The opening four games saw one 3–1 home victory against Nottingham Forest and three defeats. It was a poor start, with defeats at Burnley by 5–2 and a 4–1 loss at Brentford. After another poor showing at Hull City where the home side won 4–0, Hugh Mills was drafted into the side at centre-forward with dramatic effect.

He scored eleven goals in the following nine games with the Hammers winning seven of them. In the tenth game he did not score and never played for West Ham in the league again. In his place came Vic Watson, who also went on a goal spree with a hat-trick in the 4–0 home win over Notts County and another two in the 4–1 home victory against Bolton Wanderers. The Christmas period saw a double over Bury and hoisted West Ham to second place in the table.

The FA Cup brought a home tie against Third Division Stockport County. Winning 1–0 with three minutes left, it was a shock when Jim Barrett scored an own-goal equaliser. In the replay the Hammers conceded after just three minutes and finally lost the tie 1–0. During February there were home wins over Bradford Park Avenue and Norwich City but these were followed by a 3–0 defeat at Newcastle United. In a dramatic match at Swansea Town the Hammers scored four times but Swansea scored five. Two new forwards were purchased: James Marshall from Arsenal and Dave Mangnall from Birmingham City. The new boys were soon on target as they both scored on their debuts in the 2–2 draw at Port Vale. Six wins in the next seven games saw West Ham on course for promotion, being third in the table, a point behind Bolton Wanderers. On the final day of the season Oldham Athletic were beaten 2–0 at the Boleyn Ground and Bolton drew at Blackpool. Both teams finished on 56 points but Bolton were promoted by virtue of a much better goal difference. A settled side was the main reason for success: defenders Chalkley, Cockroft and Walker were ever-present while goalkeeper Conway and centre-half Barrett only missed one game.