Triple FA Cup winners West Ham United have never played outside English football's top two divisions since joining the Football League in 1919.

The East London FC joined the Premier League a year after its formation in 1992 and have spent only two seasons outside the top flight since then.

West Ham's first stay lasted 10 years, with Harry Redknapp's side enjoying their best-ever Premier League position in 1999, when they finished fifth behind Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Leeds.

Glenn Roeder took the helm in 2001 and steered West Ham Football Club to seventh place by the end of the season, but within a year West Ham United were relegated to Division One.

Following his arrival in 2003, Alan Pardew guided the Hammers to the Division One play-offs, but they lost to Crystal Palace in the final.

The following season, however, West HamUnited won a place in the top flight after play-off final success against Preston North End thanks to a Bobby Zamora goal.

In West HamUnited's first season back in the Premiership, 2005-06, they finished ninth and were FA Cup runners-up after losing a penalty shoot-out against Liverpool.

The following season, though, saw West Ham United plunge into a battle to avoid relegation until former Upton Park favourite Alan Curbishley was appointed and he helped lift the West Ham to a final placing of 15th.

West Ham have since consolidated their position in the top flight with a 10th place finish in 2008 and a season spent mainly in the top half of the table in 2008-09 under Gianfranco Zola.

Thames Ironworks FC was the football club's original name when it was formed in 1895. Renamed West Ham United in 1900, the side joined the Football League's Division Two in 1919, earning promotion to the top flight for the first time in 1923.

The Hammers went on to win two Division Two Championships in 1958 and 1981, the latter with a club-record of 66 points, 13 ahead of runners-up Notts County. The 1980-81 season saw West Ham United win 28 League games with a squad that included such Upton Park legends as Trevor Brooking, Alan Devonshire and Billy Bonds.

West Ham United have also lifted three FA Cups in 1964, 1975 and 1980 plus the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1965.

The Hammers' most successful period was undoubtedly the mid-1960s, when West Ham reached three consecutive cup finals with England World Cup winners Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters in their side.