After 1,000 matches Moyes achieves his crowning glory

There were two men running free in the Fiorentina half. First Jarrod Bowen, en route to winning West Ham United their first trophy in 43 years. And then David Moyes, sprinting onto the Prague pitch in celebration, arms stretched out wide. It was a run that was 25 years in the making, a journey that took him from the Auto Windscreens Shield to the Europa Conference League.

- RICHARD JOLLY

Few clubs have waited longer for the emotional release of securing silverware. Few managers, either. It began in a derided knockout competition for Moyes, the Auto Windscreens where Preston North End, newly under a 34-year-old centre-back, faced Macclesfield in January 1998.

A quarter of a century later and, in game number 1,097 of a marathon managerial career, Moyes had a major honour he could call his own. He had credited Sir Alex Ferguson with the Community Shield his Manchester United claimed, perhaps thinking there would be further glory for him at Old Trafford.

There wasn't. But if Moyes has long been destined to be remembered as the man miscast as Ferguson's successor, he has other places in footballing history. The best Everton manager since Howard Kendall is in select company. Like Ron Greenwood, like John Lyall but like no one else, Moyes has won a major trophy with, and for, West Ham.

The ungainly, unglamorous figure bouncing up and down in front of their fans finally has the crowning glory he has long lacked. It may be "only" the Conference League and West Ham's resources perhaps dictate they ought to triumph, but Moyes had been the manager whose considerable achievements lacked that defining feat.