West Ham’s World Cup winning trio of Moore, Hurst and Peters received a tremendous reception on the opening day but Chelsea spoilt the day with a 2–1 win. There was great entertainment at Leicester, the home team winning 5–4 after both Brabrook and Hurst had scored twice for the Hammers. Byrne and Hurst were in sparkling form as West Ham had four-goal away wins at Manchester City and Sunderland.

Tottenham, playing in their first ever League Cup tie, were beaten 1–0 at Upton Park and this was followed up in the next round with a fine 3–1 win at Arsenal. Within the space of a week in November the Hammers scored an amazing 17 goals. Fulham were crushed 6–1 at home, with Geoff Hurst scoring four goals; two days later the mighty Leeds United were humbled 7–0 in the League Cup, where both Sissons and Hurst grabbed hat-tricks; finally, a trip to Tottenham gave the Hammers a 4–3 victory. A 3–1 win at Blackpool in the League Cup was followed by another goal glut of 13 goals in three games as an amazing game at Chelsea ended all square at 5–5 and during the Christmas period Blackpool were beaten 4–1 away and 4–0 at home.

Going into the New Year there was a dramatic change of fortune. The FA Cup saw the Hammers crash out after losing 3–1 at Swindon Town, while the League Cup semi-final was won by West Bromwich Albion on a 6–2 aggregate. In the league West Ham lost 6–2 at Southampton and 4–0 at Everton. There were three narrow wins in March, but the remaining eight games did not bring a solitary victory, and included a 6–1 home defeat to Manchester United. The alarming slump from Christmas was disappointing, and resulted in a sixteenth placed finish.