Brian David Noble

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(born 14 February 1961), also known by the

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

of "Nobby", is an English

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

coach and former rugby league footballer. As a footballer, Noble was a

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

representative , but is best known for his coaching career, during which he coached the

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is predom ...

, the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League. Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby ...

, the

Crusaders RL Crusaders Rugby League ( cy, Croesgadwyr Rygbi'r Gynghrair) was a professional rugby league club based in Bridgend and later in Wrexham, Wales. They played for six seasons in the Rugby Football League competitions, including three years in the ...

and the

Salford Red Devils The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, who play in the Super League. Formed in 1873, they have won six Championships and one Challenge Cup. Their home ground since 2012 has been t ...

in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

, and the Great Britain national team. He was the first coach to win three

Super League Grand Final The Super League Grand Final is the championship-deciding game of rugby league's Super League competition. It is played between two teams who have qualified via the Super League Play-Off series. The winning team receives the Super League Trop ...

s, and is one of only two coaches to have achieved that feat along with Brian McDermott. He was formerly the Director of Rugby for the

Toronto Wolfpack The Toronto Wolfpack are a Canadian professional rugby league club based in Toronto, Ontario, who compete in the North American Rugby League. The club originally competed in the British rugby league system but withdrew in the 2020 Super Leagu ...

, and also works as a pundit for

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...

Background

Noble was born in

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Playing career

Brian Noble's early rugby league career was as a member of the Police Boys' Clubs before he signed for

Bradford Northern The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is predomi ...

. His début came in the 1978–79 season and was the beginning of almost 15 years and over 400 games with the club, concluding in the centenary season of 1995-96 following a spell at

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the c ...

( Heritage No. 1062). Noble combined his professional career with his job as a policeman, and captained Great Britain on the Lions' tour of

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...

in 1984. He played in all seven tests on the tour, including the test in Papua New Guinea. Brian Noble played in

's 5–10 defeat by

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins the ...

in the

1981 Yorkshire Cup Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

Final during the 1981–82 season at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingle ...

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

on Saturday 3 October 1981, played in the 7–18 defeat by

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...

in the

1982 Yorkshire Cup __NOTOC__ Year 198 (CXCVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sergius and Gallus (or, less frequently, year 951 ''Ab u ...

Final during the 1981–82 season at

Elland Road Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Premier League club Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the 14th largest football stadium in England. The g ...

on Saturday 2 October 1982, played in the 12–12 draw with

in the

1987 Yorkshire Cup File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

Final during the 1987–88 season at

on Saturday 17 October 1987, played in the 11–2 victory

in the

Final replay during the 1987–88 season at

on Saturday 31 October 1987. Brian Noble played in

's 2–12 defeat by

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

in the 1990–91 Regal Trophy Final during the 1990–91 season at

on Saturday 12 January 1991, and played (replaced by interchange/ substitute Trevor Clark) in the 15–8 defeat by

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

in the

1992–93 Regal Trophy The 1992–93 Regal Trophy was a British rugby league knockout tournament. It was the 22nd season that the competition was held, and was the fourth staging of the competition since it was re-named the Regal Trophy. Wigan defeated Bradford Northe ...

Final during the 1992–93 season at

on Saturday 23 January 1993.

Coaching career

Bradford

After 6 years serving in the backroom staff at the club following his retirement, he was appointed Bradford head coach in November 2000. After initial confusion regarding chairman Chris Caisley's appointment - the tabloids reported that the new coach was Radio 4 comedian

Ross Noble Ross Markham Noble (born 5 June 1976) is an English stand-up comedian and actor. Noble rose to mainstream popularity through making appearances on British television, particularly interviews and on panel shows such as '' Have I Got News for You' ...

! - he was a hugely popular choice to succeed departing coach Matthew Elliott. Noble took

to the

2001 Super League Grand Final The 2001 Super League Grand Final was the Fourth official Grand Final and the conclusive and championship-deciding match of Super League VI. The match was held on Saturday 13 October 2001 at Old Trafford, Manchester, and was contested by Bradf ...

in which they defeated

. As

Super League VI Tetley's Super League VI was the official name for the year 2001's Super League championship season, the 107th season of top-level professional rugby league football in Britain, and the sixth championship run by the Super League. The season began ...

champions, Bradford played against 2001 NRL Premiers, the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, th ...

in the

2002 World Club Challenge The 2002 World Club Challenge was held on Friday, 1 February 2002, at the Alfred McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield, England. The game was contested by Bradford Bulls and Newcastle Knights. Background Bradford Bulls The 2001 Super League Grand Final ...

. Noble oversaw Bradford's victory. In July 2002, Noble received an honorary doctorate from the

University of Bradford The University of Bradford is a Public university, public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. A plate glass university, it received its royal charter in 1966, making it the 40th university to be creat ...

for his achievements as a rugby league footballer, and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. He took Bradford to the

2002 Super League Grand Final The 2002 Super League Grand Final was the Fifth official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding game of Super League VII. Held on Saturday 19 October 2002 at Old Trafford, Manchester, the game was played between St. Helens and Brad ...

which was lost to St. Helens. He was named Super League coach of the year in 2003 and succeeded

David Waite David Waite (born 30 May 1951) is an Australian former rugby league footballer and coach. He has also coached Great Britain in the Rugby League Tri-Nations. Background Waite was born in New South Wales, Australia. Waite holds a British passpo ...

as Great Britain coach following the

2003 Ashes series The 2003 Kangaroo Tour was a six-match tour by the Australia national rugby league team of France, Wales and England, and to date has been the last Kangaroo Tour. The last three matches were all Tests against Great Britain for the Ashes. Coache ...

. Noble took Bradford to the Grand Final again in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

but lost out to local rivals Leeds Rhinos 16–8 at Old Trafford. Noble led Bradford to victory in the

2005 Super League Grand Final 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on eac ...

his third Championship in five years with the club. Noble left Bradford midway through the 2006 season to join

, handing control to his assistant

Steve McNamara Steve McNamara (born 18 September 1971) is an English professional rugby league football coach who is the head coach of the Catalans Dragons in the Betfred Super League and a former professional player. He is a former coach of England, and a Gr ...

. While head coach of the Bradford Bulls, Noble guided them to two Minor Premiership titles, victory in three Grand Finals in 2001, 2003 and 2005, victory in the

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

in 2003 and to three World Club Championships in 2002, 2004 and 2006. In 2004 he received the

Rugby League International Federation The International Rugby League (IRL) is the global governing body for the sport of rugby league football. Previously known as the ''Rugby League Imperial Board'', the '' International Rugby League Board'' and latterly the ''Rugby League Internat ...

's coach of the year award. Brian Noble

Wigan

On 20 April 2006 Noble took up the position of head coach at

, nine days after the sacking of

Ian Millward Ian "Basil"/"Minibus" Millward (born 22 August 1960) is an Australian rugby league coach, occasional pundit and former player. Millward is now the assistant coach of St George Illawarra in the NRL Millward is the former head coach of Wigan, S ...

. Brian took over at the club during a relegation battle which at one point looked as though

would lose, however he has been credited for keeping Wigan in Super League following a number of impressive performance. However, despite having just £60,000 available to spend under the salary cap, Noble bought Stuart Fielden and Michael Dobson from the Bradford Bulls for a world record £450,000. At the end of the season when the club's books were audited by the league's accountants, it was found there was an unauthorised overspend of £222,314, which led to allegations that the club cheated their way out of relegation by deliberately spending money they didn't have due to salary cap restrictions. However the club was eventually only found guilty of "breaching the spirit of the cap", by trying to restructure existing contracts. On 17 January 2007 it was announced that his contract as head coach of the British national team would not be renewed. In October 2009, after the defeat by St Helens in the semifinal play-off game, Noble announced he would be leaving to club.

Crusaders RL

On 14 October 2009 Noble was confirmed as the new head coach of the

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

side

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

Jon Sharp Jon Sharp (born 8 March 1967) was the head coach of Featherstone Rovers from 2015 to 2017. Between 2004 and 2008 he was head coach of the Huddersfield Giants, having been appointed in 2003 when Tony Smith left the club for the Leeds Rhinos. He ...

was first-team coach, and

Iestyn Harris Iestyn Rhys Harris (born 25 June 1976), also known by the nickname of "Welsh Wizard", is a former dual-code international professional rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s, and coach in rugby league in the ...

was an assistant. In the 2010 season Noble managed to gain 13 wins, which was a vast improvement on the season before, and took them into the playoffs for the first time. In November 2010, Noble confirmed his departure from Crusaders Rugby League after only one season in charge. His last match as Head Coach was an 18–12 loss away to

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

in an Elimination Play-off tie.

Salford

On 13 April 2013 Noble was appointed head coach of

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

on an 18-month contract, but on 4 April 2014, Marwan Koukash announced that Noble would become the

director of football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...

at Salford, while Noble's former assistant

would become the new head coach. He departed the club soon after.

Other positions

Following his departure from Salford, Noble worked in a part-time consultancy basis with

London Broncos The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club in London, England. The club competes in the RFL Championship. It was a member of Super League from its inaugural season in 1996 until the end of the 2014 season, when they were relegat ...

and

Gloucestershire All Golds Gloucestershire All Golds is a rugby league team based at the University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. University of Gloucestershire All Golds consists of six different teams, with the first team entering Kingstone Press C ...

, while regularly appearing as a pundit and occasionally as a co-commentator on

's rugby league coverage. Brian Noble Toronto Wolfpack

Honours

Noble was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2017 Birthday Honours The 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as pa ...

for services to rugby league and charity.

As a player

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

County Cup The county football associations are the local governing bodies of association football in England and the Crown dependencies. County FAs exist to govern all aspects of football in England. They are responsible for administering club and player ...

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

As a coach

Team

(3):

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

World Club Challenge The World Club Challenge is an annual rugby league competition between the winners of the Australasian National Rugby League (NRL) and the European Super League, for the de facto club world championship of the sport. The first such match was pl ...

(3):

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

League Leader's Shield The League Leaders' Shield is a shield awarded to the team finishing the season top of Super League in the sport of rugby league football. Currently, and for most of Super League's history, the championship is decided on the basis of a play-off s ...

(2):

(1):

Individual

* Super League Coach of the Year:

* RLIF International Coach of the Year:

* Bradford Bulls Team of the Century (coach) * Bradford Bulls Bull Masters

References

External links

*
Great Britain Statistics at englandrl.co.uk (statistics currently missing due to not having appeared for both Great Britain, and England)

Toronto Wolfpack profile

Brian Noble Wigan Coaching Career Page

*(archived by web.archive.org
Bull Masters - Brian Noble
* (archived by web.archive.org
Team Of The Century
{{DEFAULTSORT:Noble, Brian 1961 births Living people BBC sports presenters and reporters Bradford Bulls coaches Bradford Bulls players British police officers Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks players Crusaders Rugby League coaches English rugby league coaches English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team captains Great Britain national rugby league team coaches Great Britain national rugby league team players Members of the Order of the British Empire Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Bradford Salford Red Devils coaches Toronto Wolfpack coaches Wakefield Trinity players Wigan Warriors coaches Yorkshire rugby league team players