David James Noble (born 2 February 1982) is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

manager and former player, playing as a midfielder. He is currently the head coach of St Albans City. Noble made more than 300 appearances in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for Watford, West Ham United,

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is know ...

, Bristol City, Yeovil Town, Exeter City, Rotherham United, Cheltenham Town and Oldham Athletic. Internationally, he represented his native England at levels up to

under-20 Junior is a category of athletics in which athletes compete under the age of 20 years. Countries all around the world compete in athletics. World Junior Athletics Competitions are held every two years which contain the best junior competitors in ...

before playing under-21 and B international football for Scotland.

Club career

Arsenal

Noble was born in

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town and unparished area in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district in Hertfordshire, England, with an estimated population of 35,842. History Hitchin is first noted as the central place of the Hicce peopl ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

. His career began as a trainee at

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, with whom he won the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

in 2000. His first senior appearance was on loan at Watford in the 2001–02 season, under the management of

Gianluca Vialli Gianluca Vialli (; born 9 July 1964) is an Italian former football manager and player who played as a striker. Since retiring, he has gone into management, punditry and worked previously as a commentator for Sky Sport Italia. He is currently ...

; where he scored once against Grimsby Town.

West Ham United

In February 2003, Noble joined newly relegated West Ham United on a free transfer, signing a deal until the end of the 2003–04 season. He made his debut in a League Cup game against Rushden & Diamonds on 13 August 2003, playing the full 90 minutes of a 3–1 win, but found chances limited and made three League appearances as substitute in August and September.

Boston United

In February 2004, Noble was loaned for a month to

, after which he signed a permanent contract, initially until the end of the season.

Bristol City

In January 2006, he moved to Bristol City for £80,000, after enjoying a successful loan spell there. On 13 February 2007, he scored against Middlesbrough in the FA Cup fourth round replay, but his most important strikes were the two goals he scored against Rotherham United on 5 May which took City back into the Championship. Noble also scored in the Championship play-off semi-final against Crystal Palace the following year, when his stoppage-time strike from gave Bristol City the advantage going into the second leg. He joined Yeovil Town on loan on 25 March 2009, before being released at the end of the season.

Exeter City

On 4 January 2010, Noble signed for League One side Exeter City. Noble was named as the club's captain for the 2010–11 season. He signed a new one-year contract in June 2011. In May 2012, Noble was released by Exeter after the club was relegated.

Rotherham United

Noble signed for Rotherham United on 13 July 2012. He joined Cheltenham Town on loan in September 2013.

Oldham Athletic and return to Exeter City

Noble joined Oldham Athletic on non-contract terms in August 2014. He played twice before being released, was re-signed, and joined Exeter City on loan in September. He made 12 appearances while on loan, and then re-signed for Exeter in January 2015 until the end of the season.

St Albans City

On 28 August 2016, Noble joined St Albans City of the

National League South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

. He signed an 18-month contract with the Saints in December 2016 and in March 2017 became the club captain. In November 2017, he also became a coach at the club. Following the sacking of Ian Allinson as manager of St Albans City in September 2022, Noble took on the Interim Head Coach role. On 19 November 2022, Noble was given the role on a permanent basis following a 55% win rate across his interim spell in charge.

International career

Noble represented his native England at under-16, under-19, and under-20 levels. He then switched to play for Scotland. He made two appearances at under-21 level, and also played in a Scotland future team match against Turkey B on 25 February 2003.

Career statistics

Honours

Arsenal *

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

Bristol City * League One runners-up: 2006–07 Rotherham United * League Two runners-up:

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Noble, David 1982 births Living people Sportspeople from Hitchin Footballers from Hertfordshire Association football midfielders English footballers England youth international footballers Scottish footballers Scotland under-21 international footballers Scotland B international footballers Arsenal F.C. players Watford F.C. players Boston United F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players St Albans City F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players English people of Scottish descent St Albans City F.C. managers National League (English football) managers