If you are feeling particularly nit-picky, not even Mark Noble, the West Ham United legend, or Liverpool icon Steven Gerrard would have a place the proverbial ‘one club’, erm, club.
The club’s current sporting director had loan spells at Hull City and Ipswich Town as a youngster, after all.
So although 550 of his 568 first-team appearances came for West Ham United, the man famed for his remarkable contributions to the London giants is technically a ‘three club man’.
Even Bobby Moore, Alvin Martin, Frank Lampard Sr, Steve Potts and the dearly departed Billy Bonds – the London Stadium paid an emotional tribute to their all-time record appearance maker following his passing recently – spent some time in a non-claret and blue kit.
So too did Steven Gerrard, thanks to his brief spell across the Atlantic with LA Galaxy.
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Yet, like with Noble, Moore, Martin and Bonds, there is one team which will forever be intertwined with the 2005 Champions League-winning skipper.
Though, in conversation with Rangers great Ally McCoist for TNT Sports Football, it is tempting to wonder what might have been had Gerrard not been such a committed Liverpool fanatic since birth.
Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard trained briefly with West Ham United
Gerrard has long since dispelled any myths about a secret Everton allegiance. That infamous snap of him wearing blue as a kid, he says, can be explained by the fact he was ‘gifted’ a Toffees shirt on a school trip to Goodison Park.
There is, though, a parallel universe out there somewhere in which Gerrard partnered Noble for many a year at the heart of West Ham’s midfield before making way for a young Declan Rice.
“There was no doubt [Liverpool] were the club for me,” said Gerrard, who joined the Reds’ academy aged nine in 1989. “You know, privately and quietly, we always knew we were going to sign whatever deal was put in front of us.
“But at 13 or 14, there was a bit of clamour. Everton came to the table. Manchester United came to the table. I even went to West Ham for a five or six-day period!
“I had ‘done the rounds,’ if you like.
“Liverpool wanted me to go and have a look, to have a feel for other clubs. I think they had that confidence. I think they knew it was always going to be Liverpool. So, it was quite strange at the time, Steve [Heighway, former Academy Director] saying, ‘Go and have a go at West Ham, try it and see what you feel.’
“[Manchester] United offered me a decent contract at 13, but it was always going to be Liverpool, no matter what the terms were.
“One of the best days of my life was when I signed that seven-year deal: the schoolboy forms, the apprenticeship, and the three-year professional contract. Yeah, that was one of the best days of my life.”
Gerrard looks back on that stunning FA Cup final triumph
Gerrard’s story with West Ham would have another chapter, of course.
He captained Rafa Benitez’s Liverpool to FA Cup glory over Alan Pardew’s Hammers in 2006, masterminding a stunning comeback capped by one of the competition’s greatest ever goals.
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“We didn’t start the game well at all,” recalls Gerrard, whose side fell 2-0 and 3-2 down before his 91st minute blockbuster from miles out. “It was a really hot day, and we were massive favourites, which didn’t help us.
“It was the classic scenario where the underdogs were playing well above their level. They were fantastic. Their fans were right up there as well.
“I think we went into the game just assuming it was going to be a ‘gimme.’
“For me, in those games and those moments, it’s almost the fear of what it’s going to feel like if it doesn’t go your way that drives me on. It’s the fear of failure; the feeling after a game when you underperform or didn’t get what you should have gotten. That was a really difficult period for me.
“I used to say it was probably the fear of losing more than the joy of winning that kept you going.
“In those moments, I’m thinking, ‘Oh my god, we’re going to lose an FA Cup final to West Ham.’ With all due respect, we were much better than them all over the pitch. They were massive underdogs. I had to do everything I could on that football pitch to make sure that didn’t happen.”
West Ham’s current generation of academy kids are coming to the end of a fine 2025, meanwhile. Ezra Mayers, Mohamadou Kante and Callum Marshall have all made Premier League debuts this term, while Airidas Golambeckis trains regularly with Nuno at Rush Green too.
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