Mark Noble reveals how Joe Hart once ‘beat up’ a young Declan Rice in West Ham training wind-up

Former West Ham captain Mark Noble has revealed how former England goalkeeper Joe Hart once ‘beat up’ a young Declan Rice after chasing him around the London Stadium.

Noble, who became West Ham’s sporting director after retiring last season, has lifted the lid on how the competitive training sessions once led to a hilarious wind-up.

Hart, who now plays for Celtic, spent the 2017-18 season at West Ham on loan as his time at Manchester City started to peter out.

His spell at the London Stadium coincided with a young Rice breaking into the first-team, and the now-England star often used to wind up Hart during shooting drills. 

Recalling a moment where Hart was fed up of Rice’s training wind-ups, Noble told Fozcast – The Ben Foster Podcast: ‘Harty will tell you this. We were doing a shooting session, the coach pings it at you, you have a touch and finish.

Former West Ham captain Mark Noble has revealed Joe Hart once ‘beat up’ a young Declan Rice after chasing him around the London Stadium

Noble told of how Rice used to wind Hart up in shooting drills during the former England goalkeeper’s time at West Ham

‘Dec must’ve been young, like 19 at the time, and he’s had a touch and he’s got a lovely strike on him. 

‘He’s whipped one of them past Harty and Harty dived for it and didn’t get there and he went “Harty, one day son.” Harty went ‘Dec, if you say that again I’m going to [beat you up].’

‘It’s come back to Dec and he’s missed one, he’s hit another one and it’s gone in and I said “go on, say it.” 

‘He went, “one day, Harty” and I swear to you, Harty has just left him, sprinted across the pitch and Dec’s took off down the tunnel, chased him the whole way around the London Stadium, like the whole way through it, got him and beat him up. 

‘Harty was mad. He is such a tank, he is so strong. I played with him at England for all age groups and he’s a top fella. He’s just mad, they’re all mad.’

It’s fair to say Rice has only gone from strength to strength, making 222 appearances for West Ham since his debut in 2017.

The England star may finally be on his way out of West Ham though, with Arsenal prioritising him as their main target in the summer. 

In fact, Noble recently confessed that he does not begrudge Rice wanting to move away from West Ham in order to win trophies. 

Noble recently admitted that he would not begrudge Rice leaving West Ham in order to win trophies