A look at the best Non-League runs in FA Cup history

Summer has officially given way to autumn, the nights have started to draw in and the Premier League is settling into some semblance of routine. We know what comes next, and for non-league fans, the most wonderful time of the year will soon be upon us. No, not that, although it could have something to do with Christmas coming early.
 
Battling against the odds
 It is, of course, the heady season that is the opening rounds of the FA Cup. Every non-league supporter loves Cinderella stories, and battles against the odds. It’s why those online games at sites like https://lvbet.com/en/casino/ have such enduring popularity. We spin the reels on games like sizzling hot deluxe in part because we enjoy the gameplay, but also because maybe, just maybe, there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. This is the moment when we can dare to dream, and as the following examples show, those dreams can occasionally come true.
 
Lincoln City 2017
It was the first time in more than 100 years that a non-league side had made the quarter finals, and it showed that even in this age when professional football is a multi-million pound industry, anything is possible out in the middle. Lincoln had suffered a wretched few years, relegated from League Two in 2010 and suffering financial hardship and internal strife. They beat Ipswich Town in a replay, and added the scalps of Brighton and Hove Albion, as well as Premier League side Burnley before the historic encounter with Arsenal in the quarter final. It was the icing on the cake for the Red Imps in a season that also saw them restored to League Two.
 
Luton Town 2013
Luton came close to achieving a similar feat four years earlier, in a run that saw them beat Nuneaton and Dorchester to make it to the third round. They then brushed aside Championship side Wolves before inking their own little entry into the footballing history books. By defeating Norwich City in the fourth round, they became the first non-league side to beat a Premier League team. The fifth round pitched them against Millwall, and that was a bridge too far, but it is a record that nobody will ever be able to take away.
 
Sutton United 2017
Lincoln’s performance in 2017 was rightly lauded, but some might argue that while this is a team that was officially non-league, it had the history and infrastructure of an outfit that has competed at the professional levels. One of the remarkable things about the 2016/17 FA Cup, however, was that Lincoln was not the only non-league team to make the fifth round. Sutton United’s ground could not be further removed from Emirates Stadium, and there was a certain dream-like quality to see the Arsenal team bus, with its blacked out windows, appear at the Gander Green Lane stadium. Yet this was a fixture that Sutton had earned, defying all expectations to beat AFC Wimbledon and Leeds in the third and fourth rounds. Arsenal even presented a few chances, but were again the team to ultimately spoil the party.
 
Crawley Town 2011
Mention the Red Devils, and thoughts might turn to Jose Mourinho’s troubled outfit from the north. Back in 2011, however, all the buzz was around Crawley Town. Limping past Swindon in extra time in the second round replay was a great achievement, but was such a closely fought tussle that few really believed the team would go further. Yet they blew away Derby County in the third round before a relatively kind draw with Torquay in the fourth. That led to an historic encounter with Manchester United, a team that was on the verge of being crowned Premier League champions yet again. The northern devils won, but only by a single goal.