 In 1932 , the club was relegated to Division Two and long term custodian Syd King was sacked after serving the club in the role of manager for 32 years , and as a player from 1899 to 1903 . Following relegation , King had mental health problems . He appeared drunk at a board meeting and soon after committed suicide . He was replaced with his assistant manager Charlie Paynter , who himself had been with West Ham in a number of roles since 1897 and who went on to serve the team in this role until 1950 for a total of 480 games . The club spent most of the next 30 years in this division , first under Paynter and then later under the leadership of former player Ted Fenton . Fenton succeeded in getting the club once again promoted to the top level of English football in 1958 , and , with the considerable input of player Malcolm Allison , helped develop both the initial batch of future West Ham stars and West Ham 's approach to the game . 
