Up For The Cup...

Team sports are huge in both Britain and the United States, but one of the main differences is that in Britain, league and knockout formats are usually kept separate.  There may be playoffs to decide promotion and relegation issues (automatic in football and other sports), but league championships are one thing, and knockout cups another.  The greatest of all British cups is the F.A. Cup.

Unlike American events (Superbowl, World Series etc), which are restricted to a handful of professional teams, it is very different across the pond.  The Premier League is only the very tip of the "Football Pyramid"; the Football League consists of 92 teams in four divisions (Premier League, Championship, League One, and League Two - formerly Divisions One, Two, Three, and Four).

However, the F.A. (Football Association) membership extends to thousands of "non-league" (outside the Football League itself, but still competing in organised leagues) clubs.  Promotion and relegation apply here too, even from non-league status into the Football League.

The F.A. Cup is open to all member clubs, and a series of qualifying rounds bring us to the First Round Proper; this is where the forty-eight teams of the lower two divisions of the Football League join the thirty-two remaining non-league sides in the draw.  When we reach the Third Round, the twenty remaining teams are joined by the forty-four teams of the top two divisions.

It is this seeding - along with the fact that there is a redraw after EVERY round - that makes the F.A. Cup so special.  As a result, the Third Round (traditionally played the first weekend in January - ie THIS weekend) is greeted with the same excitement and anticipation as the final, as it is a chance of glory for some of the "little clubs".

This year, the Third Round has again thrown up some fascinating draws.  My own AFC Wimbledon (League Two) are drawn at home to mighty Liverpool (of course, the previous incarnation of the team, Wimbledon FC, beat Liverpool in the 1988 final), non-league Blyth Spartans and Dover are home to Birmingham City and Crystal Palace respectively, and Conference side Gateshead visit Premier League West Bromwich Albion.

Sometimes - just sometimes - shocks happen in the Third Round, and here are some from the last forty years...

1974-75
Perhaps the greatest year in living memory, there were some stunning performances from unfancied teams, spearheaded by Wimbledon (predecessors of AFC Wimbledon).  My beloved Dons, then in the Southern League, went to Turf Moor and beat First Division Burnley!  Another of my local non-league sides, Leatherhead, won 1-0 at Brighton.  Stafford Rangers won at Rotherham, and just to prove that the lower clubs from the Football League had some glory of their own, Walsall beat Manchester United in a five-goal thriller!

In addition, two other non-leaguers, Wycombe Wanderers and Altrincham succeeded in taking their more illustrious  opponents (Middlesbrough and Everton) to a replay, before bowing out.

The following year, yet another local team, Tooting and Mitcham (from the Isthmian League) beat Swindon Town 2-1 after a replay, and in 1976/77, Watford went down to the minnows of Northwich Victoria by the odd goal in five.  It wasn't until 1979 that another non-league side advanced at the expense of a team from the top two tiers, when Harlow Town saw off the challenge of eventual Division Two Champions, Leicester City, by a solitary goal.

It's not only the non-leaguers who can provide the shocks, as Fourth Division  Blackpool proved to Second Division promotion hopefuls, Manchester City.  That was in 1983/84, as was the shock defeat of Queen's Park Rangers (fifth in the First Division), who went down to Huddersfield Town from two divisions lower.

The previously mentioned Altrincham have long been associated with impressive F.A. Cup runs, and again in 1986, they inflicted defeat upon a club from the top flight, this time Birmingham.  There was another surprise, though not of the same magnitude, as Fourth Division Peterbrough beat Leeds United (Div. Two).

So, let's just wait and see what this year's Third Round brings...