Whilst the 2024/25 FA Cup doesn’t start for many fans until January, when teams from the top two tiers of English football enter the fray, the competition actually began way back on the 2nd of August. That was when the likes of Mangotsfield United, Spelthorne Sports, Royal Wooton Bassett Town and other giants of lower reaches of English football took part in the extra preliminary round.
Four qualifying rounds took place after that with teams higher and higher up the football pyramid joining as we moved towards the first round proper. That began on the 1st of November, with all 24 sides from League Two and One respectively joining the party alongside various non-league outfits.
Hednesford Town from tier eight were the lowest-ranked club to make it that far but they were joined by several other clubs from beyond the elite. Along with these fully amateur and semi-pro sides, we also saw some relatively big, glamorous teams taking part in the first round. Several former winners of the FA Cup were also involved, including Wigan Athletic, who upset Manchester City in 2012/13, Huddersfield Town, who claimed glory over 100 years ago (1921/22), and Notts County, the oldest professional side in the world, whose only FA Cup win came way back in 1893/94.
In total, 80 teams were in action in the first round with the 40 games spread over the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th of November. With so many games, upsets (or cupsets as we may be contractually obliged to refer to them at least once) were inevitable and those who value the romance of the FA Cup and its David versus Goliath nature had plenty to savour.
Hollywood Hopes Halted by Harrogate
It was by some distance not the biggest shock of the round but it was certainly one that attracted plenty of headlines. The TV cameras were there too, which always helps, with Wrexham, the club owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, being dumped out by Harrogate Town. Not so long ago the North Yorkshire outfit were in the division above the Welsh club but things have changed this game saw a 1-0 win for the League Two hosts against Wrexham, who came into the clash positioned in third place in League One.
In fairness, the away team had by far the better of the game and really should have been in the hat for the second round. They fielded a strong side, even though they rested a few players, but were almost fully two goals superior in terms of xG. Indeed Harrogate managed just a single shot on target, but they made it count, and will now face another home clash in the next round. With that against seventh-tier Gainsborough Trinity, they have every chance of making it through to the third round and a potential clash with one of the real big boys.
Derby Joy for Kettering
Probably the biggest upset of the round, certainly in terms of divisions, and also because it was a derby clash, was another that was picked out for TV coverage. Kettering and Northampton are less than 15 miles apart geographically but in football terms there are fully four divisions between them.
Kettering Town ply their trade in the Southern League Premier Division Central, the seventh tier of English football. Week to week they face the likes of Bedford Town and Bromsgrove Sporting, whilst their fellow Northamptonshire opponents are in League One, the same league as Wrexham, Birmingham and Huddersfield Town.
With the higher-ranked side on home soil there should really have only been one winner in this one but it was a close game. When the hosts took the lead inside half an hour their fans must have been expecting a comfortable evening but despite dominating possession, and the game, they could not find a second goal.
After 66 minutes the visitors equalised and the game remained 1-1, resulting in extra time. Right at the start of the first period of extra time, Nile Ranger, a man with Premier League experience and six goals for England’s Under 19 side, made himself the hero by scoring for Kettering. They won 2-1 in extra time and now face more league opposition in the second round. Doncaster are next for the Poppies and with home advantage and a League One scalp banked, they will fancy their chances against the League Two side from South Yorkshire.
Other Wins for Lower League Opponents
League Two Tranmere welcomed Oldham to Prenton Park for a game between two sides whose fortunes have fallen dramatically over the past 30 years. Oldham were a Premier League side in 1994 and made the semi-final of the FA Cup as well in the 1993/4 campaign. Tranmere played in the second tier for almost all of the 1990s and were a good cup side too, making the semis in the League Cup in 1993/94 and then losing in the final in 1999/2000 (when they also made the quarters of the FA Cup).
It is a long time since either club has had much to cheer about, with Oldham in particular suffering. After 115 years they dropped out of the Football League in April 2022, becoming the first side to have played in the Premier League to do so. Dark days, but they had something to cheer in the FA Cup as they got past Tranmere to earn a spot in the second round.
The Latics won 2-1 and will play League One Leyton Orient, away from home, for the chance to perhaps land a glamour third-round tie. There was a bigger upset than this one elsewhere, with fifth-tier Tamworth defeating League One Huddersfield 1-0. Brackley Town also upset Braintree on penalties, Dagenham Redbridge beat Crewe 1-0, Wealdstone won by the same score at Grimsby, Cheltenham won 3-1 at Rotherham and Salford defeated Shrewsbury 2-1, all wins for lower-league clubs.
Other wins for sides further down the pecking order came for tier-seven Harborough Town, who battered Tonbridge Angels 4-1, a huge victory away from home against a side in the sixth tier, and Walsall, who beat Bolton 2-1. Harborough are one of three teams from the seventh tier who made the second round, along with Kettering and Gainsborough, and they will face a trip to Reading of League One. Here’s to plenty more cupsets in the next round!