West Ham United Titles & Trophies

Although it would be untrue to talk about West Ham United as being the most successful club in the London area, there is certainly a degree of truth in the idea that the Hammers have enjoyed their share of success over the years. The club’s captain has been able to lift silverware in both foreign and domestic competitions across numerous generations, ensuring that the supporters have had something to celebrate at one point or another. Whilst the thing that they’ve celebrated might not have been precisely what they were after, such as a top-flight title, it has been enough to allow for trophy parades and the like.

Those that consider themselves to be fans of West Ham will doubtless talk of years in the wilderness and the amount of time that the club has spent not enjoying its time playing in the upper echelons of the game, which is the nature of being a supporter of a club that doesn’t challenge for the top honours on a regular basis. There have been more than a few occasions in which they have been able to get the champagne out of the fridge and put up the bunting, however, and it is those moments that we are focussed on here. The club has enjoyed success in both major and minor competitions, which is crucial to success.

League Titles

It is entirely fair and correct to point out that, when it comes to the top-flight at least, West Ham’s success has been limited at best. In the 1985-1986 campaign they came third, which was the club’s best ever performance at the time, with only clubs from Merseyside finishing above them; they finished on 84 points, two shy of Everton in second and four away from Liverpool. It was the closest that they ever came to challenging for the top honours, but the Hammers have won leagues below the Premier League numerous times during the club’s history. As well as winning the second tier, the club has also won some minor trophies.

Second Division / First Division / Championship

West Ham fans would doubtless be quick to point out that they have won a domestic title, on account of the fact that they were successful in the second tier more than once. Known as the Second Division when it was first introduced, it became the First Division when the First Division became the Premier League, allowing for all sorts of confusion. Nowadays that league is called the Championship, with West Ham having enjoyed success in it more than once. They have also finished as runners-up in the second tier a few times, which has allowed them to gain promotion even if it is without the success of a title win.

Here is a look at the times that West Ham United have won the second tier of the English game, alongside their points total, the team that finished as runners-up and the points total of those runners-up so as to provide some context for their achievement:

Season	Points	Second Place	Second Place Points
1957-1958	57	Blackburn Rovers	56
1980-1981	66	Notts County	53

As well as winning the title, the Hammers have also made it into the top-flight courtesy of a Play-Off final win more than once. Although this obviously isn’t the same as a title win, it does come with a trophy and a chance to celebrate, so it is only right that we look at when they achieved this. Here is a list of the times that they won the Play-Offs as well as their opposition and the final score:

Season	Opposition	Score
2004-2005	Preston North End	1-0
2011-2012	Blackpool	2-1

Lesser Leagues

Although teams like Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Arsenal that have won the top-flight more than once might want to pretend lower leagues don’t exist, the truth is that they do and that they can be quite important for teams such as West Ham United. The Hammers might not consider themselves to be as important as some of the other trophies that they have won, yet they are a big part of their history and helped the club to become the one that it is today. The only ones that we’re not looking at here are the wartime leagues like the London Combination, which they did won but aren’t really counted.

Here is a look at the so-called ‘lesser’ leagues that the Hammers won, as well as the teams that came second and the points total racked up by both, where that information is available:

*The club was known as Thames Ironworks during the early years, which is the name that both the London League in 1898 and the Southern League Division Two in 1899 was won as, but it is the same club and so we’ve included the victories here.

**The Western League was split into two sections in the 1906-1907 season, with West Ham United winning its section in order to play in the Championship Decider against Fulham. They won that game 1-0, thereby becoming the Western League champions.

Cups & Trophies

It would hardly be outrageous to suggest that it is in the cups and trophies that West Ham have enjoyed the majority of the club’s success over the years. Although they haven’t won the League Cup, for example, they did finish as runners-up in both 1966 and 1981, Losing to West Bromwich Albion and Liverpool respectively. The loss to Liverpool was in a replay, with the original final having ended in a draw in front of 100,000 people. West Ham have enjoyed success on both a domestic and a European front, also coming close when they were runners-up in the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 1976 and the Anglo-Italian League Cup in 1975.

Charity Shield / Community Shield

There are more than a few people that would not consider the Community Shield, which is the name given to the competition after the Football Association was told that it didn’t pay enough money to charity to continue to call it the Charity Shield and chose to rename it rather than increase the money offered, a major trophy. Given the fact that the only teams that get to play in it have to have won one of the major trophies, however, it seems churlish not to include it in any list of trophies won by West Ham United. They missed out in 1975 when they lost 2-0 to Derby and in 1980 when Liverpool defeated them 1-0.

The time that is considered a success for West Ham in the competition is as follows:

Year of Final	Opposition	Score
1964	Liverpool	2-2

Although the match ended in a draw, at the time there were no penalty shootouts nor replays for the Charity Shield, meaning that it was shared by the two clubs. Given how often West Ham missed out on silverware at the hands of Liverpool, that should be considered to be a success.

FA Cup

The FA Cup is one of the top domestic honours that West Ham United have enjoyed more than their fair share of success in. The first reached the final of the competition in the 1922-1923 season, losing 2-0 to Bolton Wanderers. The next time that they made it there, however, they emerged as winners. They won it on another two occasions before their next trip as losing finalists, missing out to Liverpool (who else?). That was in a penalty shootout after the game finished 3-3 in normal time and no goals were scored in the extra-time period. Success in the FA Cup is something that West Ham have enjoyed several times and are rightly proud of.

Here is a look at the occasions on which the Hammers made it to the final, as well as the team that they were up against and the scoreline at the end of the game:

Year of Final	Opposition	Score
1964	Preston North End	3-2
1975	Fulham	2-0
1980	Arsenal	1-0

European Cup Winners’ Cup

A trophy that could only be qualified for by winning a domestic trophy, West Ham made it into the European Cup Winners’ Cup for the 1964-1965 season thanks to the FA Cup win at the end of the previous campaign. The Hammers also played in the same competition’s final in 1976, finishing as runners-up to Anderlecht. It was the first European trophy that the club won and would remain their only one for a number of years, largely thanks to the fact that they ended up as runners-up in the Anglo-Italian League Cup final in 1975. Although they aren’t a team known for their European exploits, this is one they did win.

Here is how West Ham got on in that famous win in 1965, including their opposition and the score:

Year of Final	Opposition	Score
1965	1860 Munich	2-0

UEFA Europa Conference League / UEFA Conference League

The UEFA Conference League began life in 2021 as the third tier of European competition. For clubs that regularly play in the Champions League it was seen as something of a joke, but for those that were unable to eat at European football’s top table or even play in the second tier Europa League, it was considered to be an opportunity to win some silverware that was at least mildly worthy of the name. Known as the UEFA Europa Conference League when it was launched, it rebranded to become simply the UEFA Conference League in 2024 in order to remove any link to the competition above it in the pecking order.

Here is a look at when West Ham have won the tournament, including opposition and final score:

Year of Final	Opposition	Score
2023	Fiorentina	2-1

UEFA Intertoto Cup

The UEFA Intertoto Cup was launched in 1961 as a competition between various European clubs. Initially called the International Football Cup, it didn’t come under the auspices of UEFA until 1995. Initially it boasted just a single winner, then in 1967 it ended with a number of winners for the various groups involved. As soon as UEFA took over it became a qualifying competition for the UEFA Cup, with between two and 11 Intertoto Cup winners moving into the second qualifying round of the competition. If a club wanted to take part then they had to apply to do so, which is why it wasn’t considered a major trophy.

Here is how West Ham got on in the year that they won it, as well as the team that they defeated to do so:

Year of Final	Opposition	Score
1999	Metz	3-2 on Aggregate

Lesser Cups & Trophies

There are numerous competitions that wouldn’t even be considered worthy of a mention to teams such as Arsenal and Chelsea, but that make up an important part of a club like West Ham United’s history. Although they are only mentioned in dispatches, it is worth covering them here for completeness. There are some, such as the West Ham Charity Cup, that we are missing out altogether. Where possible we have given information on the team that the Hammers faced in the final, but where that isn’t possible we will say as much:

*The initial London Challenge Cup final in 1949 ended 1-1, with West Ham winning the replay 2-1.

**The initial London Challenge Cup final in 1969 ended 2-2, with West Ham winning the replay 3-2.