Joining the club for the new campaign was the Chilean international forward Luis Jiminez, together with Italian striker Alessandro Diamanti and Argentinian forward Guillermo Franco. An opening day 2–0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers got the season off to a flying start and the League Cup began with a 3–1 home victory against local rivals Millwall. The tie was halted for ten minutes in the second half as crowd trouble broke out, and on a night of shame the violence continued after the match. Moving on to the next round, the Hammers were leading 1–0 at Bolton Wanderers only to concede a late equaliser and lose 3–1 after extra time. With no wins in the next nine games the team were struggling at the bottom. An improvement at home in November, however, brought victories against Aston Villa and Burnley. After that the next victory did not come until Boxing Day, when bottom club Portsmouth were beaten 2–0 at home.

In the FA Cup, despite winning 1–0 at half-time the Hammers went out after losing 2–1 at home to Arsenal. In January lifetime West Ham supporters David Gold and David Sullivan announced that they had bought the club. They were both optimistic for their future plans for the club and supporters. Two new signings were made when strikers Benni McCarthy and Mido were bought, but they both struggled for fitness. There was real pressure on the side as they slipped to home defeats against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Stoke City. Relegation was finally avoided following home wins against Sunderland and Wigan to give a seventeenth place finish.

In May West Ham announced that they had terminated Gianfraco Zola’s contract and that his successor would be Avram Grant.