The second round of the EFL Cup is underway and with it came a number of upsets from the country’s lower leagues. Although the EFL Cup doesn’t include Non-League participants, these results warranted a closer look at some of the finest finishes from Non-League teams in its sister competition, the FA Cup, over the last five years.
2016-2017: Lincoln City (National League)
Undoubtedly the greatest success story on this list, then National League side Lincoln City broke records with their giant-killing run. In the 2016-2017 season, Lincoln City were undoubtedly the side to put your money on. The Imps started off by scraping past lower league Guisely and Altrincham, before seeing off Oldham Athletic and Ipswich Town to make Round Three. In Round Four, Danny Cowley’s side stunned soon-to-be-promoted Brighton 3-1 to proceed to the Fifth Round, where they were on the cusp of history – no Non-League side had qualified for the FA Cup quarter-finals for over a hundred years.
City didn’t appear to feel the pressure, however, scoring an incredible 89th-minute winner away to Sean Dyche’s Burnley. This result slashed their odds to go on and win the competition from a staggering 2000/1 to just 150/1. Unfortunately for the Imps, however, this wasn’t to be, as their fairytale came crashing to an end with a 5-0 defeat at the hands of Arsenal in the Quarters, their seventh opponent of the competition. The number 7 is considered fortuitous in Dutch cultures. We can see this in a number of aspects of popular culture, and it explains its inclusion in the names of their casino sites, which offer games based on chance like slots and blackjack, as well as poker, a game considered iconic in today’s modern world. The number 7, however, was to bring no such luck to Lincoln City. Nevertheless, it still remains one of the great cup runs of the 21st century.
They’ve done it! 👏🎉🙌@LincolnCity_FC are quarter-final bound! #EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/jMEaxK59iC
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 18, 2017
2016-2017: Sutton United (National League)
It seems 2016-17 was the season for upsets. Sutton United, now of League Two, was then playing their football in the National League. Unlike Lincoln, United’s First Round was to be no tight affair, as they demolished Dartford 6-3. They went on to face Cheltenham Town in the 2nd Round, with home advantage securing them another 2-1 victory.
United welcomed League One’s AFC Wimbledon to the Borough Sports Ground, although needed a second-round replay to secure a 3-1 away victory and accession to the Fourth Round. Incredibly, The Us went on to beat Garry Monk’s Leeds United 1-0, a team 83 league places above them. An all-Non League Quarter-Final against Lincoln City was not to be, however, as Sutton fell 0-2 at home to Arsenal in the Fifth Round.
2021-22: Boreham Wood (National League)
The competition’s most recent success story belongs to the National League’s Boreham Wood. Following a solid 2-0 win to start their campaign at home to Eastleigh, The Wood ‘doubled their money’ with a 4-0 victory in the Second Round against St Albans City. Boreham took full advantage of a third consecutive home tie with another 2-0 win, this time against AFC Wimbledon.
Their real test came in the Fourth Round, away to soon-to-be Premier League side Bournemouth. The Wood didn’t seem to care, however, securing a 0-1 victory thanks to a 38-minute winner from 37-year-old Mark Ricketts. Again, the dreaded Fifth Round appeared to be the ceiling for the Non-League side, who were dumped out of the competition with a 0-2 loss at home to Everton.
These three cases over the last five years show that the ‘magic of the cup’ is still very much alive. With the FA Cup on the horizon, can England’s Non-League sides make it past the illusive Quarter-Finals and go on to make history?
