What does winning the UEFA Europa Conference League mean for West Ham United?
Well, first off, it means West Ham United have become the first English club to win the UEFA Europa Conference League, which was introduced at the start of the 2021/22 season.
It also means the Hammers have won two major European trophies in their history, with this triumph following European Cup Winners’ Cup success in 1964/65.
Prize money-wise, the Irons won €15.19m after beating AFC Fiorentina in the final, having topped their group with a perfect, record-setting six wins out of six, then gone all the way to lifting the trophy in Prague.
That figure will be boosted by a minimum of €3.63m as winning the Conference League means the Premier League side automatically qualify for the 2023/24 UEFA Europa League group stage.
After playing 57 competitive matches over the past ten months, and 113 over the previous two seasons, West Ham are set for another 50-plus next term!
We got to the Europa League semi-finals in 2021/22, so is it basically the same tournament in 2023/24?
Yes, in essence. The group stage will be contested by 32 teams, with the eight group winners progressing directly to the round of 16, and the runners-up playing-off against eight UEFA Champions League third-place group-stage finishers to join them.
There is a difference, however, in the number of clubs from certain countries who have direct access to the Europa League group stage.
Russian clubs are currently barred from UEFA competitions, so the place they had in 2021/22 has gone.
West Ham’s Conference League triumph means there will be three English clubs competing, with Liverpool and Brighton & Hove Albion also in after finishing fifth and sixth respectively in the Premier League.
Therefore, the 2023/24 group stage will be comprised of three clubs from England, two each from France, Germany, Italy and Spain and one from Portugal, ten winners from the Europa League Play-Off round, six teams eliminated from the UEFA Champions League Play-Off round and four eliminated from the Champions League third qualifying round (League Path).
They will be drawn into eight groups of four, with the eight group winners qualifying directly for the round of 16.
The eight group-stage runners-up will contest a preliminary knockout round in ties against the eight clubs who finish third in their UEFA Champions League groups for the right to join them.
The 16 remaining teams will then be gradually whittled down to two, who will contest the final at the Lansdowne Road in Dublin, Republic of Ireland on Wednesday 22 May 2024.
Who could we play in the Europa League?
Of course, the ten Play-Off round winners and the ten teams who drop out of the Champions League qualifying and play-off rounds will not be known until next season.
However, we do know the identity of seven of the 20 clubs who will contest the Play-Off round, all of whom finished third in their respective domestic leagues – Ajax of the Netherlands, LASK of Austria, Aberdeen of Scotland, Čukarički of Serbia, Zorya Luhansk of Ukraine, Union Saint-Gilloise of Belgium and Lugano of Switzerland.
The winners of those ten Play-Off round ties will join the 12 group-stage qualifiers already confirmed, including West Ham United!
The Hammers will definitely be joined by Liverpool and Brighton, as stated, French Cup winners Toulouse and Ligue 1 qualifiers Rennes, German Bundesliga qualifiers SC Freiburg and Bayer Leverkusen, Italian Serie A qualifiers Atalanta and Roma, Spanish La Liga qualifiers Villarreal and Real Betis and Portuguese Primeira Liga qualifiers Sporting Lisbon.
We have never faced any of those sides in European competition previously.
Where will we be seeded in our group?
As UEFA Europa Conference League winners, we will be automatically placed among the eight teams in Pot 1.
The positions of the other 31 clubs who take part in the group stage will be governed by their UEFA club coefficient (CC) – a sum of points earned by clubs in European competition over the previous five seasons, or 20% of the club’s association coefficient over the same period, whichever coefficient is higher.
After our victory in Prague, West Ham United’s CC is up to 50.000 exactly.
Clubs who have competed in Europe regularly in recent seasons have higher CCs and will therefore receive a higher seeding in the draw. For example, Liverpool’s CC is 123.000, Roma’s is 97.000 after their recent Conference League win and Europa League final appearance, and Villarreal’s is 82.000.
When will the draw and our matches take place?
The draw for the UEFA Europa League group stage will be held at a venue to be confirmed on Friday 1 September 2023.
Our six group-stage fixtures will, of course, be held on Thursday evenings throughout the autumn as follows:
Group stage
21 September 2023: Matchday 1
5 October 2023: Matchday 2
26 October 2023: Matchday 3
9 November 2023: Matchday 4
30 November 2023: Matchday 5
14 December 2023: Matchday 6
Should we progress as group winners, we will not play again until 7 and 14 March in the round of 16. Should we progress as group runners-up, we will take on a UEFA Champions League third-place opponent on 15 and 22 February and the remainder of the competition is detailed below:
Knockout stages
15 & 22 February 2023: Knockout round play-offs
7 & 14 March 2023: Round of 16
11 & 18 April 2023: Quarter-finals
2 May & 9 May 2023: Semi-finals
22 May 2023: Final, Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Republic of Ireland
