West Ham’s Sporting Director, Mark Noble has described their UEFA Europa Conference League succes as “pure emotion” and “special.”
Noble had spent 18 years as a West Ham player before he retired at the end of last season, during which the club reached the UEFA Europa League semi-finals where they were harshly beaten by eventual winners – Eintracht Frankfurt amidst controversial refereeing.
His former teammates however used that injustice as motivation to win this season’s UEFA Europa Conference League, courtesy of Jarrod Bowen’s late winner against Fiorentina in the Final in Prague, Czech Republic last Wednesday (7 June).
Noble has since become West Ham’s Sporting Director, but remained close to the on-pitch action as the Hammers’ Under-18s won the FA Youth Cup and U18 Premier League South Division title, whilst also travelling with the first-team squad.
“I feel so blessed to be part of it,” commented Noble as he spoke to http://www.whufc.com during the post-match celebrations.
He proceeded to reflect upon his ambitions of this season since he took up his new role, as he said: “In one of my first interviews when I became sporting director, I said that I want to win the FA Youth Cup and stay in the league, and I really believed we could win this competition.
“And normally, at West Ham, it doesn’t always happen.”
Noble added that seeing his ex teammates win the Europa Conference League title is “just pure emotion,” with the chance to be involved as a Sporting Director, and celebrating in the knowledge of the “hard work” and “graft” off pitch makes the success feel “so special.”
Midfielder, Declan Rice was singled out for praise by Noble as he quipped that “It couldn’t happen to a nicer fella,” on the England international claiming his first title as a senior player.
Explaining how much it meant to see Rice lift the trophy as captain, Noble added: “I am so proud of him. I know his family so well. And I can’t praise him enough. With Dec, it is different. It goes a bit further.
“But it is not just about today. Today is the pinnacle; it’s from years and years of hard work. There has been a lot of failure, a lot of hard work, and a lot of tears.
“But that is why we love the Club because West Ham is West Ham, and you never know what is around the corner. Nights like this are really special!”
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