In a competition known for shock results, the FA Cup produced the biggest in its 154-year history on Saturday.
Nonleague Macclesfield FC stunned holders Crystal Palace with a well-deserved 2-1 victory — the 117 places between the two sides in the football pyramid makes it the largest upset in the tournament has ever seen.
It had every bit the feel of a classic cup tie, no more than when Macclesfield’s captain, Paul Dawson, scored the game’s opening goal. A teammate fixed the bandages on his head moments before a deep-free kick came in, which Dawson thumped home.
Yéremy Pino scored a free-kick as the clock ticked into added-time.
Sixth-tier Macclesfield held on to seal a piece of FA Cup history, but how much of a shock is it?
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Macclesfield became the first team to win an FA Cup game against an opponent five rungs higher than them in the football pyramid.
They’re also the first non-league club to knock out the cup’s defending champions in 117 years. The last team to do that… Crystal Palace (vs. Wolves in 1909).
The only upset that could rival it for shock factor is Sutton United’s famous 1989 victory over then-top flight Coventry City. Only, Macclesfield are a division lower than Sutton were that day.
Biggest upsets in FA Cup history… ranked
1. Macclesfield 2-1 Crystal Palace
It simply is the biggest upset ever. No team that low in the English football pyramid has ever knocked out a top-flight team, and against the competition’s holders no less.
There was another nice winkle to mention. Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney’s brother John is Macclesfield’s head coach.
«I am getting emotional to see my younger brother achieve this,» Rooney told the BBC.
«He has not long been in management. To get through to the fourth round of the FA Cup, and to beat Crystal Palace a Premier League team? I am so proud of him.»
2. Sutton United 2-1 Coventry City, 1989
One of the most revered upsets in FA Cup history came in early January 1989 as top-flight Coventry, the FA Cup winners from two years previous, were sent out of the competition by Sutton of the Conference (the top division of non-league football) in the third round.
Tony Rains and Matthew Hanlan scored the vital goals at Gander Green Lane as Sutton became the first non-league side to beat top-tier opposition in the competition for decades. In fact, the Us remained the most recent team to do so for almost a quarter of a century, until National League side Luton beat Norwich in the fourth round in 2013.
3. Chelsea 2-4 Bradford, 2015
It looked for all the world that a fourth-round formality was on the cards when Premier League heavyweights Chelsea galloped into a two-goal lead at Stamford Bridge against a League One side some 49 places beneath them in the pile.
However, the Bantams had other ideas and roared back from the brink to stun the Blues with a four-goal flurry from Jon Stead, Filipe Morais, Andy Halliday and Mark Yeates, seeing them sweep a baffled Jose Mourinho team aside to reach the quarters against all the odds.
4. Crawley Town 3-0 Leeds United, 2021
One of the most recent giant-killings to grace the FA Cup came in 2021, when Crawley of League Two defied the 62-rung gulf between themselves and their Premier League guests to rip Marcelo Bielsa’s idling side apart at Broadfield.
As they headed into the fourth round for only the third time in their history, the Reds found themselves in such a commanding position that they were even able to bring on a reality TV show star as a gimmick substitute for the final few minutes of the match.
5. Newport County 2-1 Leicester City, 2019
With 74 places in the EFL separating the two teams, Newport probably feared the worst when they welcomed recent Premier League champions Leicester City to Rodney Parade for a third-round clash in early January. However, trepidation soon turned to elation as an 85th-minute penalty converted by Padraig Amond proved enough to dump the Foxes out of the competition and give the Welsh side their first win over top-flight opposition in the FA Cup third round since 1963-64.
