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Sixth-tier Maidstone United stun Ipswich Town in FA Cup: List of biggest FA Cup upsets

Sixth-tier Maidstone United stunned Championship high-flyers Ipswich Town — a team with just three losses this season — to reach the fifth round of the FA Cup with a 2-1 win.

[ MORE: FA Cup hub — Scores, schedule ]

Lamar Reynolds had a goal and an assist and Sam Corner scored the 66th-minute winner shortly after Brighton loanee Jeremy Sarmiento leveled the line in the 56th minute.

The plot lines are so very FA Cup a.k.a. Magic of the Cup; Ninety-eight places separate fourth-place National League South side Maidstone from second-place Championship side Ipswich, who is a favorite to win promotion to the Premier League next season.

Maidstone United stuns Ipswich Town: The ‘magical’ details

Consider:

  • Ipswich absolutely dominated the Stones, who scored before halftime and then quickly answered the Tractor Boys’ equalizer despite being out-attempted 38-2.
  • Jamaican-born Reynolds, he of 13 clubs at age 28, had a goal and an assist.
  • Liam Sole, who assisted Reynolds, has never played a game higher than the National League South level.
  • Maidstone goalkeeper Lucas Cavagnari had nine saves and faced 2.80 xG.
  • They lost to fifth-tier Barnet 4-0 in the FA Trophy competition, a tournament for only the 5th-8th tier sides.
  • Corne, a defensive midfielder and center back, scored in one-goal wins in the second-, third-, and fourth round.
  • Maidstone manager George Elokobi is in his first managerial job and played for Maidstone until last season.

Where does it rank? Top 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.