West Ham's 2006 FA Cup run: 'No one fancied us to stay up, let alone reach the Cup final'

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They can’t let this great opportunity pass them by.” This Sunday, West Ham host Leeds United at the London Stadium in the quarter-final of the FA Cup. Sheringham, who scored 30 goals across 87 appearances for the east London side between 2004 and 2007, has high hopes for his former club. Now 60, he was part of the squad that finished runners-up to Liverpool in the 2006 final, and is confident the current team can replicate their success. It is the first time West Ham have reached this stage of the competition since losing to Manchester United in the 2015-16 season. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side and Leeds are embroiled in a relegation fight, with West Ham in the bottom three, one point adrift of 17th place Tottenham Hotspur and four points behind Leeds in 15th. Both teams will temporarily push their relegation fears to one side as they aim to create history. “The competition has been a welcome distraction for both clubs, but West Ham have the edge,” Sheringham tells The Athletic. “(Jarrod) Bowen will be up for it and (Crysencio) Summerville should be back (from a calf injury which he suffered in the previous round against Brentford). I back West Ham to go all the way. This is their year.” West Ham are three-time winners of the competition, with previous triumphs in 1980, 1975 and 1964. May 13, 2026 will be 20 years since that memorable encounter with Liverpool at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. With FA Cup fever gripping the club, The Athletic has spoken to Sheringham, Hayden Mullins, Matt Etherington, Dean Ashton, Jamie Carragher, Steve McClaren and Joey O’Brien about West Ham’s run-up to the final, if Nuno’s side can defy expectations again and why disappointment from 2006 still lingers. Sunday, December 4, 2005: The draw for the third round is live streamed by the Football Association at 3pm. West Ham were assigned number 43 with Peter Osgood, the former Chelsea striker, and Jim Montgomery, the ex-Sunderland goalkeeper, tasked with drawing the teams. It was Championship side Norwich City who awaited Alan Pardew’s side at Carrow Road the following month. West Ham arrived having lost four of their previous five league matches. Pardew opted against rotating his starting XI and fielded a strong team, which featured first-choice goalkeeper Shaka Hislop, captain Nigel Reo-Coker and star striker Marlon Harewood. They battled to a 2-1 win, courtesy of goals from Mullins and Bobby Zamora, and with that their cup run was under way. “I scored from outside the box and it had a bit of bend on it,” says Mullins. “The boys started laughing because I hardly ever scored, but it was a banger! I don’t know how I hit it clean like that. To be fair to the manager, he played his strongest team in every game. Pardew could’ve easily made loads of rotation but he wanted to build momentum.” On January 28, 2006, West Ham hosted Blackburn Rovers at Upton Park in the fourth round. In the previous season, West Ham had lost to Sheffield United in a penalty shootout at this stage of competition. History did not repeat itself as a clinical 4-2 victory, with goals from Sheringham, Etherington, a Zurab Khizanishvili own goal, and Zamora saw West Ham advance to the fifth round. Much like this season, the 2005-06 FA Cup had a reinvigorating affect on West Ham’s league form. By the time of the fifth round, Pardew’s side were on a five-game winning run, rising to sixth in the table, just four points off the Champions League places. But focus still remained on the FA Cup. Their opponents, Bolton Wanderers, were managed by Sam Allardyce, who later became West Ham boss between 2011 and 2015. The showdown at the Reebok Stadium proved far more challenging than Bolton defender — and future West Ham player — Joey O’Brien anticipated. “In the previous round, we beat the holders (Arsenal) and we beat West Ham in the League Cup a few months prior,” he says. “So when we drew them, we thought it would be an easy game, but how wrong was I? “I came up against Matt Etherington and he made it tough for me. The biggest standout memory was the West Ham fans being incredible. They made it feel like a home game for them.” After a goalless draw, the replay took place back in London on March 15. It ended 1-1 and required extra-time, with Harewood scoring the winner in the 96th minute. There was elation from the players, but Allardyce felt aggrieved post-match. “When looking at the replay Harewood is offside before the ball is played down the line to him and that is clear,” he told BBC Sport. “Sadly in an FA Cup tie, when that happens it can’t even itself out. We should have put the game away in the first 90 minutes and we haven’t done that and paid a heavy price for it.” As far as Mullins is concerned, this was the point at which West Ham’s belief really cranked up. “The first game against Bolton was tough,” he recalls. “This was the Bolton team that had Gary Speed, Kevin Nolan and Kevin Davies. That’s the kind of team you didn’t want to play because they were so stubborn and strong. Beating them gave us the confidence to beat Manchester City and that felt like a showpiece game. I remember being in the tunnel and looking at the boys thinking, ‘They can’t beat us. No chance’.” Dean Ashton scored twice against City to seal West Ham’s passage to the semi-finals for the first time since 1991. Ashton then 22, had joined in January 2006 from Norwich City for £7.25million. He scored 19 goals across 56 appearances but retired from professional football in 2009 after failing to overcome a long-term ankle injury. “I played a small part in the replay against Bolton and made my mark against City,” he says. “It felt very real at that part and winning that game gave us great belief. Looking back now, that felt like my ‘I have arrived’ moment. That’s when I started to feel really part of it.” In the Premier League, West Ham had slipped back down to mid-table (they would finish ninth). But having initially been favourites for relegation after securing promotion to the top-flight after beating Preston North End in the 2005 Championship play-off final, that was more than good enough. Having proven the doubters wrong and succeeding in getting to the semi-finals of the FA Cup, the players were rewarded with a warm-weather trip. “It was promised to us that if we got a certain number of points by Christmas, we’d go to Dubai,” says Mullins. “We were there for five days but only trained once! So you can imagine what we got up to. We landed back on Saturday and played Chelsea the following day (on April 9). We went 1-0 up from a corner and they had a man sent off. We looked round at each other thinking, ‘How have we done this?’ But it was too good to be true and they beat us 4-1.” West Ham beat Man City 1-0 in their next league game on April 15, but lost to Middlesbrough two days later. The result was not encouraging given it was Steve McClaren’s side who West Ham would face in the semi-finals. “I actually watched the game back recently and we were so close,” McClaren says now. “It was a smash-and-grab moment from Harewood, who probably scored the only goal of his career with his left foot! We actually had a crazy 10-day period leading up to the game. “We played West Ham in the league on the 17th, we lost 1-0 in the first-leg of our UEFA Cup semi-final against Steaua Bucharest on the 20th, three days later we lost 1-0 to West Ham in the Cup and on the 27th we beat Steaua Bucharest in the second leg. I used the loss against West Ham as part of my team talk. I didn’t want them to have that disappointing feeling again.” A dry run of the FA Cup final took place on April 26 when West Ham suffered a 2-1 home loss to Liverpool. In the 82nd minute Mullins and Luis Garcia clashed and referee Howard Webb sent both players off for violent conduct, which had repercussions. “Before the match, Alan Pardew said, ‘We’re playing them in the final, I don’t want them to think we’re easy to play against’,” Mullins says. “And his last words were that no one get sent off because a straight red meant you would serve a three-match ban and miss the final. “Garcia had a loose touch, I stepped in front of him, shielded the ball and he was trying to battle me from behind. He spun round in one motion and elbowed the middle of my back. It caught me off guard, I turned round to face him and said, ‘What are you doing? It’s not even that type of game’. I’ve gone to grab his shirt, one thing led to another and he started rolling on the floor. The referee sent us both off. It didn’t dawn on me straight away that I would miss the final. I was just pissed off about the red card. It didn’t hit me until the lead up to the final.” “Garcia and an official from Liverpool wanted us to go and see the referee to ask him to rescind the red cards. But the ref said he couldn’t do it because his report had to go in. So that was that. “I asked Pardew if I could go away with my family for a week because I didn’t want to be around all the hype. I just felt like I couldn’t offer anything. But he said, ‘No, I need you to be around it because you might never experience this again in your career. Get your suit and be involved in the press days’. I didn’t think it at the time but looking back it was the right decision.” The build-up to the final was poignant given the passing of former Hammers managers Ron Greenwood, on February 9, and John Lyall, on April 18. The pair were both FA Cup winners with West Ham; Greenwood in 1964, Lyall in 1975 and 1980. Pardew hoped to follow in their footsteps and named a strong starting XI of: Hislop, Scaloni, Ferdinand, Gabbidon, Konchesky, Benayoun, Fletcher, Reo-Coker, Etherington, Ashton, Harewood. “About four to six weeks before the final, we did an 11-v-11 training session at Upton Park and I was up against Christian Dailly,” says Etherington. “I’ve gone on the outside of Christian and crossed the ball but he’s come in late and caught my right ankle. I thought I’d snapped my ligaments. I was devastated because I thought that’s me done for the final. I went to hospital, had an X-Ray and Christian turned up to see me, which was nice of him. “The scan showed it was just bad ligament damage. When Pardew found out about the results he said, ‘I want you to be fit for the final’. So I did hypobaric chambers every day and in the weeks leading up to the final and I had injections. Playing 85 minutes in the final was an achievement in itself. As a kid, I loved watching the build-up to the FA Cup final. So I was fortunate I was able to live one of my dreams. Being on the coach in Cardiff, driving towards the Millennium Stadium and seeing all the claret and blue shirts was unbelievable. But it made me more nervous for the game.” West Ham took a surprise 2-0 lead in the opening 20 minutes, through a Jamie Carragher own goal and Ashton’s close-range strike. It was career-high moment for Ashton and all the more satisfying given the circumstances around his inclusion in the team. “Some supporters still refuse to watch the game back, but I enjoy reflecting on the goal I scored,” says Ashton. “I tweaked my hamstring three weeks before the final against West Brom and I was gutted. I thought, ‘How can someone this slow get a hamstring injury?’ But I recovered ahead of schedule. After dinner the night before, Pardew named the team except me or Bobby Zamora. “He said he couldn’t decide and had to sleep on it. That’s the first time I’d ever experienced something like that in my career. Bobby played when I was injured and had done really well. There was only two places between the four of us in me, Bobby, Teddy and Marlon. I woke up in the early hours of the morning and couldn’t go back to sleep. I didn’t find out I was playing until I got to the stadium.” Pardew’s side were billed as underdogs but played like a side full of confidence. “That game a month before the final was in the back of our minds,” Carragher recalls. “We were favourites for the final but West Ham seemed better prepared. In most cup finals we played, the other teams were slight favourites. But it was different against West Ham and I remember Yossi Benayoun causing us a lot of problems. I always played as right-sided centre-back and Sami Hyypia was on the left. But for some reason, Rafa (Benitez) swapped me and Sami for the final. West Ham’s impact down the right led to me scoring that own goal. I was in an unfamiliar position! I always think Yossi’s performance is the reason Liverpool bought him (in 2007).” Goals from Djibril Cisse and Steven Gerrard saw Liverpool restore parity. In the 64th minute, West Ham retook the lead after Konchesky’s cross flew into the top corner. The club were four minutes away from sealing their fourth FA Cup, but in added time Steven Gerrard took matters into his own hands. “After Konchesky scored, I remember saying to Stevie, ‘There’s plenty of time. Don’t worry’,” says Carragher. “Then he goes and scores one of the greatest goals in a cup final. The funniest thing is all hell broke loose in the last few minutes. Rafa told me to play as a centre-forward, so I was on the edge of the box when Steve’s shot went in. Till this day (Lionel) Scaloni isn’t popular with West Ham fans because of his clearance. “He kicked the ball out for a throw-in because Cisse had cramp. I was right up by the throw-in and I told the West Ham lads, ‘We’ll give you the ball back but we’re not letting you keep it’. Scaloni cleared it to Stevie and he produced that moment of magic. It’s probably the greatest FA Cup final of the modern era.” Mullins sat behind West Ham’s substitutes bench during the match, but missed Gerrard’s strike. “I drank so much water because I was trying to pass time,” Mullins says. “I was desperate to go to the toilet in the second-half and I couldn’t hold it any longer. I thought to myself, ‘It’s 3-2, there’s a couple minutes left, now is my chance to go’. I wanted to be fine so I could run on the pitch with the boys after. “I ran back to our changing room and they were loading up the champagne. As I ran back out, I heard this massive roar. Our lads had their heads in their hands on the bench. That moment killed us and we were fatigued in extra time. It was tough because that was our year to win it. The way Konchesky’s cross went in, you think little things like that only happen if you’re going to win it.” West Ham lost the penalty shootout with Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina saving strikes from Zamora, Konchesky and Ferdinand. Only Sheringham converted from the spot. “It’s ended up being a great quiz question,” Sheringham says. “I’ve often asked people who scored the only penalty for West Ham and many can’t remember. I just sit there smiling thinking, ‘It’s me!’ Ashton and Harewood were off by the time it came to penalties so then you’re scratching around looking for people to take them. But looking back, it was surreal being there with my boyhood team. “I often get asked what my favourite goal was and I actually should’ve scored it in this game. I had a headed chance and I timed my run beautifully. All I needed to do was glance it inside the near post and till this day I don’t know how I missed it. I thought, ‘Yep, I’ve done it. I scored in the cup final’. But it went past the post and I’m still annoyed by it today. It’s not a regret but it does weigh on my mind a lot.” Prince William handed the players their runners-up medals. Pardew was left to rue a missed opportunity. “When you’re that close, it almost felt like a defeat when their third goal went in,” Pardew told Sky Sports. “We had the biggest chance in extra time and unfortunately it fell to someone (Harewood) who was so tired he couldn’t finish it. We had to dig in against a top team and I honestly felt we were going to win it. We’re so sorry to the fans that we haven’t won it, but this team will come again.” Now, 20 years on, Ashton believes West Ham will belatedly fulfil Pardew’s prediction. “I still have my runners-up medal and I cherish it so much,” says Ashton. “I look at this current team and think, ‘Why not?’ No disrespect to Leeds, but it’s a great draw at home for West Ham. They need to take this opportunity. It would mean so much to the club and supporters if they made it to Wembley. Twenty years ago no one fancied us to stay up, much less reach the final. There’s a strong togetherness in this team and it would be foolish to underestimate them.” Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Roshane Thomas is a staff writer who covers West Ham United for The Athletic. Previously, he worked for the Sunday Times and talkSPORT. Follow Roshane on Twitter @RoshaneSport