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

By Alex Smith

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.