Nobes opens up on England disappointment

Mark Noble insists he has no regrets over the fact that he didn’t play for England in his career.

The Hammers captain is perhaps one of the best Premier League players never to represent his country.

While he made 550 appearances for the Irons in a glittering period at the club, the skipper was never picked to play for England at senior level.

He did win 20 caps for the U21s but he remains a player who was not given the chance to play for the Three Lions while plenty of lesser Premier League players got the call.

Noble has opened up on that disappointment when speaking with Joe Cole on the latter’s podcast, and the quotes have been transcribed by KUMB.

The 35-year-old hung up his boots at the end of last season and he insists he would not swap his career for anything, despite the fact that he never got to pull on the famous white shirt.

He said: “Do I feel that I deserved the chance at some point? In some seasons, yes.

“I look at it that I’ve had nine or ten different managers and played under every one of them. That’s English, foreign, different styles. And obviously I’ve played over 400 Premier League games. There’s no way you play under all those managers and play that many games if you can’t do it.

“Do I believe I should’ve played for England? Yes, of course I do. But does it affect me? Not one little bit. People might say ‘yeah, whatever, he’s just saying that’, but I’m speaking openly and honestly – and it doesn’t affect me one little bit.

“I said on something else the other day, would I change my career with some players that have had one or two England caps and not have the Premier League [appearances] and career I’ve had? No, I wouldn’t.

“If you look at the send off and my last season at West Ham, there aren’t many players in the world that get that kind of send off and that sort of reception.

“I loved watching you play for England and I love watching England but to be honest it never really fussed me. I dreamed about playing for West Ham and I dreamt of captaining West Ham and all that and I’ve done that.

“Would an England cap be the icing on the cake? Of course. But do I worry that it didn’t happen? Not one little bit.”