After West Ham lost five of their opening seven Premier League games last season, West Ham manager David Moyes was under big pressure to keep his job at the London Stadium.
With the Hammers’ Premier League status under doubt, many owners would have made a change.
However, despite many opinion articles suggesting West Ham should dismiss Moyes, they stuck by their boss, as they did between October and December when they also lost five consecutive games in the league to leave them at the wrong end of the table going into the new calendar year.
"It sunk in for me when we got back to the East End of London"
— West Ham United (@WestHam) June 12, 2023
Moyes comments on the magnitude of the past week 🗣
Not only were the West Ham owners rewarded with an improvement in form later in the Premier League, but Moyes delivered the club a major European trophy. His side won the UEFA Europa Conference League, joining the football lists which document the British clubs to have won a European trophy over the last decade.
Moyes now goes down in history as one of West Ham’s greatest-ever managers. Whatever he goes on to achieve at the club, the fans will never forget the success he delivered in their unlikely European victory.
Europa Conference League Triumph
West Ham qualified for the Europa Conference League after finishing seventh in the Premier League standings in the 2021/22 campaign. It was their second straight season in Europe, as the year before they featured in the Europa League.
The Hammers entered the European competition in the play-off round where they beat Danish club Viborg 6-1 in a two-legged tie. They then entered Group B, and they continued to be dominant, winning all six of their matches, including a double over Belgian side Anderlecht, leaving them with a 100% record in the football stats for the group stage.
The Premier League club breezed past AEK Larnaca and Gent in the last 16 and quarter-finals respectively. They then booked their spot in the final in Prague after coming out on top 3-1 against AZ Alkmaar over two matches.
West Ham faced Serie A side Fiorentina in the final and it was a close affair. They took the lead just after the hour mark courtesy of a Said Benrahma penalty. The Italian side levelled five minutes later to leave the game up for grabs in the final stages. It was Jarrod Bowen’s goal in the 90th minute which won the contest and left West Ham fans celebrating long into the evening.
Moyes to Remain at West Ham Next Season
Hammers boss Moyes has one year left on his contract at West Ham and there were some reports following the European success suggesting he would walk away from the club following his achievement. However, he has decided to stay in East London for at least one more season.
Moyes will be hoping West Ham can do much better than their 14th-place finish in the Premier League in the 2023/24 campaign. As of the 19th of June, they are evens in the latest football betting markets with Betway for a top-10 finish.
The Scotsman can also look forward to West Ham returning to the Europa League. Their Europa Conference League success gives them an automatic entry into the European competition. Moyes will be hoping his side can do better than their group stage exit in the 2021/22 campaign.
Spells at Manchester United and Abroad
After spells at Preston North End and Everton, Moyes developed a reputation for being one of the brightest managers in England in the early stages of his career. In 2013 when Sir Alex Ferguson retired from Manchester United, the giants of the Premier League came knocking for his services.
Sunderland appoint former Manchester United manager David Moyes on four-year deal https://t.co/tXxT31sEX9 pic.twitter.com/iWneNKPBhs
— Mirror Football (@MirrorFootball) July 23, 2016
It did not work out for Moyes at Old Trafford, which then led to him trying something new in Spain. He spent one year at Real Sociedad, before moving back to England to manage Sunderland.
Moyes joined West Ham for the first time in 2017 on a six-month deal. He helped the club fight off relegation. However, despite doing a great job, he was not given a new contract at the end of the season. The fans’ favourite returned to the London Stadium for a second spell in December 2019 and since then he has won over 80 games in charge of the club.
