Sixth-tier Macclesfield stunned English football with a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday in what may well be the biggest shock in FA Cup history.
The Silkmen play in National League North at 5,300 capacity Moss Rose, and that ground saw goals from Paul Dawson and Isaac Buckley-Ricketts to defeat the defending holders.
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That makes the story even crazier, even if Palace aren’t in the richest vein of form.
Palace was rotated but started Marc Guehi and Adam Wharton in their group. They trailed 1-0 at halftime and brought on Tyrick Mitchell, Will Hughes, and Brennan Johnson but didn’t find a goal until Yeremy Pino’s 90th minute marker.
Sixth-tier Maidstone United upset Championship side Ipswich Town to reach the fifth round in 2024, but this is an entirely new tier of stunner. Read the below top FA Cup upsets but it’s difficult to say any other upset is certainly bigger than this one.
Biggest FA Cup upsets of all-time
- The 1970s saw three second-tier sides beat top division entrants in the final. Sunderland beat Leeds in 1973, Southampton shocked Manchester United in 1976, and West Ham took care of Arsenal (oof, twice on one list) in 1980.
- League One’s Bradford City came from 2-0 down to beat Chelsea 4-2 at Stamford Bridge in 2015.
- Fourth-tier Wrexham beat Arsenal 2-1 at the Racecourse Ground in 1992.
- League Two side Grimsby Town beat Premier League side Southampton in the fifth round of last season’s FA Cup.
- Top-flight side Coventry City, two years removed from winning the FA Cup, were dumped out by non-league side Sutton United in 1989.
- League Two’s Crawley Town knocked out Premier League entrant Leeds United in 2021.
- Wigan was a Premier League side but headed for relegation when they beat Man City to win the tournament in 2013.
