10 Brilliant FA Cup Giant-Killings

The FA Cup First Round Proper is underway this weekend, no more messing about with preliminary or qualifying rounds. No Premiership or Championship clubs involved yet, but all the League One and League Two clubs are in amongst the non-league teams who made it this far. The survivors will be in the Second Round draw later today, just one game from the legendary Third Round and the chance of taking down one of the big boys in a famous giant-killing. In many ways the prospect of an upset is what gives the FA Cup its magic and keeps us all interested. To quote Terry Butcher: “The beauty of Cup football is that Jack always has a chance of beating Goliath.” He may have his fairy and Biblical tales mixed up, but he’s still right. In anticipation, here’s a quick rundown of 10 famous FA Cup giant-killings from years gone by, in reverse chronological order:

Shrewsbury 2-1 Everton
2002/3 Third Round
Third division Shrewsbury beat an Everton side that were then 5th Premiership and fielding a young man named Wayne Rooney. The Shrewsbury hero at Gay Meadow was a not so young man named Nigel Jemson, who curled a brilliant free kick past Richard Wright to put Shrewsbury ahead, only for Niclas Alexandersson to come off the bench and equalise. But Jemson made sure of the upset, heading home former Nottingham Forest teammate Ian Woan’s cross. The victory was probably bittersweet for the Shrewsbury manager Kevin Ratcliffe, who’s a former Everton captain.

Cardiff City 2-1 Leeds United
2001/2 Third Round
Before it all went wrong in a big way at Leeds United, it went wrong in a small way. David O’Leary had made a bold statement that he wanted to start and end the then Premiership Leeds’ cup campaign in Cardiff (this was back when the final was at the Millennium Stadium) suggesting he was already looking past Division Two City. Mark Viduka put Leeds ahead but goals from Graham Kavanagh and Scott Young made O’Leary’s prediction come true. Leeds’ cup run did start and end in Cardiff, but all on the same night.

Leicester City 1-2 Wycombe Wanderers
2000/1 Quarter Final (Replay)
Second division Wycombe were short of forwards, so manager Lawrie Sanchez posted an ad on their website and/or teletext ( depending on who you believe.) Either way, Roy Essandoh - a Belfast born striker who found himself out of work in Finland - responded and Sanchez signed him up. Essandoh was named as a sub for this big quarter final replay and eventually made it on to the pitch, ran about a bit and then scored a dramatic injury time winner. Another bit of FA Cup magic, but Essandoh was released at the end of the season.

Tranmere Rovers 4-3 Southampton
2000/1 Fifth Round
Maybe not a huge giantkilling as Tranmere were in the First Division and Southampton in the Premiership. But when John Aldridge’s side found themselves 3-0 down at half time it looked over. Except it definitely wasn’t. A hat trick from former Everton striker Paul Rideout levelled things up and a late winner from Stuart Barlow made it 4-3, as Tranmere pulled off possibly the most memorable comeback in FA Cup history.

Swansea City 1-0 West Ham United
1998/9 Third Round (Replay)
Premiership West Ham took on Third Division Swansea at Upton Park and were lucky to get a 1-1 draw via Julian Dicks late equaliser. But with the replay in Wales, Swansea claimed a famous 1-0 with a Martin Thomas goal. West Ham will be forever in the record books as the first Premiership side to lose to a bottom division club.

Wrexham 2-1 Arsenal
1991/2 Third Round
Arsenal fans will not want to remember this one. Their team had won the league in 1990/91, while Wrexham had finished bottom of the entire English Football League, only avoiding relegation to non-league football because there wasn’t any that season. Alan Smith gave Arsenal a 1-0 lead and it all looked depressingly inevitable, until 37 year old former Man Utd, Everton, Chelsea and Leeds midfielder Mickey Thomas stepped up to bang a free kick past David Seaman with ten minutes left, and Steve Watkin scoring a famous winner not long afterwards.

Sutton United 2-1 Coventry City
1988/9 Third Round (Replay)
This was the last time a non-league club knocked a top flight club out of the FA Cup, as remembered by John Motson here. Hard to believe, but it will be twenty years next season since that happened (unless something happens this year, obviously.)

Bournemouth 2-0 Manchester United
1983/4 Third Round
Ron Atkinson’s Man Utd were the FA Cup holders and expected to demolish Bournemouth, who were struggling down in the Third Division. But goals from Milton Graham and Ian Thompson surprised everyone, not least Big Ron. Bournemouth manager Harry Redknapp would go on to even bigger things.

Harlow Town 1-0 Leicester City
1979/80 Third Round (Replay)
Harlow were in something called the Isthmian League Premier Division, while Leicester were on their way to winning the old Division Two, with a young Gary Lineker leading the forward line. Leicester battered little Harlow at Filbert Street but their 1-0 lead wasn’t enough, as Gary Prosser popped up to score an 89th minute equalizer. John McKenzie scored the only goal in the replay, in front of a record 9,723 Harlow fans.

Hereford 2-1 Newcastle United
1971/2 Third Round (Replay)
Newcastle were in the top flight, while non-league Hereford lingered in the Southern League Premier Divison. Possibly the most memorable of all FA Cup giant killings because of Ronnie Radford’s ridiculously good goal:

Category: England, World Football

Tags: England, World Football

Subscribe   The Offside RSS Feeds

Print

Share