This season West Ham are ranked fifth in the UEFA club coefficient table with 27 points

Man City lead the table with Real Madrid second and Inter Milan third and Bayer Munich fifth so we are in good company. Chelsea are only ranked 10th and Manchester United 15th.

Over the last five seasons West Ham are ranked 37th in Europe with a 21.799 points up from 74th place last season.

So what is the importance of these coefficient points for clubs? It is used for seeding for the qualifying rounds and group stage. Bar some exceptions, clubs are seeded depending on their club coefficient.

The clubs also receive financial bonuses relating to their coefficient ranting meaning the more they play and win in Europe the more money they receive.

This season West Ham received a coefficient bonus of €979.000,00

Club coefficient system explained

Typically, half of the clubs involved in a qualifying round are seeded while the other half are unseeded. Of course, the more points a team has, the better, thereby allowing them for arguably more favourable opposition in qualifying.

As for the group stage, teams are placed in pots depending on their club coefficient. The eight highest-ranked teams (nine from the 2024-25 season) are in seeding pot 1, with the next eight in pot 2, and so on. The exception to this is in the Champions League group stage, where pot 1 is already fixed.

The club coefficients are based on the results of clubs competing in the five previous seasons of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League. The rankings determine the seeding of each club in relevant UEFA competition draws.

The season club coefficients are based on the results of clubs competing in the current UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League season. The rankings, combined with those of the previous four seasons, determine the seeding for each club in all UEFA competition draws.

Clubs’ coefficients are determined EITHER the sum of all points won in the previous five years OR the association coefficient over the same period, whichever is the higher.

UEFA Europa League points
2 – All wins from group stage onwards (except knockout round play-offs)
1 – All draws from group stage onwards (except knockout round play-offs)
4 – Group winners
2 – Group runners-up
1 – Each round clubs reach from the round of 16

All teams are guaranteed a minimum 3 points in the UEFA Europa League group stage (not added to points actually obtained). Points are not awarded for elimination in qualifying, since those clubs move to the UEFA Europa Conference League and may be awarded points for participation in that competition.

UEFA Europa Conference League points
1 – Awarded to each club eliminated in the first qualifying round
1.5 – Awarded to each club eliminated in the second qualifying round
2 – Awarded to each club eliminated in the third qualifying round
2.5 – Awarded to each club eliminated in the play-offs
2 – All wins from group stage onwards (except knockout round play-offs)
1 – All draws from group stage onwards (except knockout round play-offs)
2 – Group winners
1 – Group runners-up
1 – Each round clubs reach from the semi-finals

All teams are guaranteed a minimum 2.5 points in the UEFA Europa Conference League group stage (not added to points actually obtained).

Association coefficient calculation

The season coefficient of an association is calculated by adding up the points obtained by all its clubs in a given season in the UEFA Champions League (UCL), UEFA Europa League (UEL) and UEFA Europa Conference League (UECL) then dividing the total by the number of clubs from that association that took part in the three UEFA club competitions in question.

Points are awarded as follows:

2 – All wins from group stage (UCL, UEL, UECL)
1 – All wins in qualifying and play-off matches (UCL, UEL, UECL)
1 – All draws from group stage (UCL, UEL, UECL)
0.5 – All draws in qualifying and play-off matches (UCL, UEL, UECL)
4 – Group stage bonus participation (UCL, UEL)
4 – Round of 16 bonus participation (UCL)
4 – Group winners (UEL)
2 – Group runners-up (UEL)
2 – Group winners (UECL)
1 – Group runners-up (UECL)
1 – Each round clubs reach from the round of 16 (UCL, UEL, UECL)