West Ham United captain Mark Noble has admitted that he wants a boardroom role with the club once his playing days are over.
The 32-year-old is the rare one-club man in modern day football and the Englishman, on a reported £50,000-per-week [Source: Spotrac], is keen to continue his association with the Hammers once he’s done playing.
“‘I would like one day to be involved in decisions that the club makes,” he told the Daily Mail. “I feel I have enough experience to do that. I have been around so long. I know how the club works.
“So I would like to be where you have decisions on all kinds of bits and pieces, and not just coaching the under-18s, if you know what I mean? Whatever happens, I am always going to be attached to this club. I hope so, anyway. It’s been blood, sweat and tears for West Ham for so long.”
OPINION
Heck, why not? Noble, as he says, knows West Ham in and out. He has been at the club for such a long time, and so it would be strange to seem him taken out with the trash once he’s stopped playing. That surely won’t happen, though. The Hammers will undoubtedly want to keep him around in some capacity. However, it’s interesting that the skipper sees himself taking up a boardroom role rather than a coaching one once he’s done. That’s not what we usually hear from players. Clearly he’s given the matter some thought and believes he could useful in this capacity. Noble cares so much about the east London club, and so he wants to have a say in the direction it takes moving forward. That’s the bottom line here, and you can understand that. Now, whether David Gold and David Sullivan will allow him such a position in a few year’s time remains to be seen.
