West Ham United

Holly Turbutt
Fan contributor

The battle to stay in the Premier League is officially going down to the last game of the season.

That's something not many West Ham fans thought we'd be saying at this point in time.

Every single time we have thought it was all over, we have somehow been handed another lifeline and we've been incredibly lucky for this to keep happening.

But the question is, can we hold on to this final lifeline and somehow worm our way into staying in the Premier League when we all thought it was over?

If I'm completely honest, I had made peace with being relegated and I had accepted our fate of being a Championship side. But it's been such a rollercoaster.

Every time you give up hope and you say it's all over, West Ham find this glimmer of hope that drags you back in and leads you to question whether we can do it.

Anything can happen in football, but are we asking too much for West Ham to beat Leeds? And for Spurs to lose to Everton? We probably are as we need a lot of things to go our way, but anything can happen on the day.

It's the hope that gets you and it's the hope that's kept us clinging on all season, but you never know.

I just can't believe it's all coming down to the last game of the season. I am terrified to be stood in the stands trying to follow the Spurs game at the same time.

They have poor home form and we're just hoping for a miracle.

Anything we manage to achieve is going to be a positive because a lot of fans have come to the conclusion that we won't be in the Premier League next season.

If we can make it happen, it will be the biggest celebration at the London Stadium. Hopefully, West Ham can do it and here's hoping David Moyes can do the Hammers one big last favour - please!

Find more from Holly Turbutt at West Ham Network, external

Image source, Getty Images

We asked for your views on how you were feeling about the relegation battle as Tottenham's failure to earn a point or more at Chelsea kept West Ham's hopes alive.

Here are some of your comments:

Phil: We should never have got rid of David Moyes, but at least we can rely on him again. I trust Moyes to give us the Spurs defeat on Sunday … but can I trust us to seal the deal by beating Leeds?

Jamie: I feel Spurs can nick a draw at least against Everton with the current form of both teams. West Ham will also struggle to get a win with an energetic Leeds side. West Ham down for me, but football is a funny old game sometimes. The way the season has gone VAR will probably decide.

Yianni: Really as a West Ham fan, I think that we do deserve to go down and yet we don't at the same time. That is because we've had a lot of very poor games and performances but in some we were great and won or got unlucky. It all comes down to what Nuno does and hopefully he doesn't play a back three and sticks to a 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1.

Trevor: To be honest I don't really care if we go down, I've had enough of the club. I've supported them all my life - 62 years of age now. If we don't go down this year it will be the same next year so let what will be will be!

Mark: Hope is better than despair. We're probably going down, but at least our efforts may matter. I'm not optimistic. I am, however, still paying attention. Moping is for Monday.

James: I have just got this feeling that the Hammers can pull it off! No doubt if that is the case they will put us through the wringer. But cautious optimism.

Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United are interested in England forward Jarrod Bowen, 29, as rival clubs prepare to capitalise on West Ham's financial problems if they are relegated by targeting their best players. (Guardian), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Wednesday's full gossip column

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West Ham are still alive in their battle to beat the drop after Tottenham lost 2-1 at Chelsea on Tuesday.

It means the Hammers go into Sunday's finale knowing they need to beat Leeds United at London Stadium and hope Everton can overcome Spurs at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

We want to hear from you and how you are feeling.

How much renewed hope has this given you? Or do you think it's too much of an ask to stay up.

Get in touch here

Come back on Wednesday for a selection of your replies

Image source, Getty Images

As West Ham contemplate possible relegation from the Premier League, BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club pundits are worried about the mood an already "vacuous" and "cavernous" London Stadium will bring next season.

"The club will get the odd game, maybe one or two fixtures, where they will be close to a sell out," former West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green predicted. "But, after that, I think we are talking 40,000 seats filled at best."

The Observer's Rory Smith added: "The prospect of playing at the London Stadium in the Championship, to me, means possibly a 30,000 to 35,000 turnout. That's if the club is doing well. The ground won't be full, it will be this cavernous kind of thing.

"They will also have to fill a £100m hole in their budget, which will mean selling Crysencio Summerville, Jarrod Bowen and Mateus Fernandes. Those three might just do it, but they also might have to lose some others."

However, former Premier League striker Chris Sutton argued: "They have been blaming the lack of atmosphere for so long now. They all have to let that go. The old Upton Park was the old Upton Park - it was great but they can't move back.

"There was also a large part of West Ham fans - I'm not saying all of them - that wanted David Moyes out. They wanted a new brand of football.

"Fans are able to influence owners into making changes, but look at what's happened: they are going down."

BBC Sport, external has also pinpointed four things that could be knock-on effects if West Ham are relegated:

1. Stadium complications: London taxpayers may have to pay an extra £2.5m if West Ham are relegated. Under the 99-year lease agreement for London Stadium, West Ham would pay the Greater London Authority about half their current annual rent of £4.4m if they are relegated.

2. Seven-figure loss in revenue: An expert says relegation would cost the club about £100m. In addition, West Ham have a wage bill four times that of the Championship average.

3. Jarrod Bowen's future: West Ham's club captain is likely to be top of the list of players the club might look to sell to ease the financial burden of relegation.

4. Another new manager? Nuno Espirito Santo's future is far from clear, despite signing a three-year contract when he joined in September 2025.

Watch the full episode of Monday Night Club on BBC iPlayer and listen on BBC Sounds

James Jones
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

So that's pretty much it for West Ham United.

After 14 years in the Premier League, and 10 years on from being promised a world-class stadium for a world-class team, we're on the brink of slipping back into the Championship with a mish-mash squad of underachievers and a rented athletics stadium we now call home.

This will be our third Premier League relegation - so it's by no means our first rodeo - but this one hurts a hell of a lot more than the previous two. That's because, quite simply, it wasn't what we were promised as fans, and it's the result of severe mismanagement by those who made all those promises of grandeur. A club the size of West Ham, with all its resources, shouldn't be getting relegated.

Moving to London Stadium was supposed to bring a new era of success, prosperity and excitement. Yet, barring those four seasons under David Moyes in which some of those promises were being realised, it has largely been a drift from one crisis to another.

There is no longer an identity behind the famous crest, and there hasn't been a strategic vision in place ever since David Gold and David Sullivan bought the club in 2010. That's been made evidently clear by the frantic managerial merry-go-round over the past few years. Moyes to Manuel Pellegrini to Moyes to Julen Lopetegui to Graham Potter to Nuno Espirito Santo.

On top of that, player recruitment has often been scattergun. Oh, and I can't continue without mentioning the record £104m losses in the past year!

While the likes of Brentford, Brighton and Bournemouth have overtaken us both on and off the pitch, West Ham remains one of the worst-run football clubs in England, possibly even Europe. And it just cannot continue.

With Karren Brady gone, Sullivan's exit must be next once relegation is confirmed.

Find more from James Jones at We Are West Ham, external

Adwaidh Rajan
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

The defining moment of West Ham's season might be Callum Wilson's stoppage-time equaliser against Arsenal that never was.

But their slide towards the Championship began long before that and could be traced back to the departure of David Moyes in 2024 as the club opted for a more expansive style of football.

Across two spells, Moyes won 112 of his 261 matches, delivering three top-10 finishes. He also ended the club's long wait for silverware in Europe.

Since his exit, the Hammers have struggled for stability and direction.

Julen Lopetegui lasted only six months while his successor Graham Potter was out after eight.

Nuno Espirito Santo arrived in September looking to reboot a side that took only three points from their opening five games under Potter.

The Portuguese began with a draw at Everton, but three consecutive losses to Arsenal, Brentford and Leeds soon after laid bare the scale of the task at hand.

Back-to-back wins in November suggested a turning point, but it was followed by a 10-game winless run from November into January.

A spell of three wins in four matches against fellow strugglers Tottenham, Sunderland and Burnley at the turn of the year offered hope again, but just three victories in 12 games since have left them on the brink.

• Read more on the Hammers

We asked for your views after West Ham United's defeat by Newcastle United, which leaves the Hammers two points off safety with just a game to go.

Here are some of your comments:

John: Inexcusable starting line-up. This Newcastle team are not the Arsenal and that starting XI made them look like they were. Absolutely pathetic and we deserve to be relegated after the total mismanagement by our board. You get what you deserve, and unfortunately, we have Sullivan in charge. It's going to be a long time before we are back in the top flight.

Jimmy: Pathetic performance from the players, apart from Taty's cameo from the bench. All three goals were gifted to Newcastle from ridiculously poor play. Performance was not helped by Nuno's negative, clueless and quite baffling tactics. We are 100% relegated now and it's what the shambolic owners and board of directors deserve since the ridiculously poor mismanagement post the Conference League win. It's us fans that I feel sorry for as we're the ones who are hurting. Complete reset is needed from top to bottom with all of the board and Nuno out and Scott Parker to come in - if he'll have us that is.

Robert: Nuno has to take this one, even when it was clear to everyone that the back five wasn't working. He delayed and could have been 3-0 down before he changed things. His man-management is good but, tactically, he has been found wanting at too many crucial moments.

George: Knew the season was gone the moment the Hammers lost three points to Wolves. This really is the end of an era.

Brendan: Let's be honest, it's been a long, slow relegation- ever since Moyes got the boot.

Dave: Why was three at the back used again? It's never worked, and this useless manager went for it again and cost us the game. Many of the players are either looking forward to leaving or their holiday. All our problems stem from Sullivan (Gold) and Brady The latter has jumped ship - now Sullivan must go and go now. We don't want him involved in trying to get us back to the top flight. We also need to start looking for a young British manager because we don't have any luck with continental managers.

Ian: Once again, a performance that lacked desire, spirit and guts! A game West Ham could not afford to lose - and guess what, we lost it. It was always going to be difficult going to St James' Park and trying to win, but two goals down after 20 minutes? Come on. Both goals were a gift with a carefree attitude from our players. We deserve what is coming to us. Championship football next season. So sad to see.

James: I feel, sadly, that relegation is a cert. There was so little of the fight shown in the previous weeks. It looks to me as if some players already have an eye on the exit door when they should be doing everything to make sure this club stays up.

Image source, Getty Images

Former West Ham midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker says Nuno Espirito Santo's decision to start Callum Wilson over Taty Castellanos in Sunday's defeat at Newcastle was "an odd one".

Nuno started with a back five with Wilson as his lone striker but changed shape when 2-0 down, bringing on Castellanos for defender Jean-Clair Todibo. However, the damage had been done as they suffered a deeply damaging 3-1 defeat.

"Tough result but you have to give credit to Newcastle, they played well," Reo-Coker told the Football Daily podcast.

"When you look at the goals West Ham conceded, they are just poor goals. You can't be in a relegation fight, with everything at stake, and you go away to St James' Park and be so open and so careless in how you approach the game.

"Defensively the goals conceded are so poor. It was always a mountain to climb after the start they had, but even after that in the first half I thought if West Ham can get a goal before half time then it would be game on."

"Now, they have handed the advantage massively to Tottenham. You might question Nuno over why Taty Castellanos didn't start which is an odd one. He started Callum Wilson up top and for me, I don't know if it's because he's playing against his former club or why, but Taty has been playing most games and playing well.

"For me it's an odd one when you look at team selection. You'd think he would have made a difference if he started.

"Spurs have the advantage now but I think it will still go down to the final day."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Pundits Dion Dublin and Mark Schwarzer join host Gabby Logan to bring you the action and talking points from Friday's and Sunday's Premier League fixtures.

Watch on BBC iPlayer here

And listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Leeds 1-0 Burnley

• Brentford 2-2 Crystal Palace

• Newcastle 3-1 West Ham

Ciaran Kelly
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

'Belief' is the word Nuno Espirito Santo repeated before this game, but his players looked drained of it.

Where was the fight from the visitors? It was as if they did not realise the enormity of the dire situation they are in.

As much as St James' Park is historically a difficult place to go, this result was by no means a foregone conclusion.

Newcastle did not have anywhere near as much riding on this game, and Eddie Howe's side have had vulnerabilities of their own this season.

Yet, West Ham found themselves 2-0 down before they finally asked a question of goalkeeper Nick Pope.

No wonder the away end booed their side off at half-time. No wonder a number of supporters walked out after Newcastle went 3-0 up. No wonder those who stayed behind at full-time hissed: 'You're not fit to wear the shirt'.

West Ham are still technically a Premier League side, but a third straight league loss has left Nuno's side staring down the barrel.

Not only will West Ham need both Chelsea and Everton to beat Tottenham in the final week of the season, they will also have to take care of their own business by beating buoyant Leeds United on the final day.

That feels an almighty prospect right now.

West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo has been speaking to Sky Sports following the defeat: "We had a big disadvantage because we conceded two goals, but the game wasn't lost. We tried to react, but the way we conceded was poor. Even though we tried to react, it wasn't enough. I saw the mistakes and the disorganisation of the team. We were too open, we were allowing Newcastle to play. It was a very difficult match for us.

"Maybe we prepared badly? Maybe we made mistakes? We have to look. If you look at the game, then probably yes [I got my team selection wrong]."

On whether he feels let down by his players: "No, let's look at the game. We started off poorly, we were soft. The way we conceded the first goal and second goal means everything is much harder.

"Let's try to finish the season with dignity and respect for the club. It is a hard week ahead of us, but we owe it to the club to try until the end. Of course I understand [the fans' anger].They are frustrated and disappointed with what they saw, and with reason.

"The way we started the game was really bad, but we have been trying to improve and get better. This was not a step forward. We have to realise our situation is very difficult, there is a lot of anxiety and nerves. These things don't help, but we have to take responsibility."

On the week ahead: "Let's wait until Tuesday. We have been in situations in recent weeks where you have chances to go [clear] and don't take it, then we expect what is happening in other games. It is possible, but it is difficult."

Mateus Fernandes has also been talking to Sky Sports: "The first 20 minutes was so painful for us. We have been training all week to do one thing, yet we arrived here and didn't do it. This week, we just needed to believe [in ourselves] and do our things. It is our [the players'] responsibility. We need to do much better.

"It needs to be us [the players' responsibility] always. Since the first day, it is the players who decide the games. Everyone needs to take responsibility for this moment and be a man. This is football.

"We need to be positive because we have one more game. It is one game that can change everything. We could've put pressure on Tottenham, but now it's difficult.

"Of course [I understand the fans' frustration at full-time]. We didn't play with full fight and spirit like we did against Arsenal. We missed everything - the fight, the energy, and every time we were late to the second balls.

"It is very hard to think about the future. We have one game that we have to try to win. It is difficult, anything can happen. Hopefully Tottenham lose against Chelsea, and then in the last match we go with everything. We have to believe."

Did you know?

• West Ham have lost three consecutive Premier League games for a third time this season (also in October and December). Before this current run of three successive defeats, the Hammers had lost just three of their previous 13 league matches (W6 D4).

• The Hammers in 2025-26 are just the third side in Premier League history to have two different goalkeepers (Mads Hermansen and Alphonse Areola) provide an assist in a single season, after Derby County in 1996-97 and Newcastle United in 2012-13.

The pressure is now at boiling point for West Ham United and Nuno Espirito Santo.

The Hammers could be relegated to the Championship - for the first time since 2010-11 - in just 51 hours' time.

Whether you were at St James' Park or you were following the match from elsewhere, we want to know your thoughts on the defeat.

Did the players show enough fight and belief? Were you expecting this result? Is relegation a done-deal now?

Let us know your post-match thoughts here

Come back on Monday for a selection of your replies

Kieran Trippier makes his final start for Newcastle United at St James' Park against relegation-threatened West Ham.

The defender, who is leaving the club this summer, following the expiry of his contract, has been recalled for Newcastle's last home game of the campaign.

Jacob Ramsey and Harvey Barnes also come back in as head coach Eddie Howe makes three changes to the side who drew at Nottingham Forest last week.

Newcastle starting XI: Pope, Trippier, Thiaw, Botman, Hall, Guimaraes, Tonali, Barnes, Woltemade, Ramsey, Osula

Subs: Ramsdale, Wissa, Gordon, Elanga, J.Murphy, Willock, Burn, A.Murphy, Neave

Callum Wilson lines up against his former club as West Ham make one change for today's crucial trip to Tyneside.

The striker replaces Valentin Castellanos in the starting line-up as he returns to St James' for the first time since leaving the club last summer.

West Ham can move out of the relegation zone with a win this evening.

West Ham starting XI: Hermansen, Todibo, Mavropanos, Disasi, Wan-Bissaka, Soucek, Fernandes, Diouf, Bowen, Wilson, Summerville

Subs: Areola, Walker-Peters, Kilman, Taty, Pablo, Magassa, Scarles, Potts, Kante

There are six games in the Premier League on Sunday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Manchester United v Nottingham Forest (12:30)

• Brentford v Crystal Palace - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

• Everton v Sunderland

• Leeds v Brighton - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Wolves v Fulham

• Newcastle v West Ham (17:30) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

Kick-offs 15:00 unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

You can also listen to today's 5 Live Premier League commentaries on most smart speakers. Just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Leeds v Brighton" or "ask BBC Sounds to play Newcastle v West Ham", for instance.

Find out more about how to listen to Premier League football on BBC Sounds