FA Cup upsets are what make the tournament memorable.
Sure, the winners lifting the famous trophy at Wembley Stadium is great to see. But it is even better when David beats Goliath. Over the past weekend, four of the biggest teams in England got knocked out in the third round of the competition.
Since the competition began in 1871, many FA Cup upsets have happened. Even in recent years, giants have been slain. A team from the lower levels beating a top team in the English Premier League always makes for a great story.
Let’s look at five of the biggest FA Cup upsets from the last ten years. In soccer and life, no one can be underestimated.
There is nothing like the magic of the cup.
#5: 2018-2019 Third Round: Oldham Athletic beat Fulham 2-1
When the Premier League was first formed in 1992, Oldham Athletic were one of the founding clubs. But throughout the 90s and the turn of the 21st century, Oldham were free-falling. By 2019, they were in League Two.
In the third round of that year, they faced Fulham. London’s oldest professional club got relegated in 2018-19, but it was clear they were going to beat a League Two side, right?
After 52 minutes, it looked like that was the case when Denis Odoi pounced on a loose ball to beat Oldham goalkeeper Daniel Iverson. However, the League Two side refused to go down without a fight.
It also helped that Neeskens Kebano missed a breakaway later in the half. Oldham made him and Fulham pay as substitute Sam Surridge slotted a penalty in the 76th minute.
Fulham themselves had a chance to regain the lead with a substitute of their own. But Iverson denied Aleksandar Mitrović from the spot.
Oldham then gave Mitrović and Fulham more regrets four minutes later as Callum Lang headed Gevaro Nepomuceno’s cross in the 88th minute. For a club that has been on a slow downfall since the 90s, the win at Craven Cottage in West London was a moment for them and their fans to remember forever.
Oldham’s FA Cup dreams ended in the fourth round with a 2-1 loss to Doncaster Rovers. But the downward spiral continued in the years that followed as they were relegated to non-League football from League Two in 2021-22. Oldham are the first former Premier League club to be relegated to non-League, and they’ve been in the National League ever since.
If you play Football Manager, a save idea is taking Oldham from non-League back to the Premier League. Perhaps you can try and pull off more FA Cup upsets.
#4: 2017 Fifth Round: Millwall defeats Leicester City 1-0
Leicester City pulled off one of the greatest underdog stories in sports in the 2015-16 season. Against the 1000-to-one odds, they shocked the world and won the Premier League.
The following season, Leicester struggled and was part of another underdog story, except they were on the other side.
In the fifth round of the 2017 FA Cup, the Foxes faced Millwall at The Den in South East London. Milwall was in League One and had already beaten Premier League sides AFC Bournemouth and Watford en route to the fifth round.
It turned out to be a closer contest than anyone anticipated. That was because Leicester lacked finishing, even after Jamie Vardy came off the bench in the 73rd minute.
The Foxes got a huge boost in the 52nd minute when Millwall defender Jake Cooper got a second yellow card for a reckless tackle on Ahmed Musa. But Leicester City failed to take advantage.
The breakthrough came in stoppage time as substitute Lee Gregory found Shaun Cummings in a pocket of space, and he sent The Den into a frenzy.
After this match, Leicester City continued to struggle, and they were a point above the relegation line when beloved manager Claudio Ranieri was sacked in late February. However, they found some stability under Craig Shakespeare and finished 12th. The late manager then became Leicester’s permanent manager but was sacked in October of 2017 as they were once again in a relegation battle.
Millwall went on to get blown out by Tottenham Hotspur in the quarter-finals. However, the win over Leicester City wasn’t the only big accomplishment for them that year. The Lions finished sixth in League One earning them a spot in the play-offs. They then beat Scunthorpe United in the semi-final and Bradford City in the final to earn promotion to The Championship.
Millwall have been in The Championship ever since, and this season, they currently sit 14th in the table.
#3: 2018 Fifth Round: Wigan Athletic Defeat Manchester City 1-0
The 2017-18 season was Pep Guardiola’s second as Manchester City manager. This was the beginning of Man City’s dominance in England.
The Citizens won their first Premier League title in four years in 2017-18 with a record 100 points. That was the first of seven league titles they would win under Guardiola.
But they were shockingly knocked out by League One side Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup’s fifth round. In recent years, Wigan have been known for going up and down from The Championship to League One. But from 2005 to 2013, they were in the Premier League.
Believe it or not, this wasn’t the first time Wigan upset Man City in the FA Cup. Wigan famously defeated them at Wembley in the 2013 final, the same year they got relegated from the Premier League.
The 2018 win at the then-called DW Stadium that night rekindled memories of 2013. What makes those wins even more special is that Wigan is part of the Greater Manchester area, and their ground is a 38-minute drive from the Etihad Stadium, home of Man City.
Despite starting the likes of Sergio Aguero, Bernardo Silva, and Ilkay Gundogan, Man City couldn’t figure out how to get the ball past Wigan goalkeeper Christian Walton. City had 29 shots and Walton made five saves.
It turns out the biggest factor was Fabien Delph getting a red card two minutes into first-half stoppage time for a foolish challenge on Wigan midfielder Max Power.
Striker Will Grigg barely touched the ball in the game, but in the 79th minute, he made history. After Kyle Walker misjudged the ball, Grigg outpaced him and John Stones before slotting it past Claudio Bravo for the winner. That was Grigg’s seventh goal in seven FA Cup games. He was on fire.
Just like in 2013, Wigan defeated Manchester City for the FA Cup upset. Unlike in 2013, they got knocked out of the quarterfinals by Southampton.
#2: 2025 Third Round: Plymouth Argyle defeats Liverpool 1-0
Let’s throw it back to… last weekend. This result was more shocking than the Super Bowl.
Liverpool are currently one of the best teams in the world, if not the best. Led by first-year manager Arne Slot and superstars Mohamed Salah and Virgil Van Dijk, it felt like Liverpool was inevitable. As Liverpool kept winning games, there were talks of them winning the treble or even the quadruple. After all, it seemed inevitable they could win the Premier League this season, and it wasn’t crazy to think they could win the English League Cup, (they are in the final) FA Cup and UEFA Champions League too.
Well, the quadruple is not happening. Only four teams have defeated Liverpool this season. Nottingham Forest, Tottenham in the League Cup semi-final first leg (In classic Spurs fashion, they lost the second leg), Feyenoord in the Champions League…and Championship side Plymouth Argyle.
At the time of this writing, Plymouth is 24th in The Championship, that is last place. Yet, they beat the best team in England.
Sure, it helped that Liverpool decided to rest Salah and Van Dijk, and Trent Alexander-Arnold is apparently dealing with an injury, but this is still a shocking result.
Despite having 75% possession, Liverpool could not break down Plymouth. This was a scrappy game. The Reds’ front line of Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota and Federico Chiesa were not clinical.
Plymouth’s back line of Maksym Talovierov, Nikola Katić and Julio Pleguezuelo were immense with their blocks, tackles and clearances. Goalkeeper Conor Hazard was also a brick wall between the sticks, making four crucial saves.
Plus, The Pilgrims did not just park the bus. They gave the Home Park crowd things to cheer for with chances of their own. Plymouth managed 10 shots and two on target.
Plymouth fans cheered the loudest when Ryan Hardle scored a penalty kick in the 53rd minute after Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott was called for a handball.
Plymouth will play Manchester City in the fifth round, which takes place on the first weekend of March. Who knows how far they’ll go?
#1: 2015 fourth Round: Bradford City defeats Chelsea 4-2
Bradford City’s famous win at Stamford Bridge is not just one of the biggest FA Cup upsets of the last decade; it’s one of the biggest in the competition’s history.
The 2014-15 Chelsea squad were a dominant side. Led by the eccentric manager Jose Mourinho, the Blues were arguably the best team in the world when they faced Bradford City. They boasted the likes of talented Belgian winger Eden Hazard, his fellow countryman Thibaut Courtois, feared Brazilian-born Spanish striker Diego Costa and dynamic Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas.
Against Bradford, Chelsea’s B team were on the pitch. That included veterans Petr Cech, Didier Drogba and John Obi-Mikel. There were also young defenders Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen, as well as a 22-year-old Egyptian winger named Mohamed Salah. Even if it was their B squad, Chelsea were still dangerous, and it looked like they would easily get by League Two side Bradford City. Like Liverpool this season, there were talks of the team doing the quadruple.
The dreams of a quadruple were still alive after 38 minutes. Gary Cahill scored a nice flick off a corner in the 21st minute, and Ramires scored off the transition after receiving Salah’s pass. Surely Chelsea were through to the fifth round, right?
It turns out Chelsea took their foot off the gas. Jon Stead scored from a well-taken strike just inside the box four minutes before half-time. In the 75th minute, Filipe Morais tied the game on a tap-in after some really bad defending by Chelsea on the ensuing throw-in.
Mourinho brought in Willian for Fabregas and Fabregas for Mikel (who apparently suffered a concussion) earlier in the second half. But after the tying goal, he brought on Hazard for Loic Remy. Unfortunately, the Belgian star couldn’t produce another goal for the Blues.
It turns out Bradford manager Phil Parkinson (yes, the current Wrexham manager) also started turning to his bench. That included putting Mark Yeates for Billy Knott to bolster the attack.
Chelsea failed to convert their chances, and Bradford City got the winner thanks to Andy Halliday. The Scotsman blasted a rocket past Cech in the 82nd minute and sent the away end into euphoria. Yeates sealed the victory in stoppage time after bursting through the Chelsea defence.
Chelsea and the rest of the soccer world were stunned. After the match, Mourinho gave his plaudits to Bradford and said the upset was what made the FA Cup and the sport great. But he called the result a “disgrace” to his record and Chelsea’s. Meanwhile, Parkinson called the win “surreal.”
Despite the bitterness of the loss, Chelsea still had a successful season. They went on to win the League Cup and the Premier League title. Chelsea only lost three matches in all competitions that year. What makes things even more crazy was the loss against Bradford was their only home loss.
Bradford then beat Sunderland 2-0 at home in the quarterfinals but lost 3-0 to Reading away in the quarterfinals. Regardless, the famous win at Stamford Bridge will forever be remembered by the players, staff and fans.
That day, the magic of the FA Cup really shone.
