The 2014–15 season was West Ham United's third campaign in the Premier League since being promoted in the 2011–12 season. It was West Ham's 19th Premier League campaign overall.
As well as competing in the Premier League, West Ham took part in the FA Cup and the League Cup entering at the third and second rounds respectively.
Sam Allardyce started his fourth full season as West Ham manager, with Kevin Nolan captaining the team for the fourth year. It was to be their penultimate season playing at the Boleyn Ground before moving to the Olympic Stadium for the start of the 2016–17 season.[1]
West Ham got off to a very good start in the league. The team was 3rd in the Premier League table on Christmas Day but won just 3 matches between Boxing Day and the end of the season as their form collapsed dramatically and they finished in 12th place, one position higher than the previous season. Minutes after the last game of season- a 0–2 defeat away at Newcastle, the club announced that they would not be renewing manager Allardyce's contract.[2]
28 November 2014: Both West Ham and Everton are fined £20,000 by the FA for failing to control their players, after an on-pitch brawl during the game at Goodison Park on 22 November.[13]
3 January 2015: Doneil Henry, a Canada international defender, is signed for an undisclosed fee.[14]
17 January 2015: Ricardo Vaz Tê has his contract with the club terminated.[15]
8 February 2015: Ravel Morrison has his contract terminated with immediate effect.[16]
18 February 2015: Nenê joins the club until the end of the season with an option on 2015–16.[17]
On 28 June, it was announced that West Ham would participate in the inaugural Absolute Sports Travel Cup hosted by Football League Two side Cambridge United. They along with the hosts were joined by La Liga side Espanyol and Ukrainian Premier League side Shakhtar Donetsk.[23] The fixtures for the pre-season tournament were released on 2 July, West Ham would face Shakhtar Donetsk on 19 July and Espanyol on 20 July.[24]
Matches were played over 90 minutes, with no added time. If the scores were level, then a penalty shoot-out would determine the winner, gaining two points in the process. Winners within 90 minutes received three points. West Ham were successful from the spot in their first meeting against Schalke 04 but were beaten within 90 minutes by La Liga side Málaga, 2–0.[25][26]
West Ham faced Italian Serie A side Sampdoria in their final pre-season friendly at the Boleyn Ground. They found themselves 0–1 down approaching half time, but a Mark Noble penalty made it 1–1. A fine individual goal from Mohamed Diamé levelled the game at 2–2 in the second half before the winner in the 90th minute, courtesy of youngster Reece Burke.[27]
The players before the game, West Ham vs Tottenham
West Ham opened the season at home to Tottenham Hotspur, whom they defeated three times last season in all competitions. It was an eventful game, seeing Mark Noble miss a penalty for the first time since 2009. Both sides went down to ten men after James Collins picked up two yellow cards, whilst Kyle Naughton saw straight red for handling the ball in the penalty area. Eric Dier scored his first competitive goal for Spurs in stoppage time to pick up all three points for the North London club.[28] Next up for the Hammers was an away trip to managerless Crystal Palace. Mauro Zárate hit a spectacular volley to register his first West Ham goal and there were also goals from Stewart Downing and Carlton Cole. Senegalese player Diafra Sakho and Diego Poyet, son of Gus, also made their debuts.[29]Southampton was the next challenge and the last game before the international break. The club unveiled Barcelona and Cameroon midfielder Alex Song before kick off, who joined for a season-long loan.[30]Mark Noble put West Ham a goal up before half time but Southampton scored two second half goals to take all three points back to the South Coast. They finished the month in 11th place.[31]
September
West Ham played Hull City in their first game during September. A 2–2 draw at the KC Stadium produced a debut goal for Enner Valencia and club debut's for Carl Jenkinson, Morgan Amalfitano and Alex Song.[32] The club's second win of the season came at home to Liverpool. Morgan Amalfitano scored his first goal for the club in a 3–1 win.[33] Despite captain Wayne Rooney seeing red, West Ham could not overcome the ten men of Manchester United, losing 2–1.[34]
October
The first of a three-game winning streak came at home against struggling QPR in a 2–0 win that saw the club move up to seventh. Diafro Sakho scored his third consecutive league goal.[35] A second-straight win came against promoted side Burnley. Sakho scored his fourth consecutive league goal and helped move West Ham to fourth in the table on the eve of Sam Allardyce's 60th birthday.[36] West Ham secured their third-straight win and a 100% win rate for October in a 2–1 home win against reigning Premier League champions Manchester City. Sakho scored his fifth consecutive league goal and his sixth in a row in all competitions, breaking a club record.[37]
November
West Ham visited Stoke City and salvaged a point after being 2–0 down to draw 2–2, taking their unbeaten run to four games. Sakho was unable to continue his run of scoring in consecutive matches following an injury sustained in the Manchester City match.[38]Aston Villa was next to visit the Boleyn Ground, a match that ended 0–0. This result extended West Ham's unbeaten run to five games and also saw the return of Andy Carroll following several months out through injury. The club went into the November international break in fourth place.[39]
December
The visit of Swansea City on 7 December produced a 3–1 win for West Ham, placing them in third place in the Premier League.[40]
On 20 December, West Ham beat Leicester City 2–0 to place them in the top four of the league at Christmas, the first time this has occurred since the 1985–86 season.[41] West Ham lost their next two games, 2–0 away to Chelsea and 1–2 at home to Arsenal to be placed sixth at the end of the calendar year.[42]
With no wins, three draws, against Manchester United, Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur, and a defeat, against Crystal Palace, in February, West Ham slipped to ninth in the league.[43]
March
With three league games played in March, West Ham won one, a 1–0 home win against Sunderland with the goal being scored by Diafra Sakho in the 88th minute.[43]
April
West Ham played four games in April and won none of them. The games included two defeats and two draws including an away defeat to Leicester City, at the time at the bottom of the league.[43]
Matches
The fixtures for the 2014–15 season were announced on 18 June 2014 at 9am.[44]
Results by matchday
Matchday
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
Ground
H
A
H
A
H
A
H
A
H
A
H
A
H
A
H
A
H
A
H
H
A
H
A
H
A
A
H
H
A
H
A
H
A
A
H
A
H
A
Result
L
W
L
D
W
L
W
W
W
D
D
L
W
W
W
D
W
L
L
D
D
W
L
D
D
D
L
L
L
W
L
D
L
D
W
L
L
L
Position
18
8
11
13
8
13
7
4
4
5
4
6
5
5
4
4
4
5
6
7
7
7
8
8
8
8
9
10
10
9
9
9
10
11
9
10
11
12
Source: worldfootball.net A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss
Source: Premier League Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Play-offs (only if needed to decide champion, teams for relegation or teams for UEFA competitions).[49] Notes:
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
