West Ham’s incredible road to Conference League glory: A full review

PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC - JUNE 07: Declan Rice of West Ham United lifts the Winners' trophy as he celebrates with team mates on the podium following the UEFA Europa Conference League 2022/23 final match between ACF Fiorentina and West Ham United FC at Eden Arena on June 07, 2023 in Prague, Czech Republic. (Photo by Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images)
PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC - JUNE 07: Declan Rice of West Ham United lifts the Winners' trophy as he celebrates with team mates on the podium following the UEFA Europa Conference League 2022/23 final match between ACF Fiorentina and West Ham United FC at Eden Arena on June 07, 2023 in Prague, Czech Republic. (Photo by Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images)
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West Ham won the Conference League in style, beating Fiorentina 2-1 in the final via a last-gasp Jarrod Bowen winner.

It ended a 43-year wait for a trophy and captain Declan Rice joined legends Bobby Moore and Billy Bonds as skippers to lead the club to a title.

Here we take a look back at the Hammers’ unforgettable journey to success and the celebrations no fan will ever forget.

A recap of West Ham’s Conference League road to victory.

West Ham lift the Conference League
West Ham squad full of legends

Things all started when David Moyes’ men made the semi-finals of the Europa League the season before, beating Sevilla and Lyon before losing to eventual winners Eintracht Frankfurt. It was heartbreak that time around and it led to a small hangover which caused West Ham to drop to 7th in the Premier League. It was where the club would finish, meaning Conference League qualification.

Qualifying Round vs Viborg (6-1 aggregate)

The road to the trophy began on a sunny day over in Denmark against little-known Viborg on August 25. West Ham got off to a fantastic start when Gianluca Scamacca netted to get the scoring underway. Said Benrahma and Tomas Soucek scored afterwards as the Irons took a 3-0 lead back to East London.

The job was done in the first leg but the second again the Irons flexed their muscles and superiority with a 3-1 win. Scamacca, Michail Antonio and Jarrod Bowen got on the scoresheet as Maxwel Cornet impressed.

Group Stage

Match One vs FCSB (3-1)

West Ham begun the group phase at the London Stadium against Romanian side FCSB. Things got off to a nervous opening when the team found themselves 1-0 down after the visitors scored a shock first-half goal against the run of play. An unhappy David Moyes made three changes at half-time sending Bowen, Antonio and Lucas Paqueta on. It worked a treat as the ex-Hull winger, Emerson and Antonio got the goals in a fantastic second 45 minutes.

Match Two vs Silkeborg (3-2)

Another trip to Denmark awaited West Ham and fans enjoyed a frantic game. The Danes went into the lead after just five minutes before Manuel Lanzini converted a penalty. Scamacca then spun and fired in a sublime goal from outside the box with sheer power and Craig Dawson rose to head in from a corner. It was not vintage from the Hammers though who just about held on for victory after Silkeborg got a late goal.