In no other football-minded country does the national cup competition have so much impact on fans and clubs alike as in the UK. It is in fact the oldest football tournament in the world, and has been popular ever since the start in 1871. One explanation for the ongoing popularity of the FA Cup is the unpredictability of the results. We all enjoy it when David beats Goliath, and the FA cup has a reputation in that area. Many times small semi-professional teams have knocked out their multi-million £ opponents. A tradition that not only good makes for good spectacle, but also for spectacular betting chances. And not only the fans like to gamble, also the big clubs, as they often confront opponents from lower leagues with a second tier selection to rest their star players for ‘more serious business’.
Here you'll find all FA Cup 2018/19 round dates
Analysing the FA Cup
Though nothing can be taken for granted in FA Cup matches, the statistics can give some clues. In Analysing the FA Cup Sportingbet crunches the numbers for every match in the tournament since the turn of the century until 2018. In the article you can read, among other things, which teams are often involved in upsets and which Premier League clubs tend not to take this tournament all that seriously.
Some serious upsets
Just for fun, here are some memorable upsets in the history of the FA Cup.
- Arsenal has lost 6-0 three times in the FA Cup: against Sunderland in 1883, against Derby in 1889, and against West Ham in 1946.
- In 1990 the three semi-final matches saw a total of 16 goals, scored by 16 different players.
- In 1946 and 1947 the ball burst in both the first final and the replay. This was likely due to the poor materials used to make the balls in post-wartime Britain.
- The longest FA Cup tie lasted five games. In 1954 Bury finally managed to beat Stoke in the 4th replay.
