Graham Potter has been appointed as West Ham manager on a two-and-a-half year contract until June 2027.
Potter’s appointment comes after Julen Lopetegui was relieved of his duties following a disappointing first half of the season, which left the Hammers sat 14th in the Premier League after 20 matches.
West Ham have consequently turned to Potter to revive their fortunes after 20 months out of a job following a disastrous six-month tenure in charge at Chelsea, having left Brighton in September 2022 for Stamford Bridge.
Potter has signed a two-and-a-half year contract at the London Stadium until June 2027, with his first game in charge coming on Friday 11 January away to Aston Villa in the FA Cup, live on ITV1 in the UK.
The 49 year-old is “delighted” to return to club management following “very positive and constructive,” discussion with the Hammers, in which they shared “… the same values of hard work and high energy to create the solid foundations that can produce success, and we are on the same wavelength in terms of what is needed in the short-term and then how we want to move the Club forward in the medium to long term.”
Potter proceeded to speak of the club’s 2022-23 Europa Conference League success being a base to build upon despite their recent struggles since winning the title.
“West Ham United is a huge Club, at the heart of London, with a tremendous fanbase and great support all around the world. I saw the scenes that followed their Europa Conference League victory in 2023 and it was clear that this is a Club with everything in place to become consistently successful, both on and off the pitch.
“The Club have made a lot of good progress in recent years and ensured there are some very strong foundations in place to build on. You don’t win a European trophy by fluke – there has to be a good bedrock at a football club for that to happen, and the challenge now is to take that on and build the next steps, to develop a team and a Club that the supporters can be proud of.”
Potter began his managerial career at Leeds Carnegie between 2008-11 before he spent six years at Sweden’s Östersund, where he guided them from the fourth-tier to the top-flight – Allsvenskan, plus the 2016-17 Svenska Cupen title.
A 11-month stint at Swansea followed from June 2018 – May 2019 before he took charge of Brighton where he steadily helped the Seagulls climb up the Premier League table, prior to his exit in September 2022 with the team sat fourth at time of his departure.
His spell at Chelsea saw the Blues take just 12 wins from 31 matches across all competitions, during which they lost away to Manchester City in both cup competitions without scoring on both occasions – in which they conceded six goals in total.
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