There was an opening-day shocker as the Hammers lost 4–0 away at Aston Villa. Following on from that was a 1–0 home win against Queens Park Rangers, which raised hopes. However, there were no victories in the next 10 games as the team slumped to the bottom of the league. The League Cup brought victories against Barnsley and Charlton, but another cup run ended as Queens Park Rangers triumphed 2–0 at the Boleyn Ground.

A home thriller with Tottenham ended 5–3 to West Ham and the first away win came with a fine 2–0 victory at Manchester United. There were three new signings made, with midfielders Alan Devonshire and Anton Otulakowski joined by veteran forward John Radford. Bolton Wanderers were the visitors in the FA Cup and were beaten 2–1, which set up a trip to Aston Villa where the home side won 3–0.

In February there were three successive wins, moving the side up to eighteenth place, but a week later fellow relegation candidates Sunderland beat the Hammers 6–0 at Roker Park. In the remaining 13 games there was only one defeat with three wins and nine draws, and on the last day of the season the supporters went away happy after seeing the 4–2 win over Manchester United which ensured seventeenth place and First Division survival.