Sports
CRESTFALLEN goalscorer Valentin Castellanos buried his face in his shirt, but West Ham players had nowhere to hide as a furious away end turned at St James’ Park.
“You’re not fit to wear the shirt,” West Ham supporters hissed at their side following the visitors’ 3-1 defeat against Newcastle United.
Those on the field unsurprisingly kept their distance.
Some in claret and blue meekly applauded. Others stared ahead with their hands firmly on their hips. Many bowed their heads before heading down the tunnel.
Relegation may not have been confirmed with this dismal loss, but West Ham manager Nuno Espirito Santo recognised the Hammers “owed the fans respect and dignity”.
“This is our job, this is our life, but the fans are right and today they show their anger and frustration and they have reasons to,” he said.
“It hurts, it hurts the boys, it hurts us, it hurts the club.”
Two points from safety, having played a game more than Tottenham Hotspur, 18th-placed West Ham now need Chelsea to defeat their relegation rivals at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night to take the race to survive to the wire.
A draw is almost certain to be enough for Spurs, due to their vastly superior goal difference.
Even if defeat happens, West Ham would then need to beat resurgent Leeds United on the final day and hope for an Everton win at Spurs.
“We are holding on by a small thread but we are still holding on,” West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen told BBC Sport.
“We have to see how the result goes on Tuesday. There’s a chance that we are relegated then and we can’t hide from it. The only thing we can do is wait and see what happens.
“I will watch it. We never want to be relying on teams but we have put ourselves in this position. We have created this mess and I think we have to be big enough to watch it and accept what happens.”
How did it come to this?
It is less than three years since West Ham lifted a European trophy in Prague, beating Fiorentina 2-1 in the Europa Conference League final.
Only two years ago, they were taking on German champions Bayer Leverkusen in a Europa League quarter-final.
But next season, their supporters could be trading the glamour of European nights and Premier League away days for trips to Lincoln City’s 10,669-seater LNER Community Stadium and the equally modest Racecourse Ground to face Wrexham.
How did the Hammers’ season unravel?
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 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.
Numbers behind a miserable campaign
- Even if they lose their final game – West Ham’s 36 points would become the highest total to be relegated in a decade after Newcastle (37) in 2015-16.
- West Ham have failed to score in 13 of their 37 games – only Wolves (19) and Nottingham Forest (14) have failed to score more often this season.
- Nuno has won 10, drawn 11 and lost 15 of 36 matches as West Ham manager across all competitions.
- His 27.8% win ratio with the Hammers is the lowest he has managed in the Premier League – Wolves (47.7%), Tottenham (47.1%) and Forest (38.4%).
BBCSport
A.I
May 18, 2026
Tags: Valentin Castellanos