During the 2005–06 English football season, West Ham United competed in the FA Premier League, following promotion from the Football League Championship the previous season.

West Ham had barely scrapped into the top six of the Championship the previous season before gaining promotion via the play-offs, so few gave the Hammers much hope of Premiership survival. However, West Ham surprised their naysayers to stand fourth at the end of October after 11 points from their opening six games. A run of mediocre form saw West Ham fall to tenth, before a run of five straight wins between January and February (including a 3-2 win at Arsenal, which saw the Hammers become the last side to beat Arsenal at Highbury) saw the Hammers rise to sixth and manager Alan Pardew win the Manager of the Month award for February. Several more good results (including a 2-1 home win over London rivals Tottenham Hotspur on the last day of the season that denied the North London side Champions League qualification) saw West Ham finish in ninth, above more fancied sides like Everton, Middlesbrough and Manchester City. However, West Ham's best form came in the FA Cup, where they overcame the likes of Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers and Middlesbrough to reach the FA Cup final - their first since 1980 - against a Liverpool side that were the reigning European champions and had finished third in the Premiership. In spite of the odds, West Ham went into half-time with a 2-0 lead. However, a Steven Gerrard-inspired Liverpool managed to equalise the scores at 3–3 minutes before the end of normal time. Extra time proved fruitless and a penalty shoot-out was required to separate the two; unfortunately for West Ham, Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina, who had made several errors in the match, saved from Bobby Zamora, Paul Konchesky and Anton Ferdinand to give Liverpool a 3-1 win. However, as Liverpool had already qualified for the Champions League, West Ham qualified for the UEFA Cup.

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