who very nearly made the list himself – at present. 

9. Mark Noble

To leave Mr West Ham off this list would have been classed as blasphemy in east London and the Hammers stalwart simply had to feature. 

A product of the Hammers’ historic academy, Mark Noble went on to make 550 appearances for his boyhood club and excluding loans at Ipswich and Hull, finished his career as a one-team man – a rarity in modern football. 

Noble won the Hammer of the Year award on two occasions and his leadership, both on and off the pitch, has been sorely missed by West Ham since his retirement in 2022. 

8. Alvin Martin

While lacking the star power of some of those to miss out on the top 10, Alvin Martin is arguably West Ham’s most underrated player of all-time. 

His 596 outings puts him fourth on the club’s all-time appearances list, he was a key member of the 1980 cup-winning team and his no-nonsense style and exceptional reading of the game means he would probably be regarded as the Hammers’ best ever centre-back if a certain captain had not stolen the show during the 1960s. 

7. Martin Peters

Although he never quite reached the heights of his fellow World Cup-winning team-mates of 1966, Peters is another Martin, like Allen, who was largely underrated by those outside of east London. 

Peters scored exactly 100 goals in 364 games for the Hammers and, while that is a more than respectable return, it was his all-round game which made him stand out above his peers. 

The West Ham star was capable of playing well in any position – he even played as a goalkeeper in his third ever Hammers appearance – and the legendary Alf Ramsey described Peters as being ‘10 years ahead of his time’, showing just how brilliant the winger was. 

6. Declan Rice 

A likely controversial inclusion among some corners of West Ham’s fan base, but definitely a deserving one. 

Declan Rice’s exit may not have been acrimonious but his time at the club was a roaring success, captaining the Hammers to Conference League glory and winning three Hammer of the Year awards – only four players have won it more. 

The England midfielder rarely put in a bad performance in claret and blue and perhaps more fans will appreciate his brilliance and status as a West Ham legend as time passes.

5. Paolo Di Canio 

As much of an icon off the pitch as he was on it, Paolo Di Canio arguably holds claim to being the player capable of getting Hammers fans out of their seats more than anyone else. 

The Italian was the definition of a maverick, but his ability to single-handidly drag West Ham through games and his eye for the spectacular – his scissor-kick against Wimbledon remains one of the Premier League’s greatest ever goals – helped a new generation of Hammers fans fall in love with the club and the sport as a whole. 

Di Canio played only 118 Premier League games for West Ham but netted 47 goals in that period and his impact, skill and brilliance will never be forgotten. 

4. Geoff Hurst

Thanks to his hat-trick in the 1966 World Cup final, Geoff Hurst is probably the most-liked West Ham player amongst fans of rival English clubs. 

However, while he is liked by most English fans, he is adored by the Hammers faithful thanks to a stunning record of 248 goals in 500 appearances. 

Hurst was key to West Ham’s FA Cup and European Cup Winners’ Cup successes in the 1960s, was a three-time Hammer of the Year and was named in the World Soccer world XI three times while playing for the east London club. 

3. Billy Bonds

No player has made more appearances for West Ham than Billy Bonds, who racked up a mammoth 799 games for the Hammers across 21 seasons. 

Bonds alternated between defence and midfield to great success during his time at the club, picking up four Hammer of the Year awards, and while he was a quality player, it was his excellent leadership which really helped him become a fan favourite. 

The club’s all-time appearance maker captained West Ham for 14 years, leading them to FA Cup glory in 1975 and 1980, and a stand at the London Stadium is named after the legendary Hammer. 

2. Trevor Brooking

Arguably the Hammers’ most technically gifted player of all-time, Trevor Brooking was adored by West Ham fans and his ability to create something from nothing was key to the success they enjoyed throughout the 1970s and 80s. 

Brooking struck up an excellent midfield partnership with Bonds, as his excellent passing and creativity provided a brilliant juxtaposition to his team-mate’s defensive solidity, and he too was key in the FA Cup wins of 1975 and 1980, scoring the winner in the latter final. 

The legendary midfielder played 47 times for England, is the only West Ham player to have been named Hammer of the Year five on five occasions and also has a stand named after him at the London Stadium. 

1. Bobby Moore

There was only ever going to be one number one. Bobby Moore finds himself in the conversation for best English player of all-time – he is still the only captain to lead the Three Lions to a major trophy – so he was always going to top this list. 

The England great was renowned for his excellent reading of the game, brilliant passing and inspirational leadership and he has the honours to match, captaining the Hammers to the 1964 FA Cup and 1965 European Cup Winners’ Cup, being named Hammer of the Year four times and winning the FWA Footballer of the Year in 1964. 

Moore came second in the 1970 Ballon d’Or voting, was named by Pele as the greatest defender he had ever faced and was just as brilliant for West Ham as he was for England. 

The Hammers honoured their greatest ever player by retiring his iconic number six shirt in 2008 and it will be a long time before somebody usurps Moore at the top of this list.

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West Ham all-time XI

West Ham could build a formidable team using some of their greatest ever players. Here’s how a West Ham legends XI would shape up:

GK: Alvin Martin

RB: Julian Dicks

CB: Bobby Moore

CB: Billy Bonds

LB: Frank Lampard Sr

CM: Mark Noble

CM: Trevor Brooking

CM: Declan Rice

RW: Paolo Di Canio

LW: Martin Peters

ST:  Geoff Hurst

West Ham captains list

Some of English football’s most iconic players have worn the captain’s armband for West Ham. Here is a full list of every player to have been named the club’s captain.

• Robert Stevenson (1895-1897)

• Walter Tranter (1897-1899)

• Harry Bradshaw (1899)

• Charlie Dove (1899-1901)

• Roddy McEachrane (1901-1902)

• Ernest Watts (1903-1904)

• Dave Gardner (1904-1907)

• Frank Piercy (1907-1911)

• Tommy Randall (1911-1914)

• Dick Leafe (1914-1915)

• William Cope (1915-1922)

• George Kay (1922-1925)

• Billy Moore (1925-1926)

• Jack Hebden (1926-1928)

• Stan Earle (1928-1932)

• Jim Barrett Sr. (1932-1937)

• Joe Cockcroft (1937)

• Charlie Bicknell (1937-1945)

• Dick Walker (1945-1951)

• Malcolm Allison (1951-1957)

• Noel Cantwell (1957-1960)

• Phil Woosnam (1960-1962)

• Bobby Moore (1962-1974)

• Billy Bonds (1974-1984)

• Alvin Martin (1984-1989)

• Julian Dicks (1989-1993)

• Steve Potts (1994-1995)

• Julian Dicks (1995-1997)

• Steve Lomas (1997-2001)

• Paolo Di Canio (2001-2003)

• Christian Dailly (2003-2005)

• Nigel Reo-Coker (2005-2007)

• Lucas Neill (2007-2009)

• Matthew Upson (2009-2011)

• Kevin Nolan (2011-2015)

• Mark Noble (2015-2022)

• Declan Rice (2022-2023)

• Kurt Zouma (2023-2024)

• Jarrod Bowen (2024-present)

SEE ALSO: Top 10 best Arsenal players ever