FORMER West Ham United and Republic of Ireland left-back Noel Cantwell sadly died early today, Thursday, September 8, aged 73, after a long battle against cancer.

Noel had undergone two separate operations to remove tumours in the past year but he passed away at the Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge - not far from his Peterborough home - at around six o'clock this morning.

EX Magazine's Terry Connelly said: "I last spoke to Noel a few weeks ago and he said he felt OK. In fact, he was cheerful and was talking about us visiting his old friend, Malcolm Allison, in Manchester soon for an interview with EX Magazine.

"I first got to know Noel as a young fan of about 10 or 11, when I rode my bicycle to the old Grange Farm training ground and he would ride it around for a bit of fun. This is a very sad day for me."

A skilled and adventurous defender, Noel was born in Cork on February 28, 1932 and joined the Hammers from Cork United in 1952.

Alongside John Bond, he formed one of the strongest full-back partnerships in West Ham United's history and played a major role in the team that won promotion to the old First Division in 1957-58.

Noel made 263 senior appearances, many as captain, and scored 11 goals for the Hammers before his transfer to Manchester United for £29,500 in September 1960 (a record for a full-back at the time).

He went on to even greater triumphs with United, including skippering their 1963 FA Cup-winning team against Leicester City.

He won 17 caps for the Republic of Ireland as a West Ham player, 36 in all, before retiring from playing. He was then manager of Coventry City and Peterborough United and, for a while, was player-manager for his country.

Until the end of last season, Noel had been employed, part-time (along with fellow former Hammers Ken Brown and Dave Sexton) by the FA and successive England managers to watch future England opponents.

Noel's final visit to Upton Park came last January, when he was the club's special matchday guest in their hospiltality lounges.

He leaves a wife, Margaret, two daughters, Lizzie and Kate, and grandsons Joseph and Samuel. The Cantwells tragically lost their only son, Rob, 21, in a car crash 13 years ago.

The irony of the date of Noel's sad passing will not be lost on connoisseurs of Hammers history. For it was on September 8, 1958, that Noel - as skipper - advised manager Ted Fenton to select 17-year-old Bobby Moore (instead of his good friend Allison, who had been sidelined for some time due to illness) for his first team debut in a home league match against Manchester United that night.

The rest, as they say, is history.