UEFA Europa Conference League - Alkmaar, Legia and Zrinjski

[Meanwood Villa]

I am excited by it. It's a tangible achievement at the end of the season. It might not mean a lot to Man Citeh but with the times we've had since 2010 we can hardly think we're above it.

[LeeB]

It means we will play more matches, you spend more time on H&V and will give your life more meaning and less meaning at the same time.

Ha, so very true.

[Cleybrooke]

Just looking at West Hams Season and which games are played on which days. (Done quickly so there is a margin of error) This excludes FA and EFL games

         AV    WH
Mon     2       2
Tues    2        0
Wed    2        6 (1 EC Game)
Thu     1        0 (19 EC Games)
Fri       2        1
Sat      18     11
Sun     11     18

In conclusion - 7 extra games on Sunday rather than a Saturday, plus alot of football (potentially) on a Thursday Evening...

[AV82EC]

Just looking at West Hams Season and which games are played on which days. (Done quickly so there is a margin of error) This excludes FA and EFL games

         AV    WH
Mon     2       2
Tues    2        0
Wed    2        6 (1 EC Game)
Thu     1        0 (19 EC Games)
Fri       2        1
Sat      18     11
Sun     11     18

In conclusion - 7 extra games on Sunday rather than a Saturday, plus alot of football (potentially) on a Thursday Evening...

Excellent, let’s build that squad to challenge on all fronts.

[trinityoap]

Don't want to be a wet blanket but we haven't qualified yet.

[algy]

Is it me or anyone else not getting excited by the Conf League? It's a 3rd tier euro comp playing Andorra's finest.
I am excited by the progress we have made under Unai, what the summer may bring and where this club is heading....but is it that big a deal playing in the conf league?

I'm excited about it.

For a start, we need the extra games to build up our squad depth - and with that, start challenging for the Champions League places (and beyond) consistently.

More importantly ... if you look at the teams who've got to the knockout rounds, there's a far bigger range of weird & wonderful countries to visit.  Probably more interesting, in terms of experience travelling abroad, than you'd get in the Champions League or even UEFA Cup.  The CL in particular feels a lot like it's the same few teams most seasons.

I also think you'd look at the sides who reached the knockout stages this season, and personally - I think there's less than half a dozen sides who, if we played them, we'd not go in as heavy favourites.

I dunno what it is about fun trips to weird places with cheap beer to see Villa (probably) win that appeals, but ...

[PeterWithesShin]

We've done fuck all of note in the league for over a decade, and have spent most of it being very shit, we're not really in a position to think the Conference is below us.

[Toronto Villa]

We've done fuck all of note in the league for over a decade, and have spent most of it being very shit, we're not really in a position to think the Conference is below us.

The odd shiny moment aside, we've done fuck all for the majority of the past 40 years. We are a big club, we are bigger club in our own eyes than understood or appreciated by most of the football watching population. Getting back into Europe for next season would be a magnificent achievement. We can dream of loftier ambitions after we take the first step back to national and continental relevance.

[PeterWithesShin]

It's also a damn sight more pretigious than being in the second division or the bottom half of the top flight, which is where we've spent the previous 11 seasons.

[algy]

We've done fuck all of note in the league for over a decade, and have spent most of it being very shit, we're not really in a position to think the Conference is below us.

The odd shiny moment aside, we've done fuck all for the majority of the past 40 years. We are a big club, we are bigger club in our own eyes than understood or appreciated by most of the football watching population. Getting back into Europe for next season would be a magnificent achievement. We can dream of loftier ambitions after we take the first step back to national and continental relevance.

Yeah, absolutely.  As has been gone over before, over the past 100 years our trophy cabinet has been quite bare really.  Looking purely in terms of trophies, you can pretty much split it in to three short bursts:

- (Big gap from 1921 onwards)
- FA Cup (1957) and League Cup (1961*)
- League Cup (1975), League Cup (1977), League (1981), European Cup (1982)
- League Cup (1994), League Cup (1996)
- (Big gap in the 21st century)

I mean, whilst there's definitely clubs that have worse records than us ... it's not setting the world alight either.

I'd be happy if we started winning trophies, regardless of what they are

[frank black]

I have absolutely zero excitement about this. Yes it’s progress, but it could well be at the detriment of our next season. Perhaps I’m tainted from the O’Neill days of surrender “to concentrate on the league”. But I can’t see the real benefits unless we play the second stringers. I’d rather we finished in the top 6 next season and/or win a domestic trophy. This just seems like a whole lot of extra hoops to jump through to get the Europa.

[Risso]

Why does it have to be one or the other?

[Pete3206]

Is it me or anyone else not getting excited by the Conf League? It's a 3rd tier euro comp playing Andorra's finest.
I am excited by the progress we have made under Unai, what the summer may bring and where this club is heading....but is it that big a deal playing in the conf league?

Yes, it is a big deal and I am very excited at the prospect.

[SamTheMouse]

It's European football! It's the whole point of finishing higher up the table!

West Ham are going to play in the final of a continental competition, against Fiorentina in Prague. What isn't romantic about that?

I genuinely don't understand the mentality that turns its nose up at this.

[OCD]

We've done fuck all of note in the league for over a decade, and have spent most of it being very shit, we're not really in a position to think the Conference is below us.

The odd shiny moment aside, we've done fuck all for the majority of the past 40 years. We are a big club, we are bigger club in our own eyes than understood or appreciated by most of the football watching population. Getting back into Europe for next season would be a magnificent achievement. We can dream of loftier ambitions after we take the first step back to national and continental relevance.

Yeah, absolutely.  As has been gone over before, over the past 100 years our trophy cabinet has been quite bare really.  Looking purely in terms of trophies, you can pretty much split it in to three short bursts:

- (Big gap from 1921 onwards)
- FA Cup (1957) and League Cup (1961*)
- League Cup (1975), League Cup (1977), League (1981), European Cup (1982)
- League Cup (1994), League Cup (1996)
- (Big gap in the 21st century)

I mean, whilst there's definitely clubs that have worse records than us ... it's not setting the world alight either.

I'd be happy if we started winning trophies, regardless of what they are

- 2024 Conference League and League Cup
- 2025 Europa League and FA Cup
- 2026 Premier League
- 2027 Champions League, League Cup and FA Cup (again)