West Ham embarked on their finest ever league campaign during the 1985-86 season. They found a new hero in Frank McAvennie, he was outstanding in front of goal, scoring a total of 26 goals during the course of the campaign, in turn making him the second top goal scorer in the football league. His brilliance helped West ham finish in third place in the league. The Hammers also enjoyed a great FA cup run that ended in defeat against Sheffield Wednesday in the quarter finals. Another huge positive to be taken out from the campaign was the rise of their teenage prodigy, Tony Cottee, he was voted PFA Young Player of the year at the end of the year for his outstanding performances.
West Ham could not repeat their success the following season and they struggled in the league, fortunate to even finish in 15th position. However their player of the season proved to be Alvin Martin, who was a real favourite with the supporters. The Hammers reached the last eight of the league cup, however they bowed out losing 5-0 to Tottenham. Once again Sheffield Wednesday proved to be West Hams bogie team, as they beat them in the FA Cup for a second successive season.
After finishing 16th at the end of the 87-88 season, the Hammers were awful during the 1988-89 season, they finished off the season in19th place and were demoted to the second division.
Billy Bonds took charge at West Ham at the start of the 1989-90 campaign, after a slow start the Hammers gradually improved, however they only managed to finish in 7th place, just missing out on a play off position. West ham however embarked on a great run in the league cup, however they lost in the semi against Oldham Athletic.