This year the FA Cup offers some amazing ties – and betting opportunities – in the world’s oldest domestic cup competition. EagleBet , courtesy of ZodiacBet, will offer updated FA Cup pro tips and predictions for the third round of the FA Cup and all subsequent rounds, too. So sign up for a welcome bonus with one of our betting partners and sign up for our free betting guides to receive all the odds, predictions and tips on the FA Cup, Premier League, Bundeslia, Champions League and many other top divisions and cups.
FA Cup – A Brief History
The FA Cup was first played in 1871, won by Bolton Wanderers, and 150 years later is still throwing up great shocks in English football. All top Premier League clubs such as the Manchester giants, Liverpool and Chelsea compete. But not only are the 92 Premier League and Football League clubs competing, there are amateur clubs going down 10 levels of the football pyramid hoping for a magical trip to Wembley.
The FA Cup has been played every year except for a break in the First and Second World War.
Its unpredictability makes it a nightmare to write an FA Cup betting guide, but an amazing competition for fans. FA Cup matches are so hard to predict. No one would tip Wimbeldon to beat Liverpool or Bradford to beat Chelsea. But this happens in the FA Cup. Every year there is a shock, but if you are clever you can predict these shocks and make profitable bets on the FA Cup.
Some 763 clubs compete across 12 rounds of the Emirates FA Cup prior to the semi-final and final, played at Wembley since 1923. The big boys (Premier League and Championship) clubs start competing in the FA Cup third round, often a classic where one of the giants of English football is drawn against an amateur club, where millionaires like Ronaldo, Salah or Grealish can be tackled by a part-time window cleaner. In an age of over-indulged, Ferrari-driving football stars, fans regard the FA Cup as a return to “real” football.
Big clubs don’t always now show the FA Cup the respect fans think it deserves, certainly in earlier rounds. Some clubs are fighting for the title, others relegation, so rest star players for the FA Cup. But even clubs chasing Premier League glory field their strongest team by the final rounds of the FA Cup, knowing that to many clubs winning the FA Cup is still the crowning glory.
Leicester are FA Cup holders having beaten Chelsea in the final of the 2020/1 FA Cup.
Giant Killings: 10 Biggest Shocks in FA Cup History
The great appeal of the FA Cup is that it provides great shocks, so when we do produce our FA Cup betting guide for 2021/2, do come back and laugh at us if any predictions are completely wrong! We’ll be honest, there is bound to be a shock or two we (no one) could predict.
In particular the Third Round of the FA Cup provides glorious upsets, when for a brief moment football isn’t all about money, and a small club can live the dream.
Such is the beauty of the FA Cup where, with a lucky draw and a few inspired performances, a club worth less than a Premier star’s collection of trainers can enjoy the greatest moment in its history.
Over the years the FA Cup has seen some massive giant killings – Liverpool beaten by Wimbledon, for example, or QPR beaten by the car assembly line workers of Vauxhall Motors. Last year Premier League Leeds were beaten by Crawley Town of the fourth tier.
Sometimes small clubs even win the FA Cup – Wigan in 2012/3, beating Manchester City in the final. Millwall reached the final, Arsenal have lost to Wrexham, Chelsea lost at home by Bradford.
Top 10 FA Cup Winners
- Wimbledon – 1988/9 – Winning the FA Cup, beating Liverpool in the final, “the Crazy Gang beating the Culture Club”
- Wigan 2012/3 – Winning the FA Cup, beating Manchester City in the Final
- Wrexham 1991/2 – the 4th division Welsh side beating Premier League Champions Arsenal 2-1, including a great Micky Thomas free kick
- Hereford 1971/2 – non-league Hereford beating top flight Newcastle United with a stunning goal from Ronnie Radford
- Millwall 2003/4 – reaching the final beating Sunderland 1-0, thanks to a Tim Cahill strike
- Wycombe 2000/1 – beating Premiership Leicester and reaching the final thanks to a goal from Roy Essandoh who had answered an ad for a fit, available striker
- Bradford 2014/5 – beating Chelsea 4-2 at Stamford Bridge
- Walsall 1932/3 – a team of amateurs beating then dominant Arsenal
- Yeovil 1948/9 – from the Southern League, coming through countless earlier rounds to beat top flight Sunderland
- Sunderland 1972/3 – of the second division beating Leeds, then the giants of English football, in the final
These are our top ten, but tbh you could add so many more FA Cup giant killings.
Spurs won the FA Cup in 1900/1, beating Sheffield United. Not much of a shock? Well back then Tottenham were a non-league side – and they remain the only non-league side to win the FA Cup.
FA Cup shocks depend on how old you are – we remember as a child seeing in 1983/4 Bournemouth (then of the third tier, managed by a young Harry Redknapp) knocking out Man Utd, who won the FA Cup the year before and the year afterwards.
Let’s hope the FA Cup continues to give us many more shocks for years to come!
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