What happened to biggest FA Cup 1st round underdogs – Vauxhall to FC United

It’s one of the highlights of the football calendar – FA Cup first round weekend.

The chance for non-league underdogs to pit their wits against full-time professionals as clubs from League One and League Two enter the world’s oldest cup competition, is captivating. For many people, this stage of the cup, before the Premier League big guns arrive, is the highlight – and it has certainly produced numerous memorable moments over the years.

Daily Star Sport rounds up some of the biggest underdogs in the competition’s history, how they fared on their day in the sun and where they are now…

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FC United of Manchester

Formed by a group of disenchanted Manchester United fans (sound familiar?) back in 2005 following the Glazers’ controversial takeover, the Rebels made quick progress in their early years.

By 2010, FC United had progressed to the Northern Premier League (Step 3 of non-league) and reached the first round proper, where they faced near neighbours Rochdale, then of League One, away from home. The underdogs produced one of the round’s biggest-ever shocks, winning 3-2 thanks to a late winner. The Rebels had a spell in National League North, only drop back into the Northern Premier, where they currently ply their trade.

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Warrington Town

Warrington were the lowest-ranked side left in the competition when they were pitted against Exeter City. A massive 100 places separated the clubs in the football pyramid, but the Northern Premier League side tore the form book shreds thanks to a memorable 1-0, the biggest result in the club’s history.

Warrington are playing their football one league higher in the National League North, where former Football League sides Scunthorpe and Boston are among their opponents.

Salford City

Salford beating Notts County nowadays wouldn’t cause a stir as they are League Two rivals, but back in 2015/16, the club part-owned by Manchester United’s ‘Class of 92’ were shooting up the non-league pyramid.

They were still part-time so when they were pitted against the world’s oldest Football League club, so it naturally attracted plenty of interest. In front of the BBC cameras, Salford, then of the Northern Premier League, three rungs below League Two, swept to a 2-0 win.

Salford faced another Football League side in round two, going out to Hartlepool after a replay. Eight years on, the Ammies are now striving to reach the third tier for the first time in their history.

Vauxhall Motors

The club founded and named after the nearby Vauxhall car plant, pulled off a monumental upset in 2002 when they defeated QPR on penalties. Vauxhall were in the Northern Premier League at the time and went on to have a spell a league higher.

But with Liverpool and Manchester on their doorstep, the Ellesmere Port-based club always struggled for support and in 2014, it made the tough decision to resign from National League North due to increasing costs and drop down to the West Cheshire League. Vauxhall are still motoring on though, playing in the Northern Premier League Division One West.

Alvechurch

Just a year ago, seventh-tier Alvechurch pulled off one the biggest upsets in first round history when they humbled League One Cheltenham 2-1 away from home. The Midlands club has been on the up in recent years and currently plies its trade in the Southern League Premier Division Central (Step 3 of non-league).

Westfields FC

Nothing to do with the well-known chain of shopping centres, Westfields FC were lowest ranked side to make the first round proper in 2016/17. The Midlands League club, based in Hereford, were the joint-lowest ever to make that stage of the competition.

They were pitted against Curzon Ashton of National League North and did exceptionally well to hold their higher-league opponents to a 1-1 draw at home, only to lose the replay 3-1. Westfield still play at the same level, Step 5 of the non-league system, albeit in the Hellenic League following a reorganisation of the pyramid. This season, they lost out in the qualifying rounds to Worcester City back in August.

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Chippenham Town

Lincoln, who famously reached the quarter-finals as a non-league club in 2016/17, were on the wrong end of a massive shock last season, losing 1-0 at Chippenham of National League South. There’ll be no repeat this season as Chippenham are already out. They remain at Step 2 of non-league.

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