West Ham United v FCSB
UEFA Europa Conference League Group B, London Stadium, Thursday 8 September 2022, 8pm BST
West Ham United kick-off their UEFA Europa Conference League Group B campaign with a home tie with FCSB of Romania on Thursday evening.
The Hammers are in European competition for the second consecutive season, having reached the UEFA Europa League semi-finals last term, and hopes are high that the east Londoners can put together another extended continental challenge in 2022/23.
West Ham defeated Danish Superliga side Viborg FF 6-1 on aggregate in the play-off round and have been paired with Romanian Liga I side FCSB, Belgian Pro League club Anderlecht and Viborg's Superliga rivals Silkeborg in Group B.
We will face our three group-stage opponents home and away between now and early November. The UECL will then take a break until the New Year, kicking-off with the preliminary knockout round in February and round of 16 in March, with the eight group runners-up going through to a preliminary knockout round, where they will face a third-place group-stage finisher from the Europa League.
From there, the competition follows a two-legged knockout format all the way to the final, which will be hosted at Slavia Prague’s Fortuna Arena in the Czech Republic on 7 June next year.
Tickets…
Ticket are still on sale for Thursday's first leg, with prices starting from just £10 for U18s and £19 for Adults, reaffirming our commitment to affordable family football and meaning you can make it a night to remember for all the family.
Click here for full pricing information, and here to secure your seats now.
How To Follow…
Thursday's tie will be broadcast live in the UK by BT Sport 2 from 7.45pm.
You can also follow the action via our live blog on whufc.com and our app and across our social media channels. We will also have highlights and exclusive reaction for you after the final whistle.
Travel...
Greater Anglia services will run as normal.
c2c services will run as normal until 11.30pm, when engineering works will take place between Fenchurch Street to Barking and Barking to Upminster. In addition to this, due to track work between Upminster and Pitsea, rail replacement services will run between stations. Other services will start and terminate at Barking or Upminster and ticket acceptance on the London Underground District line will be available between these stations and Tower Hill..
On Southeastern, due to late-night engineering works, from 11.50pm until the end of service, buses replace trains between Ebbsfleet International and Gillingham. From 11,45pm until the end of service, buses replace trains between Sittingbourne and Sheerness-on-Sea, and from 12.10am on Friday until the end of service, buses replace trains between Gillingham and Faversham. A connecting train will run from Faversham to Ramsgate. A mini bus shuttle will run between Sittingbourne and Faversham via Teynham.
TfL London Overground services will run as normal, bar a number of timetable alterations that will see some trains terminate at Willesden Junction and one terminate at Camden Road.
Most TfL London Underground and bus services will run as normal, but travellers should expect disruption on the following lines:
On the Elizabeth line services between Abbey Wood and Paddington will operate until 11pm only.
Official Programme
West Ham United's 116-page Official Programme for Thursday's UEFA Europa Conference League Group B opener with FCSB is on sale now!
With London Stadium set to host another memorable European night as we welcome visitors from Romania, we have produced a bumper issue crammed full of exclusive interviews and exciting content for fans of all ages, complete with a double-sided A3 poster.
The Irons' Official Programme is available to order online now for just £4, plus £1.49 postage and packaging*.
Team News...
David Moyes will definitely be without summer signing Nayef Aguerd, who suffered an ankle injury in the pre-season match at Rangers and has been ruled out for an extended period.
However, captain Declan Rice is available again after missing both legs of the play-off round due to suspension. Centre-back Craig Dawson is back in full training, while centre-forward Gianluca Scamacca has recovered from illness and should also be available.
Ben Johnson is a doubt after injuring his hamstring in the 1-0 Premier League win at Aston Villa, while fellow defender Aaron Cresswell suffered a calf injury in the 1-1 home draw with Tottenham Hotspur.
For FCSB, left-back Ionuţ Panţîru, midfielder Adrian Șut, winger Andrei Dumiter, defender Iulian Cristea and defensive midfielder Ovidiu Popescu are all ruled out with knee injuries.
Opposition…
In the seven seasons since FCSB were crowned Romanian champions for the 26th and most recent time, Thursday’s visitors have finished second on no fewer than six occasions.
CFR Cluj, five times, West Ham United’s UEFA Europa League qualifying nemesis Astra Giurgiu, and the club owned by the finest player in the club’s history, Gheorghe Hagi’s Viitorul Constanța, once each, are the three clubs who have blocked FCSB’s path to that elusive 27th title.
During that period of frustration, FCSB have also suffered the loss of their historic name – Steaua – after a 2017 court case granted it to the second-tier club run by the by Romania’s Ministry of National Defence.
To explain – the original club was founded in 1947 as Asociația Sportivă a Armatei București (Army Sports Association Bucharest), before changing its name to Steaua – ‘The Star’ in Romanian – in 1961.
In 1998, the football club was allegedly separated from the Sports Association (then known as Clubul Sportiv al Armatei Steaua București or CSA Steaua București) and privatised. However, that separation was then contested by CSA and, after years of legal wrangling, the Liga I club was required to change its name to FCSB, while CSA Steaua București was reactivated and joined Romania’s fourth tier in 2017.
The controversy split the club’s traditional and passionate support, with some groups sticking with FCSB and others following CSA.
And another ruling in 2019 suggested FCSB should not be able to claim Steaua’s historic honours from before 2003, including 21 of 26 Liga I titles, 21 of 24 Romanian Cups and the 1986 European Cup and European Super Club, which they won by defeating Barcelona and Dynamo Kyiv respectively.
Got all that? OK, we will move on to the present day.
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As we mentioned at the start, FCSB are desperately trying to dethrone Cluj as Romanian football’s dominant team of the 2020s, with the latter winning Liga I in each of the last five seasons.
Last season, FCSB finished second to Cluj in the Championship round by just one point, despite winning eight and losing just one of their ten matches – to Cluj.
That vital 1-0 defeat and a 1-1 draw with Voluntari in their final game, meant the club from Romania’s capital was forced to settle for a place in the UEFA Europa Conference League, while Cluj – from the province of Transylvania – went into the UEFA Champions League qualifiers.
While FCSB fans will be pleased that Cluj lost on penalties to Armenian club Pyunik in the Champions League first qualifying round to drop into this competition, they will not be satisfied until they have knocked their rivals off a perch they feel they should be on.
Match Officials
Referee: Benoît Bastien (FRA)
Assistant Referees: Hicham Zakrani (FRA) & Aurélien Berthomieu (FRA)
Fourth Official: Jérémie Pignard (FRA)
Thursday's referee will be Benoît Bastien of France.
Born in the town of Épinal in the north east of the country, Bastien has been on the FIFA list for international referees since 2014.
Bastien has refereed five matches this season, three in Ligue 1, one in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers and an international between Wales and Belgium in the UEFA Nations League.
Previously, the 39-year-old has officiated the 2015 Coupe de la Ligue and 2017 Coupe de France finals and 2020 Trophée des Champions, all of which were won by Paris Saint-Germain, as well as Germany's UEFA European U21 Championship final victory over Spain.
He has previously refereed English clubs Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Leicester City and Romanian side CFR Cluj in European competition, but this will be his first West Ham United or FCSB appointment.
