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By- Apoorv Dwivedi
FA Cup or The Football Association Challenge Cup is an annual knockout tournament played in England since 1871. The 150th year has seen some unlikely winners with dark horses stealing the show.
Background
Any team on the 10 levels of English Football is eligible to play in the tournament with the level one (Premier league teams) getting a bye. Matches are knockout format and two teams meet each other only once. Unlike Champion’s league where two teams face each other twice.
Arsenal is the most successful team with 14 titles while the current champion is Leicester city with its first championship win. A record 763 teams participated in the 2011-12 edition of the FA Cup. The Champion of FA cup qualifies directly for the UEFA Europa League Group Stage.
Highlights of the current season
Big clubs are having a tough time this season with some of the big names getting knocked out. Nottingham Forest has been the giant killer as it defeated Arsenal in the round of 64 and Leicester City, the defending champions in the round of 32. Chelsea and West Ham were trailing at one point of time in their respective matches. The latter won the game in the last minutes of the contest.
Manchester United’s woes continue as it was knocked out of the round of 32 by Middlesbrough in the penalties. Cristiano Ronaldo missed a spot-kick in the regulation time.
Manchester City is expected to win this year but it will be interesting to see if we get an unlikely winner. The performance put up by second-tier Nottingham will go down in history books, let’s see if the Juggernaut continues to roll.
Liverpool minus Salah and Mane (out for AFCON) had an easy outing against Cardiff City winning 3-1. Manchester City routed Fulham 4-1. Boreham Wood (5th tier) is the only team below the second tear to make to Round of 16.
Chelsea was facing difficulties getting past Plymouth Argyle which is a team of the third tier. This shows the amount of competition in the lower levels of English football which goes unnoticed by the mainstream media. It is anyone’s guess who wins but English Football keeps flourishing.