We take a look at the top five moments from West Ham United women's team's 2023/24 season...
A first win over neighbours Arsenal
In the 13th meeting between the two London rivals, the Hammers finally came out on top in an historic 2-1 victory at Chigwell Construction Stadium in early February.
Rehanne Skinner’s side ran it close with some of the bigger sides already during the season, pushing Arsenal hard in defeat in the reverse fixture, and then forcing Chelsea to extra-time in the Adobe Women’s FA Cup fourth round in January.
Those on the pitch in Claret and Blue put their bodies on the line throughout this contest to deny Arsenal time and time again. And whilst the Hammers did do plenty of defensive work, they were able to create opportunities too as they picked their moments to move forward.
The French duo of Viviane Asseyi and Hawa Cissoko would score the goals that secured a first ever victory against the 15-time top-flight champions. There was an electric buzz around the ground as a crowd of over 4,000 celebrated as the whistle blew for full-time.
Relive the fantastic victory by watching the highlights below!
Beating the Robins at Ashton Gate
Before the win over Arsenal, Skinner’s side headed to Ashton Gate and picked up a crucial 2-1 Barclays Women's Super League victory over Bristol City.
It would be the team’s first three points in 2024, as new signings Katrina Gorry and Shelina Zadorsky helped to push the side on to victory in a crunch-match at the bottom of the table.
Honoka Hayashi netted the first goal of the contest on 13 minutes, but former Hammer Amalie Thestrup pulled the scores level just after half-time. Asseyi would be on hand again though, calmly slotting the ball beyond Shae Yanez on 56 minutes, which would ultimately seal a vital three points in the battle for survival.
Ómarsson | A West Ham United Original Documentary
On International Women’s Day, and two days prior to Mother’s Day, the Club released Ómarsson, an original documentary following Dagný Brynjarsdóttir's journey through pregnancy as a professional sportswoman and the barriers female athletes face when making the decision to become a mother.
An industry first, the documentary celebrated notable moments throughout Dagný’s pregnancy journey since she shared the news that she was expecting her second child in August 2023. This included exclusive new footage from Dagný’s gender reveal, which took place at the Chadwell Heath training ground in October.
Players and staff from the women’s team were treated to an exclusive premiere of the documentary, which took place at Curzon Bloomsbury and was presented by WOW Hydrate, celebrating Dagný’s achievements together.
If you haven’t already, you can watch the 30-minute documentary below!
Scoring late against Manchester United
Home form became incredibly important for the women's team's survival in the top division, and they took another step closer to securing their place in the WSL when they scored late on to draw 1-1 with Manchester United in early March.
Continuing with the theme of firsts, it was the first time the Hammers had taken points from the Red Devils, and Asseyi scored with a fantastic finish, lobbing Mary Earps in the 85th minute to cancel out Rachel Williams' early goal and share the spoils.
Many Milestones
Over the course of the 2023/24 campaign, Hammers players celebrated a number of personal milestones and accolades.
Asseyi, Kirsty Smith, Risa Shimizu, Mel Filis, Abbey-Leigh Stringer and Hayashi all hit 50 appearances for the Club during the season.
Smith, Shimizu, Riko Ueki, Emma Harries, Shannon Cooke and Amber Tysiak also notched their first goals for the Club during the season too!
