The greatest FA Cup shocks as Plymouth pull the rug on high-flying Liverpool

Plymouth downed all-conquering Liverpool 1-0 at Home Park on Sunday as the Premier League pace-setters found themselves dumped out of the FA Cup by the Sky Bet Championship’s bottom team.

Here, we look back on some other celebrated giant-killing acts.

Blyth Spartans 3 Stoke 2 (1978)

A famous upset for Northern League side Blyth Spartans as they handed Stoke an early exit in the fourth round. Despite Terry Johnson’s early opener, Stoke pulled two goals back, but Steve Carney equalised and Johnson lashed home a winner at the death. The win set up a fifth-round meeting with Wrexham, who beat them in a replay at St James’ Park.

Crawley 3 Leeds 0 (2021)

In their third-round tie, Marcelo Bielsa’s side were reeling from two goals inside three second-half minutes from Nick Tsaroulla and Ashley Nadesan before Jordan Tunnicliffe finished them off with 20 minutes remaining. To rub salt in the wounds Crawley even handed a debut to reality TV star Mark Wright as a late substitute, but the only way was out of the cup for Leeds.

Hereford 2 Newcastle 1 (1972)

Southern League side Hereford had earned a 2-2 draw at St James’ Park in February 1972 and were given little chance of emulating that feat in their third-round replay. It was all going to plan when Newcastle took the lead in a game which had been postponed three times by bad weather. But Hereford grew stronger as the match went on and Ronnie Radford equalised with a long-range thunderbolt, one of the cup’s most famous ever goals, to take the game into extra time where Ricky George hit the winner.

Sutton 2 Coventry 1 (1989)

Coventry arrived in Surrey just 18 months after winning the 1987 FA Cup and were riding high in the top flight. It appeared to be a case of “no contest”