Giant-killers

Aside from the non-top-flight winners mentioned below, the FA Cup has a long tradition of lower-ranked teams becoming "giant-killers" by defeating opponents from a higher division.^[20] While it is common for this to happen (one statistical analysis based on four years of results showed that the probability of at least one team beating one from a higher division in a given year was 99.85%, dropping to 48.8% for a two-division gap and 39.28% for a three-division gap^[21]), it is considered particularly newsworthy when the "victim" is one of the top Premier League teams, or where the giant-killer is from outside the League divisions. The most recent examples of a non-league team beating top-flight opposition are Sutton United's victory over Coventry City in 1988–89 and Luton Town's victory over Norwich City at Carrow Road in 2012–13.^[22] Within the football league one of the most notable results was Wrexham's victory over Arsenal in 1992. In the previous season, Wrexham had finished 92nd (last) in the football league, Arsenal were 1st.

Giant-killings of various scales happen every year: almost every club in the League Pyramid has a fondly remembered "giant-killing" act in its history and some small clubs have, whether by accident or design, gained a reputation for being "cup specialists" after two or more such feats within a few years.^[21] Victories by non-league sides over league opposition are referred to as 'league scalps'^{[citation needed]}. Overall, Yeovil Town holds the record with 20 league scalps won before the club entered the league.^[23] The record for a club which has never entered the league is held by Altrincham, with 16 league scalps.

Linked to this giant-killing is the progression of teams beyond what would normally be expected. A few teams have won the FA Cup while outside of the top division, though no team from the third level of the football league has progressed to the final. For non-league teams, reaching the third round – where all top flight sides now enter – is considered a major achievement. During the 2008-09 FA Cup, a record nine teams achieved this feat,^[24] and while Tottenham Hotspur won the 1901 FA Cup as a Southern League club, no non-league team has progressed past the fifth round since the second world war, this occurring most recently to Crawley Town F.C. in 2011.^[25] Chasetown are the lowest ranked team to play in the third round, playing eventual runners-up Cardiff City in the 2007–08 competition. The game took place on 5 January 2008 whilst Chasetown were playing in the Southern League Division One Midlands, the eighth tier of the English football pyramid.^[26]