Macclesfield FC’s defeat of holders Crystal Palace was one of the biggest FA Cup upsets on a weekend filled with great football stories at home and abroad.
Macclesfield beat holders Crystal Palace in the biggest shock in FA Cup history (Image: PA)
The FA Cup delivered the biggest shock of all time, with one of the best third-round weekends in recent history.
Macclesfield’s fairytale victory over Crystal Palace – the bottom team who knocked out the holders – made them the first sixth-tier team to beat a higher-ranked team in the competition.
There were many great stories about this tie. They dedicated the song to striker Ethan McLeod, who died in a car accident last month. Wayne Rooney’s brother John is the director.
Club owner Rob Smethurst made a right move and bought the club after a four-day brawl in Ibiza. Honestly, you’d have to have a heart of stone if you couldn’t agree with Macclesfield and enjoy their heroic deeds. What a great story!
Weston-super-Mare, a semi-professional team from the Nations League South, played a lively game against Grimsby in front of 600 fans, but lost 3-2.
read more: Manchester United deny Macclesfield giant-killer dreams as warning before FA Cup drawread more: Biggest upset in FA Cup after Macclesfield stun holders Crystal Palace
In the FA Cup, clubs get a better and more generous away allocation. Arsenal filled one end of Portsmouth’s. The overall Premier League standings also looked better as the team received more quota. Blackpool had a tough day loading their coach at Ipswich.
On Friday night, Wrexham defeated Nottingham Forest on penalties, with Hollywood co-owner Ryan Reynolds cheering them on from the stands.
It was a great game with Callum Hudson-Odoi scoring the World Player of the Year, but Forest went on to lose on penalties with Wrexham keeper Arthur Okonkwo the hero.
There are many good stories. That’s a huge amount of money for clubs like Macclesfield and Weston-super-Mare. It’s great to see football get out of the Premier League bubble and enjoy the FA Cup for what it is.
Wrexham and Nottingham Forest put on a six-goal thriller before the Welsh side went to penalties (Image: Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
It’s a big part of English football. This independent competition deserves respect and recognition, as well as an understanding of what it means for the entire football pyramid.
The FA Cup can give teams from the lower leagues a dream come true. Their owners enjoy the spotlight and coveted television prizes and cash prizes.
While the Premier League is being held back by ‘deals’ with the EFL, the FA Cup is delivering results and putting clubs like Weston-super-Mare on the map.
Weston-super-Mare chairman Oli Bliss pointed out that the FA Cup is a huge event for non-league as it increases interest.
And two other great things happened this weekend. No VAR meant everyone could actually celebrate the moment without having to wait for a VAR check to find out if it was offside, if the ball hit the arm or if the keeper fouled.
What a joy! It was wonderful. It was refreshing. And wonderful. As someone who still supports the need for VAR, I thought we had made a huge mistake.
Weston-super-Mare fought bravely in defeat to EFL side Grimsby (Image: )
The other thing is that the FA Cup would be better without replays. And let’s be clear…it’s unfair for lower league clubs to miss out on the extra prize money from replays. But that’s something wealthy clubs need to fix, and that’s part of the whole “trade” conversation.
But what that means is that the club aims to do that. They approach the game with a win-or-lose mindset. Make the game more exciting and dramatic.
Next step. Waste extra time. No one wants it. That would make the match even more exciting and the chances of an upset even higher.
The FA Cup is all about tradition and history. But we also have to move with the times. Because of the disparity between the Premier League and other leagues, it was thought those days of great shock were behind us.
Well, Macclesfield rewarded it. The FA Cup has never been better. It never got stronger. And this ended up being one of the best weekends I’ve ever seen.
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