Nick Noble (soccer)

For the singer, see Nick Noble (singer).

Nick Noble
Personal information
Full name Nicholas Noble
Date of birth (1984-09-01) September 1, 1984 (age 40)
Place of birth Charleston, West Virginia, United States
Height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2006 West Virginia Mountaineers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005 Bradenton Academics 4 (0)
2006 West Virginia Chaos 11 (0)
2007–2009 Chicago Fire 0 (0)
2009 Austin Aztex 5 (0)
2010–2011 Ljungskile SK 59 (0)
2012–2017 Harrisburg City Islanders 122 (0)
2016–2017 Harrisburg Heat (indoor) 1 (0)
Managerial career
2018– West Virginia Mountaineers (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of May 15, 2020

Nicholas Noble (born September 1, 1984) is a retired American soccer player. Noble is currently an assistant coach for the West Virginia Mountaineers men's soccer team.

Career

College and amateur

Noble was born in Charleston, West Virginia. He grew up in Damascus, Maryland, played soccer and attended Georgetown Preparatory School from 1999 to 2003, played college soccer at West Virginia University from 2003 to 2006, where he was a four-year starter for the Mountaineers appearing in 80 matches. He was named Big East Conference Goalkeeper of the Year in 2006 under first-year head coach Marlon LeBlanc. During his college years he also played with both Bradenton Academics and West Virginia Chaos in the USL Premier Development League.

Professional

Noble was drafted in the first round, 7th overall, by the Chicago Fire in the 2007 MLS Supplemental Draft. He made his professional debut on July 1, 2008, in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup against Cleveland City Stars,[1] but never made an MLS appearance for the Fire prior to his release on June 26, 2009.[2]

On December 13, 2009, Swedish Superettan club Ljungskile SK confirmed that they had signed Nick Noble.[3] He quickly established himself as the club's top goal keeper and appeared in 59 league matches for Ljungskile. On December 22, 2011, Noble announced to his fans in Sweden that he had signed a contract to return to his home country and play for the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer. On February 29, 2012, Noble was waived so the Galaxy could sign Bill Gaudette.[4][5]

Noble signed with USL Pro club Harrisburg City Islanders in April, 2012.[6] After the 2012 season he was nominated for the USL Goalkeeper of the Year award and his coach Bill Becher called him one of the best goalkeepers that the club has ever had.[7] The following year he was one of the top performing goalkeepers of the 2013 USL Pro season and was selected for the All League Second Team.[8]

On November 29, 2017, the City Islanders announced Noble's retirement.[9]

Coaching

Noble returned to his alma mater West Virginia University in 2018, joining the men's soccer coaching staff.[10]

References

  1. ^ Fire break out vs. Cleveland City[permanent dead link‍] From http://chicago.fire.mlsnet.com Archived November 28, 2005, at the Wayback Machine, Posted July 1, 2008.
  2. ^ "Fire Waive Goalkeeper Noble". Oursportscentral.com. June 26, 2009. Retrieved March 1, 2012.
  3. ^ "Ny målvakt klar för Ljungskile" (in Swedish). lsk.se. December 13, 2009. Archived from the original on December 25, 2009. Retrieved December 13, 2009.
  4. ^ "Från Nick Noble till fansen – Ljungskile SK – Superettan". SvenskaFans.com. Retrieved March 1, 2012.
  5. ^ LA Galaxy Communications (December 22, 2011). "sign Goalkeeper Nick Noble and Forward Pat Noonan". LA Galaxy. Archived from the original on January 14, 2012. Retrieved March 1, 2012.
  6. ^ "City Islanders Store – 2010 Pro Team". Cityislanders.com. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  7. ^ "Trialists arrive as Philly-Harrisburg partnership bears fruit". mlsssoccer.com. September 7, 2012. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
  8. ^ "USL PRO All-League Teams Announced". uslsoccer.com. September 3, 2013. Archived from the original on December 30, 2013. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  9. ^ "#ThankyouNick". twitter.com. November 29, 2017. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
  10. ^ Bragg, Tom (May 21, 2018). "Roundup: Nick Noble returns to WVU men's soccer as assistant coach". WVGazetteMail.com. Charleston Gazette-Mail. Retrieved December 17, 2022.