West Ham United could come up against some familiar faces in the Championship next season, from a Europa Conference League-winning icon to a £12 million misfit and handful of former academy talents.
Trips to Bristol, Bolton and Birmingham are on the agenda for a side who finished agonisingly on the wrong side of the dreaded dotted line last Sunday.
This means that, for the first time since Sam Allardyce led Kevin Nolan, Frederic Piquionne and Herita Ilunga into battle against Cardiff City in 2011, West Ham United will kick off the upcoming campaign as a second-tier side.
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Below is an extensive list of former Hammers who may soon find themselves making an emotional return to the London Stadium.
The former West Ham United players who could feature in next season’s Championship
Josh Cullen – Burnley
While West Ham went down with 39 points – the fourth-greatest relegated tally in Premier League history – Burnley racked up a miserable 22. Sacked with a top-flight win rate of just seven per cent, no wonder some questioned the logic of the Hammers hiring Scott Parker, his outstanding Championship record notwithstanding.
Parker’s already difficult task became that even trickier when captain Josh Cullen suffered a season-ending ACL injury in December.
A West Ham academy graduate, Cullen was arguably Burnley’s standout performer during the first half of the campaign. The beating heart of a Clarets side who racked up 100 points en route to promotion in 2025, whoever takes Parker’s place at Turf Moor will hope to have Cullen back sooner rather than later.
Flynn Downes – Southampton
Following their spectacular removal from the play-off final, the Saints of Spygate-scandal fame will go into 2025/26 on negative numbers.
Flynn Downes, who played only 21 league matches during a forgettable spell in East London, was heading to Wembley in superb nick before one of the more bizarre stories in the history of the EFL broke.
Still, despite starting next season on minus-four points, Downes’ Southampton are expected to challenge for automatic promotion again.
Sorba Thomas and Aaron Cresswell – Stoke City
Welsh wizard Sorba Thomas ‘fell out of love’ with football when West Ham released him as a teenager. A decade later, following the best season of his career in Staffordshire, Thomas is head over heels with the beautiful game once again.
Thomas racked up 10 goals and 13 assists for Stoke. The only player in the league to reach double figures in both departments.
As for Aaron Cresswell, part of that Conference League-winning squad in 2023, Stoke have confirmed that they plan to extend his contract for another year. Now 36, Cresswell rolled back the years with some fine displays under Mark Robins.
Kalvin Phillips – Sheffield United
While the Blades had little interest in retaining the services of Danny Ings – only two goals and five starts for the Hammers flop – another England international will be offered the chance to return to Bramall Lane.
According to The Star, Sheffield United hope to keep hold of Manchester City misfit Kalvin Phillips following a promising loan spell back in Yorkshire.
Nathan Trott – Cardiff City
Cardiff wasted little time tying down their talismanic goalkeeper after securing promotion back to the second tier. Initially signed on loan from Danish giants FC Copenhagen, Nathan Trott was ‘sensational’ in South Wales. A fine shot-stopper, yes, but also integral to Brian Barry-Murphy’s gameplan with his ultra-confident distribution.
Despite spending eight years at West Ham between 2016 and 2024, Trott featured only once for the first-team; as a substitute in a 4-0 EFL Cup thrashing of Doncaster Rovers.
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Dapo Afolayan – Blackburn Rovers
Afolayan took League One by storm with Bolton Wanderers to earn himself a move to Germany with St Pauli a couple of years ago. He would even fire Hamburg’s local, left-wing rivals to Bundesliga promotion in 2024, though a repeat at a Blackburn side who narrowly avoided relegation last season feels like a big ask.
Now 28, the Harrow-born Afolayan played eight matches after joining Rovers last January.
Reece Burke – Charlton Athletic
While much has been made of West Ham renewing acquaintances with old rivals Millwall in the Championship, they will also host to Charlton in league action for the first time since a Bobby Zamore brace saw off the Addicks in 2007.
Towering centre-back Reece Burke is a Charlton player these days, having joined from Luton in 2025.
George Dobson and Elliott Lee – Wrexham
While Burke played 15 senior matches for the Hammers – including five in the Premier League – Elliott Lee racked up seven first-team outings before moving on to Barnsley a decade ago.
A modern day Wrexham icon, Lee was an almost ever-present as Hollywood-backed Welshmen soared from the National League to the Championship in the space of just two years. However, spending the second half of last season on loan at Doncaster in the division below, ambitious, nouveau-riche Wrexham may be moving growing beyond of their lower league legends.
Dobson, in contrast, is only growing in importance. The tigerish midfielder played 40 league matches as Phil Parkinson’s side missed out on the play-offs on the final day.
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