Preparations for the 1939-40 football season began in an unreal atmosphere as war loomed once more. The Football League season was only three matches old when everyone's worst fears were realised and this time — unlike 1914 — the League programme was immediately abandoned. There was, of course, a different set of circumstances prevailing in 1939 and, fearing immediate mass air-raids, the Government introduced measures to restrict large gatherings at cinemas, race-tracks and football grounds.

Eventually, the restrictions were relaxed and, after a short period of friendly matches, the League began again in a regionalised format. And, as in World War One, West Ham enjoyed considerable success. In June 1940, they beat Blackburn Rovers 1-0 at Wembley to win the League War Cup — the semi-final against Fulham had kicked off at 6.40pm on a Saturday evening to accommodate war-workers — and although they never again tasted wartime Cup triumphs, Hammers were always well placed in the League. In seven competitions between 1939-40 and 1944-5, West Ham finished runners-up on five occasions, even though the format of the competitions was often changed. The nearest they came to further Cup glory was in 1945 when, having won their group from Queen's Park Rangers, Spurs and Aldershot, they found Chelsea too good for them in a White Hart Lane semi-final.

Although able to call on guests — and there were some very impressive ones, too, in the Arsenal trio of Drake, Hapgood and Joy, and Hearts' Tommy Walker — West Ham relied largely on their own players. Some 85 per cent of all wartime appearances were made by men who were already on Hammers' books, or who would be by 1945-6. One of the few guests was Manchester City's Northern Ireland international inside-forward Peter Doherty, who later found great success at Derby.

At first, Charlie Paynter had little difficulty in fielding a strong side. Several players, including Charlie Bicknell, were in the Special Constabulary, and a further group was serving in an Army unit based in East Anglia. Later, it got more difficult to field a regular side, but other clubs suffered far more than Hammers. In January 1941, Millwall’s 50-year-old trainer, Bill Voisey, had to turn out against West Ham.

In the late summer of 1944, a VI flying bomb landed on the pitch at Upton Park, destroying a large part of the South Bank terracing and that end of the Main Stand. Forced to play away from home, Hammers strung together nine consecutive wins — and on their return to Upton Park in December, they lost 1-0 to Spurs. For 1945-6, Hammers found themselves in a more familiar 22-cIub Football League South, comprising pre-war First and Second Division clubs. Their longest journeys were to Plymouth, Nottingham and Derby and they gained 27 of their 51 points away from home in finishing a respectable seventh.

Nine pre-war players were in the side for the opening game, against Birmingham, and there was a special welcome for Charlie Walker, back home after a long spell in the Far East with the RAF. Joe Cockroft, though, would not return; he decided to remain with Sheffield Wednesday, for whom he had guested during the war. Before the season started, Len Goulden was transferred to Chelsea; and in March, George Foreman joined Tottenham. Before the end of the season, Charlie Walker left to manage Margate, and at the final whistle, Ted Fenton took up a similar post at Colchester United, then in the Southern League.

There were compensations: Derek Parker, Ken Bainbridge, Eric Parsons, Ken Wright and Eddie Chapman had all progressed to the point where they would soon be challenging for a first-team place. Foreman's departure let in 21 -year-old Mancunian, Don Travis, who scored four goals in a match against Plymouth; and in the same game, Terry Woodgate emulated Syd Puddefoot's feat in World War One football — a seven-minute hat-trick.

The FA Cup was re-started on a home and away basis up to and including the quarter-finals and Hammers received a plum draw against Arsenal. Some 35,000, the largest Upton Park crowd since January 1939, saw the first-leg when the Gunners were shattered by four goals in the first 30 minutes. Hammers' eventual 6-0 lead gave Arsenal an impossible task in the second leg. In the fourth round, a 65,000 crowd at Stamford Bridge saw Chelsea win 2-0., The return at Upton Park began in a hailstorm and the gates closed on a 31,000 crowd. After only eight minutes they saw former Hammers favourite, Len Goulden, break his collar-bone, but Chelsea held on and Almeric Hall's goal was not enough to save West Ham. The final match of the season was against Arsenal at White Hart Lane on 4 May 1946. After seven years of war time football, everyone connected with the game could now look forward to a return to normality.