Non League Upsets

It’s FA Cup Third Round weekend, Hastings, Luton and Macclesfield are the only three Non League left in the completion, can they upset their league opposition?

Here is a look at some of the best ever Non League FA Cup upsets.

Sutton United 2-1 Coventry City, FA Cup third round, 7 January 1989

Conference outfit Sutton United upset all the odds as they beat the Division One side.

Coventry had won the famous cup just two seasons earlier but it was the part-timers that progressed into the fourth round, thanks to Tony Rains and Matthew Hanlan.

West Brom 2-4 Woking, FA Cup third round, 5 January 1991

A special day for computer operator Tim Buzaglo who managed to score a hat-trick against second division side West Brom.

Woking but up a brave fight in the next round but lost 1-0 to Everton, as for West Brom they decided that enough was enough and sacked Brian Talbot a few days later.

Hereford United 2-1 Newcastle United, FA Cup third round replay, 5 February 1972

The fact this game went to a replay was nothing beyond a miracle but it was the Southern League team that progressed in the cup.

After a 2-2 draw in the original game, and then three postponements to the replay, and Malcolm Macdonald put the Geordies ahead in the 82^nd minute everyone thought it was over.

Everyone except Ronnie Radford.

Radford scored with just five minutes remaining and then set up Ricky George, who scored an extra time winner for Herefords most famous victory.

Worcester City 2-1 Liverpool, FA Cup third round, 15 January 1959

Liverpool have been on the receiving end of a number of notable FA Cup defeats over the years, including the 1988 final against Wimbledon and a departure from the fifth round in 2008 at the hands of Barnsley, but their loss to Worcester City has to go down as the biggest surprise. Although it wasn’t a vintage Reds side – they were in Division Two at the time –no one would have expected Southern League outfit Worcester City to eliminate them.

Havant & Waterlooville 4-2 Swansea City, FA Cup third round replay, 16 January 2008

Swansea City might not have been the Premier League outfit they are today when they crashed out of the Cup to Havant & Waterlooville, but the Swans did go on to top the third tier that season and were still three divisions higher than the Hawks from the Blue Square Bet South. Shaun Gale’s men incredibly went on to lead Liverpool twice at Anfield in the fourth round before the Reds finally ended their proud run with a 5-2 win.

Yeovil Town 2-1 Sunderland, FA Cup fourth round, 29th January 1949

This game still holds the record for Yeovil’s highest home attendance and none of the 16,318 fans there to witness the match will have ever forgotten what they saw as Yeovil, of the Southern League, beat top flight opponents Sunderland. The Glovers would set another club record in the fifth round – their worst FA Cup defeat – with an 8-0 loss to Manchester United.

Manchester United 0-0 Exeter City, FA Cup third round, 2005

Non-league Exeter produced a magnificent rearguard action to earn a deserved FA Cup third-round draw at Old Trafford. United fielded a weakened side, but it still contained the likes of Phil Neville, Cristiano Ronaldo, Paul Scholes and Alan Smith. Conference club Exeter matched the FA Cup holders at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ to set up a lucrative replay, and they could have claimed a sensational win when lifelong United fan Dean Moxey shot narrowly wide after a scramble in the penalty area.

This picture was provided by Jim Moran.