The 2023–24 season was the 129th season in the history of West Ham United and their twelfth consecutive season in the Premier League. In addition to the domestic league, the club competed in the FA Cup, the EFL Cup and the UEFA Europa League.
On 15 July 2023, captain Declan Rice left the club and signed for Arsenal for £105 million, a record fee between two British clubs.
Season summary Start of season August
West Ham started their Premier League season against AFC Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on 12 August 2023. Jarrod Bowen scored the opening goal, a long-range strike into the top left corner from outside the box, in the 51st minute. Towards the end of the match, Dominic Solanke turned in a wayward effort from Antoine Semenyo to equalise for Bournemouth. The match finished in a 1–1 draw.
West Ham then played their first London derby of the season against Chelsea at London Stadium on 20 August. Debutant James Ward-Prowse assisted Nayef Aguerd's opener in the 7th minute with a corner delivered into the box to put the Hammers ahead. Chelsea responded through Carney Chukwuemeka in the 28th minute to level the game. The Blues were then awarded a penalty by referee John Brooks after Tomáš Souček fouled Raheem Sterling in the box. Enzo Fernández took the penalty, which was saved by Alphonse Areola. In the second half, Ward-Prowse earned a second assist after sending the ball through to Michail Antonio, who shot it past Robert Sánchez and into the bottom-left corner to put the Hammers back ahead. In the 67th minute, Nayef Aguerd was sent off after being shown a second yellow card for a bad foul on Nicolas Jackson. Despite being down to ten men, West Ham held onto their lead and were awarded a penalty after Moisés Caicedo fouled Emerson in the box in added time. Lucas Paquetá scored the penalty to seal the victory for the Hammers in the 90+5th minute. The match finished 3–1 to West Ham in their first win of the season.
West Ham then played Brighton & Hove Albion at the Falmer Stadium on 26 August. Though Brighton dominated the early stages of the game, in the 19th minute Michail Antonio took advantage of a defensive error from Adam Webster and crossed the ball to James Ward-Prowse, who scored his first goal for West Ham and his 50th Premier League goal overall. In the second half, the Hammers scored two goals in five minutes to extend their lead, first through Jarrod Bowen in the 58th minute and then through Michail Antonio in the 63rd minute. Brighton pegged West Ham back late on through Pascal Groß, but the Hammers held on and the match finished 3–1 to West Ham in their first ever Premier League victory against Brighton. The win placed West Ham above Tottenham Hotspur on goals scored at the top of the table.
September
On 1 September, West Ham played newly promoted Luton Town at Kenilworth Road in the first ever Premier League match to be held at the stadium. The Hammers opened the scoring through Jarrod Bowen, whose header off a Lucas Paquetá delivery deflected into the net off of goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski in the 37th minute. The second West Ham goal came through captain Kurt Zouma, who headed in a corner delivery from James Ward-Prowse in the 85th minute. Mads Juel Andersen scored Luton's first ever Premier League home goal in added time but the match finished 2–1 to West Ham. The win placed West Ham at the top of the table above Manchester City at the start of the matchweek.
During the international break, ten West Ham players were called up to represent their national teams. Four players were called up for UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying: Vladimír Coufal and Tomáš Souček for the Czech Republic, Alphonse Areola for France and Konstantinos Mavropanos for Greece, another four players were called up for 2023 AFCON qualifiers: Saïd Benrahma for Algeria, Mohammed Kudus for Ghana, Nayef Aguerd for Morocco and Maxwel Cornet for Ivory Coast. Striker Michail Antonio was called up by Jamaica to participate in CONCACAF Nations League matches, whilst midfielder Edson Álvarez was called up by Mexico for international friendlies.
On 16 September, West Ham played the defending League and European champions Manchester City at London Stadium. The Hammers struck first in the 36th minute as Vladimír Coufal's cross was headed in by James Ward-Prowse. City struck back almost immediately after half time through Jérémy Doku before Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland added to the scoreline in the 76th and 86th minutes respectively. The match finished 3–1 to City in West Ham's first loss of the season. Manager David Moyes praised his team despite the loss and commented that "we’re talking about the champions of the major European competition and the champions of the Premier League and they’re really hard to beat, really hard".
West Ham played their first group stage game of the 2023–24 Europa League on 21 September at home to Serbian team TSC Bačka Topola. A defensive error by Angelo Ogbonna in the 47th minute allowed Petar Stanić to rob him of possession before running on to score past Łukasz Fabiański. West Ham responded with two goals from Mohammed Kudus, his first for the club, in the 66th and 70th minute before Tomáš Souček added a third in the 82nd minute as the game finished 3–1. Kudus' first goal in the 66th minute was originally ruled an own goal by Nemanja Petrović, but was retroactively awarded to Kudus by UEFA the next day.
West Ham then returned to the Premier League to play Liverpool at Anfield on 24 September. Liverpool were awarded a penalty by referee Chris Kavanagh after Nayef Aguerd tripped up Mohamed Salah in the box. Salah took the penalty and sent Alphonse Areola the wrong way to put the Reds ahead in the 16th minute. The Hammers equalised a few minutes before half-time as Vladimír Coufal's cross was headed in by Jarrod Bowen. In the second half, goals from Darwin Núñez and Diogo Jota put Liverpool further ahead. The match finished 3–1 to Liverpool in West Ham's second consecutive loss in the league.
On 27 September, the Hammers played Lincoln City in the third round of the EFL Cup at the Sincil Bank. West Ham made 10 changes to the side that lost 3–1 to Liverpool with only Tomáš Souček retaining his place. West Ham won the match with a single goal from Souček in the 70th minute. The game was affected by poor weather conditions due to Storm Agnes. In the fourth round draw later that day, West Ham were drawn at home to Arsenal for the next round.
Returning to the London Stadium on 30 September, West Ham played Sheffield United in the Premier League in what was manager David Moyes’ 900th league match as a manager. West Ham won the game 2–0 with first-half goals from Jarrod Bowen and Tomáš Souček.
October On 5 October, West Ham played their second Europa League game, against Freiburg at the Europa-Park Stadion. Lucas Paquetá scored in the 8th minute from a cross by Jarrod Bowen. In the 49th minute Freiburg equalised when Roland Sallai hit a close-range shot. Nayef Aguerd headed in a James Ward-Prowse corner past goalkeeper Noah Atubolu to make it 2–1 to West Ham, the final score. By winning they became the first English side to go 17 consecutive games in European competition without defeat.
On 8 October, West Ham played Newcastle United at the London Stadium. Tomáš Souček scored in the 8th minute but Alexander Isak scored two goals in five minutes in the second half to give Newcastle a 2–1 lead. Substitute Mohammed Kudus scored in the 89th minute as the game finished in a 2–2 draw.
During the October international break, four West Ham players were called up to feature in UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying matches: Jarrod Bowen for England, Konstantinos Mavropanos for Greece and Vladimír Coufal and Tomáš Souček, both for the Czech Republic. Outside of Europe, Nayef Aguerd was called up to participate in AFCON qualifiers for Morocco and Michail Antonio was selected by Jamaica to participate in CONCACAF Nations League matches. Another three players were called up for international friendlies: Edson Álvarez for Mexico, Mohammed Kudus for Ghana and Saïd Benrahma for Algeria. Álvarez's Mexico and Kudus' Ghana played each other in a friendly on 14 October, with Mexico winning 2–0.
West Ham played Aston Villa in the Premier League at Villa Park on 22 October. Douglas Luiz put Villa ahead in the 30th minute, the only goal of the first half. He scored their second goal, a penalty in the 52nd minute after Ezri Konsa had been fouled. Jarrod Bowen pulled one back for West Ham in the 56th minute but Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey made it 4–1, the final score. Bowen's goal was the fifth successive away game in which he had scored, a feat only previously achieved in the Premier League by Thierry Henry and Mohamed Salah.
On 26 October, West Ham played Greek team, Olympiacos at the Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus in the Europa League. Kostas Fortounis scored for Olympiacos in the 32nd minute and Rodinei’s shot deflected off of Angelo Ogbonna in the first minute of added-time to make the score 2–0 at half time. Although Lucas Paquetá scored in the 87th minute, West Ham lost 2–1.
Returning to the Premier League, West Ham played Everton at the London Stadium on 29 October. Respects were paid before the game to Everton chairman Bill Kenwright and Manchester United and England legend Sir Bobby Charlton, who had both recently died. Everton won the game 1–0 with a shot from Dominic Calvert-Lewin from the edge of the box in the 52nd minute. Failing to score in a Premier League game at the London Stadium for the first time in 2023, West Ham ended a run of 14 consecutive home games with a goal.
November Arsenal were the visitors to the London Stadium on 1 November for a fourth round tie in the EFL cup. West Ham scored first, in the 16th minute, thanks to an own goal from Ben White. Mohammed Kudus added a second in the 50th minute and Jarrod Bowen a third in the 60th minute. Although Martin Ødegaard scored in the sixth minute of added time, this was only a consolation as West Ham won 3–1. The fixture also featured the first game at the London Stadium for Arsenal for former West Ham captain, Declan Rice who received a mixed reception from home supporters.
On 4 November, West Ham travelled to the Brentford Community Stadium to play Brentford. Neal Maupay put the hosts ahead in the 11th minute. However, Mohammed Kudus scored in the 19th minute acrobatically meeting Michail Antonio's cross with a bicycle kick. Jarrod Bowen added a second in the 26th minute, breaking the Premier League record to score in the first six successive away games of a season and become the first West Ham United player to score in six straight away appearances, as the first half finished 2–1 to West Ham. On 55 minutes Konstantinos Mavropanos put through his own goal before Nathan Collins made in 3–2 to Brentford, the final score, in the 69th minute. West Ham dropped to 11th in the league.
On 9 November, West Ham played the return-leg in the Europa League, against Olympiacos at the London Stadium. In a game described as drab, Lucas Paquetá scored the only goal in the 73rd minute from a James Ward-Prowse cross. The 1–0 win put West Ham back on top of their group table with nine points, ahead of Freiburg.