Magic of the FA Cup 2026

[Nollaig O Muracu]

If there is a thread already i cant find it.
Anyway....

https://twitter.com/x/status/2010793500317823382

Love to see it.

 

[MerchantOfEnnis]

If there is a thread already i cant find it.
Anyway....

https://twitter.com/x/status/2010793500317823382

Love to see it.

The Macclesfield story is brilliant, but there are a few things about it that make it less romantic than if it had been a real nobody.

Their manager is Wayne Rooneys brother, which is one thing.

A bunch of their players have their own businesses, so they aren't exactly lads coming off the building sites and going to training.

There's just a bit of the Wrexham about them for me.

But it is a fantastic story and achievement nonetheless

Hopefully they get a massive draw tonight

 

[Nollaig O Muracu]

Ah its still a team playing at a very low level compared to the opponents. First time in over a hundred years a team playing at that level knocked out a team playing at the top level they said on Saturday (can't remember the exact date)

And I'd say the gap was a lot lot lower in the 1910s 1920s

 

[rebel without a caus]

The Macclesfield story is brilliant, but there are a few things about it that make it less romantic than if it had been a real nobody.

Their manager is Wayne Rooneys brother, which is one thing.

A bunch of their players have their own businesses, so they aren't exactly lads coming off the building sites and going to training.

There's just a bit of the Wrexham about them for me.

But it is a fantastic story and achievement nonetheless

Hopefully they get a massive draw tonight

Also, the 4g pitch was shocking. Ball bobbling and bouncing like crazy. Palace players couldnt deal with it. Couldnt play their usual game on it.
Macclesfield used to it playing on it every second week. They just went long-ball, knowing its not a pitch for playing slick passing on the deck.
Palace should have figured this out in-game though.
Also, a referee that gave macclesfield absolutely everything. But thats to be expected in a game with such a gap between the two teams.
All in all, it was a perfect storm for Macclesfield.

 

[Cloudy O'Ranieri]

Reminds me of Sutton beating Coventry back in the day.

 

[MerchantOfEnnis]

Ah its still a team playing at a very low level compared to the opponents. First time in over a hundred years a team playing at that level knocked out a team playing at the top level they said on Saturday (can't remember the exact date)

And I'd say the gap was a lot lot lower in the 1910s 1920s

I think it's the biggest gap in league places ever in the FA Cup.

They have Brentford at home in the next round. Another nice one for them.

 

[Nollaig O Muracu]

Reminds me of Sutton beating Coventry back in the day.

Wrexham beating Arsenal in 1992 is another one. Not non league I know, but it was a fourth division team beating the champions of England.

 

[rebel without a caus]

I think it's the biggest gap in league places ever in the FA Cup.

They have Brentford at home in the next round. Another nice one for them.

And id actually give them a good chance again, at home!
They were good value for the win against Palace.
Although Brentford probably won't take any chances and throw out their best team now after seeing what happened Palace.

 

[rebel without a caus]

Wrexham beating Arsenal in 1992 is another one. Not non league I know, but it was a fourth division team beating the champions of England.

Thats a bigger upset.
In England now the standard difference between leagues is a lot less than it used to be. Due to the huge influx of foreign players. A lot of very good local talent who would have made it into first division teams years ago, are filling-out teams in lower leagues these days.

 

[MerchantOfEnnis]

Whatever about the FA cup, how good was Grimsby knocking United out of the League Cup last year