FA CUP FACTFILE: All hail the last 16 heroes!

By Phil Annets @FACUPFACTFILE

MAIDSTONE UNITED are the lowest ranked side for 46 years to make the last 16 of the FA Cup and only the 11th Non-League club ever to make it this far since the current structure was adopted for the 1925-26 season.
This was implemented to reflect changes in Football League membership soon after World War I where, arguably, the better 40 or so Non-League clubs were amalgamated into it as Divisions Three North and South.
As a consequence, the appearance of Non-League clubs in latter stages of the FA Cup pretty much ceased overnight. It would be more than 20 years...

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