REVEALED: The League Two Side Who Are the Biggest Giant-Killers in Modern FA Cup History
The FA Cup third round takes place this weekend, as the country's biggest and (supposedly) best finally enter the sport's oldest knockout competition.
While this season's draw has been somewhat underwhelming, the Magic of the Cup™ rarely fails to entertain. Across the years we've been treated to the surprise runs and upsets of Wimbledon, Wrexham, Blyth Spartans, and Hereford United to name but a few.
It seems every club from Aldershot to Wycombe has their own fabled run and DVD to go with it. However, the website www.facupgiantkillers.com aims to put to bed any dispute about which team is really the greatest at felling the the big boys.
Through some impressive number-crunching, the website has concluded (drum roll please)... Luton Town are in fact the competition's ultimate underdogs of the modern era.
The site explains its ranking formula in detail, saying: "Taking the final league position of each team that made the Third Round, we studied each match-up to find the differences in positions and discover which teams caused the biggest upsets.
"Combining the totals of each team since the beginning of the Premier League, The Giant Killers: A Search For The FA Cup's Ultimate Underdog uncovers the greatest giant-killer of the modern era."
Having dispatched teams of an impressive combined 233 league places above them across the last 25 years, the Hatters beat out Oldham Athletic, Swansea City, Sheffield United and Cardiff City, who make up the top five, to take the crown.
The League Two side's standing has been significantly aided by their 2013 fourth round victory over then Premier League Norwich, which made them the first non-league side (they were in the Conference at the time) to beat a club from England's top tier since 1989.
The site also charts giant killings by year and shows that last season's table toppers were Shrewsbury Town (with a score of 74), while unsurprisingly Bradford topped the charts in 2015, after a run which involved a memorable 2-4 defeat of Chelsea.
At the other end of the spectrum, Manchester United (not such a shock, for obvious reasons) have the joint fewest points, as the Red Devils' lofty status affords them little chance to take on teams ranked above themselves. However, joint last is Hull City and the Tigers have struggled to compete against better-placed sides in recent times, famously losing the FA Cup final to Arsenal in 2014.
This term, Luton have avoided a Premier League opponent thus far and will take on fellow League Two Accrington Stanley for a place in the fourth round, and the chance of another memorable scalp.
Meanwhile, Championship Brentford entertain National League Eastleigh in one of the weekend's biggest potential banana skins.
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