The 2022–23 season was the 128th season in the existence of West Ham United and the club's 11th consecutive season in the top-flight of English football. In addition to the domestic league, they also participated in this season's editions of the FA Cup, the EFL Cup, and the UEFA Europa Conference League.
The season was the first since 2003–04 without Mark Noble, who retired following the 2021–22 campaign. Vice-captain Declan Rice replaced Noble as club captain. Noble returned to West Ham as sporting director on 2 January 2023.
On 18 May 2023, West Ham became the first English team to advance to the Conference League final, where they defeated Italian club Fiorentina 2–1 on 7 June. The club won the trophy without any loss. It was West Ham's first trophy since winning the Intertoto Cup in 1999.
Season summary Start of season August
In their first league game on 7 August, West Ham lost 2–0 at home to defending champions, Manchester City, with Erling Haaland scoring his first two competitive goals on his league debut for the club. The match was watched by 62,443 supporters, a record attendance for West Ham and for football at the London Stadium.
In their second league game of the season, West Ham lost 1–0 at the City Ground to newly promoted Nottingham Forest. The game was Forest's first game in the Premier League for 23 years. Declan Rice had a penalty saved by Dean Henderson while Saïd Benrahma twice hit the woodwork as West Ham again failed to score.
On 18 August, West Ham began their European campaign by playing Danish team Viborg in the first leg of the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League play-off round. Manager David Moyes, captain Declan Rice and defender Aaron Cresswell were all suspended following disciplinary incidents against Eintracht Frankfurt in the previous season's Europa League semi-final. Two of Viborg's players, Nigerian winger Ibrahim Said and Gambian forward Alassana Jatta were unavailable as the club was unable to gain entry visas to the UK following new rules applicable to non-EU nationals following Brexit.
The Hammers won their opening Conference League match 3–1. In the game, Gianluca Scamacca scored his first goal for the club, assisted by new signing Maxwel Cornet. Jarrod Bowen doubled their lead before Viborg's Jakob Bonde pulled one back for the Danish club. Substitute Michail Antonio scored a 78th-minute goal to give the Hammers a two goal lead going into the reverse fixture in Denmark.
West Ham returned to the Premier League on 21 August to play Brighton & Hove Albion, with a new record crowd of 62,449. New signing Thilo Kehrer made his league debut in the match, fouling Danny Welbeck in the box and giving away a penalty, which Alexis Mac Allister converted. Brighton scored a second through Leandro Trossard and the game finished 2–0, marking West Ham's third consecutive league defeat and leaving them bottom of the table. This was the first time since 1971 that West Ham had lost their first three games of the season without scoring in the top tier.
West Ham then travelled to Denmark for the second leg of their Conference League play-off against Viborg on 25 August. Gianluca Scamacca opened the scoring in the first half, whilst Saïd Benrahma and Tomáš Souček added to the scoreline in the second. The game finished 3–0, with an aggregate scoreline of 6–1, as West Ham qualified comfortably for the group stage.
On 28 August, the Hammers travelled to Birmingham to play Aston Villa in the Premier League. Pablo Fornals scored West Ham's first league goal of the season in the 74th minute, his shot deflecting off of Ezri Konsa and over goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez, securing West Ham's first league win of the season as the game finished 1–0. The game was West Ham's 1000th in the Premier League, the ninth club to reach this total.
On 31 August, West Ham played their first London derby of the season, against Tottenham Hotspur. The game finished 1–1 due to an own goal from Thilo Kehrer and a second-half equaliser from Tomáš Souček. West Ham's record signing, Lucas Paquetá made his debut in the match. The game marked the 200th appearances in all competitions by Declan Rice and in the Premier League by Michail Antonio.
September On 3 September, West Ham played their second London derby, this time away to Chelsea. Michail Antonio scored in the 62nd minute before the Hammers were pegged back by a Ben Chilwell equaliser just fourteen minutes later. Kai Havertz scored the winning goal in the 88th minute, however, a last-minute West Ham equaliser from Maxwel Cornet was controversially disallowed by referee Andy Madley after a VAR check deemed that Chelsea goalkeeper Édouard Mendy had been fouled by Jarrod Bowen. Manager David Moyes called the decision "scandalous".
West Ham began their UEFA Europa Conference League group stage campaign on 8 September against FCSB at London Stadium. The Hammers won the game 3–1, after suffering a first-half setback from FCSB's Andrei Cordea, goals from Jarrod Bowen, Emerson and Michail Antonio sealed the win to put West Ham top of Group B after the first round of matches. The game contained multiple tributes to long-reigning British queen Elizabeth II, whose death had been announced earlier that day. Players from both teams wore black armbands and a minute's silence was held before kick-off, fans also sung a rendition of the United Kingdom's national anthem "God Save the Queen" in tribute to the late monarch.
All Premier League games for matchweek seven were postponed as part of the national period of mourning after the Queen's death; however, all European games went ahead as usual. West Ham then played Silkeborg on 15 September, conceding in the first five minutes to Kasper Kusk before Manuel Lanzini equalised from a penalty, Gianluca Scamacca put the Hammers in front and Craig Dawson gave West Ham a two-goal advantage. Silkeborg pulled one back through Søren Tengstedt but the Hammers held on for the final fifteen minutes to secure their second consecutive group stage victory.
When the Premier League returned, West Ham played Everton at Goodison Park on 18 September. The Hammers lost 1–0 due to a Neal Maupay strike shortly after half-time, leaving them in the relegation zone going into the international break. This was also their joint-worst start to a Premier League season.
October After the international break, the Hammers played Wolverhampton Wanderers on 1 October. Gianluca Scamacca opened the scoring, with his first Premier League goal, in the first half before Jarrod Bowen doubled their lead in the second. The game finished 2–0 as the Hammers recorded their first league home win of the season. On 6 October, West Ham travelled to Belgium to face Anderlecht. The game finished 1–0 to West Ham, the only goal being scored by Gianluca Scamacca in the 79th minute.
On 9 October, the Hammers played Fulham in the Premier League. After scoring for Fulham in the 5th minute, Andreas Pereira gave away a penalty by fouling Craig Dawson in the box, Jarrod Bowen converted the penalty to equalise by sending Bernd Leno the wrong way. Lucas Paquetá assisted Gianluca Scamacca's second-half goal before Michail Antonio scored in added time to secure a 3–1 win for the Hammers. The Hammers officially sealed their place in the Conference League knockout stages on 13 October with a 2–1 win over Anderlecht, Saïd Benrahma and Jarrod Bowen scored in the first half before Sebastiano Esposito pulled one back for the Belgians via a penalty in the 89th minute.
On 16 October, West Ham drew 1–1 away to Southampton. Romain Perraud scored for the home team before Declan Rice equalised, his first league goal since October 2021. West Ham were later charged by the Football Association with failing to control their players after they surrounded referee Peter Bankes angered by his decision to allow Perruad's goal believing that Bankes had blocked Jarrod Bowen's path as he attempted to beat Perraud. On 19 October, West Ham lost 1–0 to Liverpool. Liverpool's Darwin Núñez scored his first goal at Anfield, in the 22nd minute, whilst Jarrod Bowen had his penalty saved by Alisson just before half-time.
On 24 October, West Ham returned to the London Stadium to play Bournemouth in the Premier League. They won the game 2–0 with goals from Kurt Zouma and Saïd Benrahma, their first Premier League goals of the season. Both goals were reviewed by VAR relating to possible handball incidents. The opening goal by Kurt Zouma contained a handball by Thilo Kehrer but stood as the handball had not occurred in the immediate build-up to the goal. The second goal, a penalty, was awarded after VAR had looked at a possible handball by Bournemouth's Jordan Zemura and decided that he had handled the ball in the penalty area.
The Hammers secured their place in the Conference League round of sixteen with a 1–0 win over Silkeborg on 27 October. The only goal of the game came from a Manuel Lanzini penalty in the first half, which was given after Silkeborg goalkeeper Nicolai Larsen fouled Michail Antonio in the box. The game was summer signing Nayef Aguerd's competitive debut, as he had just recovered from an ankle injury he sustained in a pre-season friendly against Rangers in July.
On 30 October, West Ham played Manchester United at Old Trafford. The game ended 1–0 to Manchester United, with a 38th minute goal from Marcus Rashford, his 100th for the club, sealing the win for the Red Devils. Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea made key saves against Michail Antonio, Kurt Zouma and Declan Rice and was praised by both his own manager Erik ten Hag and West Ham manager David Moyes.
Mid-season November On 3 November, West Ham played FCSB in the final Conference League group stage match. The game ended in a 3–0 win for the Hammers, with Pablo Fornals scoring a brace. Debutant Divin Mubama celebrated what he believed to be his first senior goal, however, it was later deemed a Joyskim Dawa own goal. Several Academy players made their senior competitive debuts in the match, including Mubama, Oliver Scarles, Kamarai Simon-Swyer and Kaelan Casey.
On 6 November, the Hammers played Crystal Palace in the Premier League. They lost the game 2–1, with Saïd Benrahma putting the Hammers ahead early before Wilfried Zaha equalised for the Eagles late in the first half, Michael Olise then scored an added-time winner for Palace. Manager David Moyes said in a post-match interview that West Ham "didn't deserve an awful lot from the game".
On 9 November, West Ham were knocked out of the League Cup in their first match against Blackburn Rovers. Blackburn opened the scoring in the 6th minute through Jack Vale before Pablo Fornals equalised for West Ham in the 38th minute. In the second half, Michail Antonio put West Ham ahead before Ben Brereton Díaz made the match level again. After 90 minutes, the game ended in a 2–2 draw and the match went to a penalty shoot-out. In the shoot-out, West Ham and Blackburn both scored their first nine penalties and Jake Garrett then converted Blackburn's tenth, however, West Ham's Angelo Ogbonna hit the bar and Blackburn progressed to the fourth round.
On 12 November, in their last match before the winter break, West Ham lost 2–0 to Leicester City. The Hammers conceded early in the first half as James Maddison put Leicester ahead eight minutes in and Youri Tielemans' penalty was saved by Łukasz Fabiański just before the end of the half. Despite many attempts from Lucas Paquetá, Declan Rice, Saïd Benrahma and Gianluca Scamacca, the game remained 1–0 until Harvey Barnes made it two for Leicester late on. Leicester goalkeeper Danny Ward was voted man of the match by users on the Premier League website for his performance.