West Ham United return to Championship football on Sunday for the first time in 14 years, with Nuno Espírito Santo beginning his promotion challenge away at Burnley.
The West Ham last Championship season ended in dramatic fashion at Wembley and offers an obvious target for the current squad: an immediate return to the Premier League.
West Ham last played in the second tier during the 2011/12 campaign, having been relegated from the Premier League the previous season.
Sam Allardyce was appointed to lead the rebuild and ultimately delivered promotion at the first attempt, although the route back was far from straightforward.
West Ham last Championship season ended at Wembley
Automatic promotion slipped away during the closing stages of the 2011/12 season, leaving West Ham to navigate the play-offs.
Allardyce’s side comfortably overcame Cardiff City 5-0 on aggregate in the semi-final before meeting Blackpool at Wembley.
BBC Sport’s report from the 2012 Championship play-off final records Carlton Cole putting West Ham ahead before Thomas Ince equalised shortly after half-time.
The decisive moment arrived in the 87th minute.
Ricardo Vaz Tê reacted after Blackpool goalkeeper Matt Gilks failed to clear the danger and fired home the goal which secured a 2-1 victory and an immediate Premier League return.
Fourteen years later, West Ham are beginning the same mission again.
Expectations are already significant. ReadWestHam reported on Saturday that Middlesbrough manager Kim Hellberg regards West Ham as one of the Championship’s clear promotion favourites, describing the quality available to Nuno as “ridiculous”.
Nuno also knows how to win this division, having previously guided Wolves to the Championship title.
Burnley begins another promotion mission
West Ham start at Turf Moor against another club attempting to recover quickly from Premier League relegation.
West Ham’s official fixture information confirms Sunday’s game kicks off at 4pm BST, with the Hammers beginning a demanding 46-game league campaign.
Nuno’s squad has changed considerably during the summer, but the objective has not.
West Ham want their Championship stay to last one season.
The club’s last campaign at this level finished beneath the Wembley arch with Vaz Tê writing himself into West Ham history.
Nobody can know whether the route back will be quite as dramatic this time, but 14 years later the challenge starts again at Burnley.
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