In the second game of the season, the West Ham fans chanted "We hate Paul Ince" after they discovered through a national newspaper of the player's transfer to Manchester United.

[1] With the dismissal of long-serving manager John Lyall on 5 June 1989, speculation mounted about who was going to succeed him.

AFC Bournemouth manager and former Hammers player Harry Redknapp were strongly linked to the vacancy, but Swindon Town's Lou Macari (who had taken the Wiltshire club to the verge of the First Division just three years after promotion from the Fourth Division) was unveiled as the club's new manager on 3 July 1989.

It could very well have been a different story had key striker Frank McAvennie not been absent for almost all of the campaign, breaking his leg on the opening day of the season against Stoke City and only managing four more league appearances that campaign when he made his comeback.

[3] However, some new signings, including Ludek Miklosko, Trevor Morley and Ian Bishop, went on to become West Ham legends.