From John Lyall to David Moyes, we examine the most successful managers in West Ham's long history and pick our greatest of all time.
For a team founded 130 years ago, it is suprising that West Ham have had just 19 permanent managers in their history, with Graham Potter the latest man to take the reins.
Those 19 managers have enjoyed different levels of success in east London, but there are three standout candidates for the top of the list.
Read on to find out who makes it onto our list, and make sure to explore our ranking of the top 10 Premier League managers ever and our Premier League betting page for the latest West Ham odds.
Best West Ham managers ever
10. Charlie Paynter
It can be hard to judge the performance of a manager who took charge seven years before World War II, but the fact Charlie Paynter held onto the role for 18 years and managed 480 games means he cracks the top 10.
Unfortunately, the Hammers were stuck in the second tier for most of his tenure and his lack of a cup run or top-flight success prevents him from moving up the list, despite his impressive longevity.
9. Billy Bonds
If this were a ranking of their playing days, Billy Bonds would be far higher on this list. However, his managerial spell was less fruitful than his playing days with the Hammers.
Bonds earned the Hammers promotion in 1991 and led his side to the FA Cup semi-finals but he followed up finishing bottom in the First Division, meaning West Ham were absent for the inaugural Premier League season, meaning he only makes ninth in our ranking.
He did, however, nearly get Millwall relegated from the third tier as manager, which has to be worth something, right?
8. Slaven Bilic
In a stark contrast to Paynter, Slaven Bilic spent just over two seasons as West Ham boss, but his impact was huge for such a limited amount of time.
Bilic was in the dugout for the Hammers’ final season at Upton Park, leading them to seventh, and it could be argued that without his attacking style, tendency to pull off wins against the big six and influence on Dimitri Payet, West Ham’s send-off for their spiritual home would have been far less memorable.
7. Alan Pardew
A controversial figure at just about every club he’s managed, Alan Pardew was agonisingly close to going down as a Hammers legend in 2006, leading the Londoners to the FA Cup final, only for West Ham fans’ hearts to be broken by Steven Gerrard and Liverpool.
Overall, West Ham played some exciting and attractive football under Pardew, he led them back to the Premier League in 2005 and he was in charge when Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano rocked up in east London, which earns him obvious bonus points.
6. Ted Fenton
Like his predecessor Paynter, ranking Ted Fenton is difficult given most of his games came during the 1950s. However, his achievements speak for themselves.
Fenton led the Hammers back to the top-flight for the first time since 1932 when winning promotion in 1958 and his off-field exploits are just as impressive.
He revolutionised West Ham’s academy – something the club became famed for in the decades which followed – and the starting XI for the Hammers’ 1964 FA Cup win featured seven players either signed by or promoted to the senior team by Fenton.
5. Harry Redknapp
It could be argued that Harry Redknapp actually should have achieved more during his time with West Ham, given that he had Paolo Di Cano, Joe Cole, Frank Lampard, Michael Carrick and many more at his disposal, but that is not to say he did a bad job.
Redknapp led the Hammers to fifth in the 2000-01 season – still their highest Premier League finish to this day – won the Intertoto Cup, played some excellent football and helped blood plenty of brilliant youngsters.
4. Syd King
If analysing Fenton and Paynter was difficult, judging the career of a man who took over at West Ham just two years after Queen Victoria’s death is practically impossible.
However, the main reason Syd King finds himself so high on this list is the fact that the West Ham we know today would probably not exist without him.
King was at the helm when the Irons were inducted into the Football League in 1919 and, four years later, he led the Hammers to their first ever FA Cup final, losing 2-0 to Bolton in the famed White Horse final.
3. David Moyes
The most recent inclusion on this list, David Moyes rejoined the Hammers in 2019 to little fanfare yet, five years later, he left a legend.
Moyes, who previously saved West Ham from relegation in the 2017-18 campaign, was brought back after the failings of his successor, Manuel Pellegrini.
Many Hammers fans doubted the re-appointment of the Scot and his seemingly outdated tactics, but they were soon left eating their words.
The Scot saved the Hammers from relegation in his first season before leading them to a record points total of 65 in his next.
A run to the semi-finals of the Europa League followed before the crowning moment, a 2-1 victory over Fiorentina in the 2023 Conference League final which secured West Ham’s first major trophy since 1980.
2. Ron Greenwood
Not only do West Ham have plenty to thank Ron Greenwood for, but England too.
Greenwood led the Hammers to their first major silverware in 1964, winning the FA Cup, and he followed that success up the next year by landing the European Cup Winners’ Cup.
He was responsible for overseeing the development of Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters and that trio were pivotal in both the Hammers’ and England’s monumental success in the 1960s.
1. John Lyall
While Greenwood led the Hammers to their first trophies, there is no doubt that their best years came under his successor, John Lyall.
The Ilford-born manager was an immediate hit, leading West Ham to FA Cup glory in 1975 in his debut season at the helm, and he very nearly replicated the feat of Greenwood, steering the Hammers to the Cup Winners’ Cup final in 1976, but losing 4-2 to Anderlecht.
Lyall was not done there, though, as he landed a second FA Cup in 1980, with West Ham still the most recent side to taste glory in that competition while playing their league football in the second tier.
The Hammers legend also led the Londoners to their best-ever league finish – when they ended the 1985-86 season in third – a League Cup final in 1981 and played some of the best football West Ham fans have ever witnessed.
