David Moyes sack decision at West Ham United leads to multi-million windfall
David Sullivan’s pockets are about to be lined thanks to the West Ham United board’s decision to not sack David Moyes last season.
Despite continued calls from the fans to be sacked, the Hammers stood by Moyes as they struggled in the Premier League and the Scot eventually led the Irons to not only safety but also the Europa Conference League title.
Many hailed West Ham’s refusal to sack Moyes at the end of last season, including Richard Keys and Gary Lineker, who were impressed by the London club’s steadfast stance on the 60-year-old.
Although the Irons finished in a lowly 14th place in the Premier League, success in the Conference League led to automatic qualification to the 2023/24 Europa League group stages.
West Ham’s campaign in the Europa League starts on Thursday night (21 September) with a home clash against Serbian side Backa Topola.
While it’s hardly a headline-making tie due to the lack of star power Backa Topola provide, the match is still one that is instantly worth millions for the club.
According to SussexWorld, qualification to the Europa League group stages sees clubs win a guarantee fee of £3.1million while wins in the next six continental games will see the Irons bag a further £540,000 a go.
Win all six games against Backa Topola, Freiburg and Olympiakos and that’s another £3.2million added to the kitty, plus a further £950,000 for topping the group.
All of this is because of West Ham’s decision to not sack Moyes last season, by the way.
If they were to go further in the Europa League and, for example, win the entire competition, they would receive a total of £12.8million on top of the money they would also receive for qualifying for the group stage, winning group stage games and topping their group.
While each bit of prize money doesn’t sound like a lot, it all adds up and in total, the Hammers could receive around £35million if they win the competition.
It’s fair to say that Moyes sticking around paid off – literally.
In other West Ham United news, the Irons are apparently scared of big away games.