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Last year, thousands of West Ham fans were protesting outside the London Stadium. The main targets were owners David Gold and David Sullivan but many supporters were also disgruntled at the re-hiring of David Moyes as manager. West Ham went into the 2020/21 campaign being tipped for a relegation battle having finished 16th the previous season. It was no surprise that some pundits were even predicting they’d be relegated back to the Championship.

Personal reasons are being cited as the reason for Alan Irvine's surprise departure from David Moyes's coaching staff, it must be quite a serious set of circumstances that require the manager's No2 to step down so suddenly, and on the eve of Hammers Europa League adventure.

Irvine has been a mainstay of the backroom staff who have overseen the transition of the club from failures to winners, losing him will be a massive blow, only West Ham could allow such a situation to occur! The Scot will be replaced by another of his countrymen, Billy McKinlay.

West Ham fans finally realised a European dream that had escaped them since 1999’s Intertoto Cup triumph by securing sixth place in the Premier League. Although there have been a couple of play off game defeats since then, this is the very first time Hammers have qualified for the group stage of the Europa League.

Fabian Balbuena, AKA The General, looks all set to move from West Ham on a free transfer, with plenty of clubs showing interest in the formidable centre back.

West Ham: Fabiański, Coufal, Ogbonna, Dawson, Cresswell, Rice (c), Souček, Bowen, Lingard, Fornals, Antonio Subs: Randolph (GK), Fredericks, Johnson, Balbuena, Diop, Noble, Benrahma, Yarmolenko, Odubeko
Southampton: McCarthy, Walker-Peters, Vestergaard, Bednarek, Salisu, Redmond, Ward-Prowse (c), Armstrong, Diallo, Minamino, Ings Subs: Forster (GK), Stephens, N'Lundulu, Romeu, Ferry, Djenepo, Walcott, Obafemi, Tella

The long and winding road of what has been the most extraordinary of seasons comes to a conclusion this afternoon with several key destinations still to be decided. For West Ham fans so used to number crunching ahead of the final game to see if the club is going to survive another term in the Barclays Premier League, events have taken on an almost surreal turn as they wait to see if the club will qualify for a 'proper' European competition, albeit the Europa League, as opposed to the much sought after Champions league, that has been missed at the final hurdle.

David Moyes cold find himself in a very strange position when it comes to Sunday's final Barclays Premier League against Southampton, his actions could end up being triggered by results elsewhere in the competition. Desperately disappointed not to have made a Champions League slot, Moyes is still keen to finish on a high.

Doubtless buoyed up by the news that arch rivals 'Tottingham' had lost to the Villains, West Ham took the field with added endeavour against former manager Sam Allardyce's West Brom. A fairytale start looked in the offing when Michael Antonio was bundled off the ball by possible future Hammers signing, Sam Johnstone, for a penalty, up stepped skipper Declan Rice, and planted the ball firmly against the post, which denied what would have been an undeniable momentum.

West Brom: Johnstone, Furlong, Bartley (c), Ajayi, Townsend, Gallagher, Yokuşlu, Maitland-Niles, Pereira, Robson-Kanu, Phillips Subs: Button (GK), Peltier, O’Shea, Gardner-Hickman, King, Robinson, Diang, Diagne, Grant
West Ham: Fabianski, Coufal, Dawson, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Rice (c), Soucek, Benrahma, Lingard, Fornals, Antonio Subs: Randolph (GK), Fredericks, Johnson, Balbuena, Diop, Noble, Bowen, Yarmolenko, Odubeko

Chelsea's victory over Leicester last night ensured West Ham could no longer qualify for the Champions League, it was not as if it were a surprise is it? This leaves the Europa League as an alternative, however there is every possibility that the dreaded 'Con' Cup might be an end result, or maybe no European competition at all!