West Ham to face tough immediate bounce-back task as Championship promotion far from guarantee
West Ham United’s relegation is going to sting for quite a while, and work now must be underway to achieve immediate promotion.
It has long been coming, and the signs were evident from the opening months of this campaign that a long and difficult season was ahead of the Irons.
Some good arrivals in the recent winter window had provided manager Nuno Espirito Santo with a much better platform to succeed and keep the Hammers afloat.
But, the Portuguese’s job was ultimately too hard to achieve, and final-day heartbreak at London Stadium was felt despite a 3-0 win versus Leeds.
The ambition will now be achieving an immediate promotion back. However, ahead of West Ham’s first and hopefully only push for promotion, history has showcased it may not be that easy.
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How likely is West Ham to achieve promotion next season?
Since the 2015-2016 Championship season, only 11 sides who were relegated from the Premier League have gone straight back up.
Out of those, only eight were through automatic promotion. This leaves just a 36.67 per cent success rate at bouncing back immediately based on history.
| West Ham’s history in the Championship | Position | Points |
| 2011-2012 | 3rd | |
| 2004-2005 | 6th | |
| 2003-2004 | 4th |
When it comes to the Hammers’ own history, they do average above that percentage. During their last two relegations, they bounced back immediately on one occasion, a 50 per cent success rate.
In the other season, they only spent two years in the second tier before returning to the top flight.
However, there looks to be quite the exodus of talent at London Stadium after this campaign, with the futures of every top star now hanging in the balance.
How new Championship rules could benefit West Ham
The Hammers, in a way, are entering the Championship season at perhaps one of the better times to do so, if there really is ever a good time.
From next season on, the playoffs have been expanded to include teams positioned in both seventh and eighth place.
Of course, the Irons should be targeting the top two and earn the automatic promotion that comes along with that reward.
However, having a fallback is certainly not a terrible thing to have, although only three sides have been relegated from the Premier League and then promoted through the play-offs the following season since 2015-2016.
West Ham, though, have always finished in the playoffs positions in each of their three seasons in the second tier after a Premier League relegation.