With shocks aplenty the FA Cup proves it has lost none of its magic

Imagine taking every football team in the country from miniscule non-league clubs that don’t even have hot water in the changing rooms to the heavyweight giants of the Premier League who are followed by billions of fans around the world and then having a knockout tournament with them all? Sounds incredible doesn’t it? Well that in a nutshell is the FA Cup, the world’s oldest cup competition.

There is a lot of romanticism attached to the FA Cup and that comes not only from its history, but also its format which is designed for upsets. You get over 730 clubs entering and with many David vs Goliath fixtures, there are always major upsets.

Indeed the giant-killings is why we watch so avidly. We all want to the non-league clubs go toe-to-toe with their top-flight counterparts and knock them out. With a trip to Wembley Stadium at stake in the final and a spot in the Europa League the following season, there is all to play for. Naturally, clubs and their fans alike, want to win league titles after all that is the bread and butter of the game but the FA Cup, which has been played since 1871, is the one everyone looks forward to the most. Sure, in the early rounds the big clubs often rotate their squads and rest key players and give the youngsters a chance and because of that some feel the competition’s importance has been diluted somewhat. I guess you can’t really blame clubs for doing this when the focus is either the Premier League title, Champions League race or simply avoiding relegation because of the money at stake. But when FA Cup weekend arrives, you can feel the magic in the air.

The third round which takes place in the first week of January is the best weekend of the footballing calendar. While the other leagues around Europe are taking a winter break and are wrapped up in cosy socks and blankets, sipping hot chocolate to keep warm, English football is performing an ancient, powerful ritual of giving teams from the lower reaches of the pyramid a chance to face their more established opposition.

In the past there have been several massive cupsets. My favourite is still back in 1992 when reigning top-flight champions Arsenal were drawn against old fourth division side Wrexham. The Gunners made the trip to the Racecourse Ground in the third round of the tournament in fine fettle with coach George Graham having several English internationals at his disposal. They were expected to easily dominate the match and cruise to the next round. But the world witnessed one of the most remarkable giant slayings in the history of football as Steve Watkin and Mickey Thomas scored for Wrexham to dump Arsenal out. Graham, who had won countless trophies at Highbury, referred to the loss as his “lowest moment in football.” Then there was the time when Liverpool were bundled out by League One side Oldham in 2013. The Reds rocked up at Boundary Park boasting the talents of Luis Suarez, Steven Gerrard and Raheem Sterling but Matt Smith (no, not the Gulf News sports editor…) who had given up professional football three years earlier to pursue a university degree scored two in a 3-2 win. It was a seismic shock.

Moving forward to the present day we are now at the fourth round stage and we have already had the first shock with Manchester United crashing out. Championship side Middlesbrough emerged victorious in a nail-biting 16-shot penalty shootout. Now, all eyes will be on two Premier League clubs – Chelsea and West Ham – who face tiny Plymouth and Kidderminster respectively. Will the two latter clubs gain national recognition with a giant-killing act? Every fan – apart for those of the two London outfits – will hope so.

Anything can happen in a one-off, winner-takes-all battle where nothing but a result on the day matters. There aren’t any dropped points to worry about and goal difference doesn’t play a part. You just have to win and get to the next round. These affairs often produce underdog stories and brilliant off the pitch moments when lower-league teams do the unthinkable and knock out one of England’s elite. There’s a feeling that, truly, anything can happen and it often does. That is the magic of the FA Cup.