West Ham go into the Championship with three obvious advantages. Jarrod Bowen is still there, Nuno Espirito Santo is on the touchline, and the London Stadium gives them a home ground unlike anything else in the division. The club have not been in the second tier for 14 years, but the case for an immediate return starts with those structural edges rather than the fall itself.

Bowen and Nuno give West Ham a strong base

BBC Sport described Bowen's retention as "a major bonus for the Hammers", and it is easy to see why. Keeping a captain of his level changes the mood around a relegated squad, especially when so much of the Championship rewards players who can decide tight games quickly.

Nuno adds another layer. He is the only head coach among the relegated trio with managerial experience in the English Football League, which gives West Ham something the others do not have at the top of the dugout. That does not guarantee a smooth season, but it does make their promotion case look more established than a standard relegated-club reset.

The ground is the other major lever. The London Stadium houses 62,500 people, the biggest home ground the Championship has ever seen. For visiting sides, that scale is not normal in this division, and it should make West Ham far harder to play at home than a typical second-tier heavyweight.

The rest of the field is still catching up

West Ham also have the model backing that fits the general mood. Goal's supercomputer piece says they are firm favourites to secure an immediate return to the Premier League as champions. Burnley are projected second, Wolves third.

Burnley are the clearest reminder that this is not a clean straight line back up. They have already lost 12 players this summer, and they recorded four wins and 22 points in their final Premier League season. That is a lot of turnover for Nicky Hayen to manage after the club moved on from Craig Bellamy negotiations, and it leaves them looking thinner than the headline favourites.

West Ham are not without questions of their own, and the ownership story is still ongoing rather than settled. But on the football side, they look better placed than most of the division because they have kept Bowen, added Nuno's experience, and can lean on a stadium that will dwarf every other home ground they face this season.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 2 outlets. How we work →