Is Macclesfield beating Crystal Palace greatest FA Cup upset?

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Non-league Macclesfield play in the National League North, the sixth tier of English football

Sixth-tier Macclesfield could lay claim to having produced the greatest shock in the FA Cup's 155-year history.

The National League North side defeated FA Cup holders Crystal Palace 2-1 on Saturday despite being ranked 117 league places below the Premier League club.

That makes it the biggest shock in the competition's history in terms of difference in league position.

But where would you place it among the biggest surprises in football's oldest cup competition?

We've mentioned some memorable ones below with the chance for you to rank them. It's far from an exhaustive list and feel free to leave your own comments below.

Macclesfield 2-1 Crystal Palace (third round, 2026)

Despite being 117 league places below their opponents, Macclesfield thoroughly deserved to win.

Paul Dawson's brilliant header in the first half sent the home fans delirious, before Isaac Buckley-Ricketts prodded in a second after the break.

Yeremy Pino set up a nervous finish for the hosts when he fired home a free-kick in stoppage time, but Macclesfield held out.

Palace arrived in Cheshire with an injury-hit squad and without a win in eight games, but few expected them to lose less than eight months after beating Manchester City in the 2024-25 FA Cup final.

The victory is made even more remarkable by the fact that this iteration of Macclesfield was only started playing in 2021-22.

The club is the successor of Macclesfield Town, who were liquidated and expelled from the National League in 2020 because of huge debts.

It was an emotional day for Macclesfield players, staff and fans - they have been mourning the death forward Ethan McLeod, who died on 16 December in a car accident while travelling back from their National League North match at Bedford Town.

Bournemouth 2-0 Manchester United (third round, 1984)

When Bournemouth were drawn to face FA Cup holders Manchester United in the third round in 1984, few people gave the struggling Third Division side much chance of causing an upset.

But led by young and inexperienced boss Harry Redknapp, the Cherries produced one of the biggest shocks in the tournament's history. Bournemouth matched United for an hour before five dramatic minutes brought goals from Milton Graham and Ian Thompson, and gave them a 2-0 lead.

Despite boasting a star-studded side that included England captain Bryan Robson, United could not deny Bournemouth a famous victory.

"It was an out-of-body experience and one of those moments where you do something but don't realise until years later how important the goal was," said Thompson.

Stevenage 3-1 Newcastle (third round, 2011)

League Two Stevenage, enjoying their first season of league football, beat Premier League Newcastle with a dominant performance.

The underdogs enjoyed more of the possession and more of the shots to hand their opponents their biggest cup upset since they were defeated by non-league Hereford in 1972 - more on that shortly.

Stacy Long's deflected strike gave Stevenage the lead, before Michael Bostwick added a second. Cheick Tiote's dismissal did not help Newcastle's cause and even though Joey Barton pulled one back, Peter Winn sealed a famous victory.

Defeat for Alan Pardew's side meant they became only the fourth top-flight team since the formation of the Premier League to lose to fourth-tier opposition.

Shrewsbury 2-1 Everton (third round, 2003)

It was surely written in the stars that Shrewsbury, managed by Everton's most successful captain Kevin Ratcliffe, would cause an upset against his former club.

Everton were pushing for a place in Europe and boasted a 17-year-old Wayne Rooney among their ranks, but were dominated by a Shrewsbury side 80 places below them in the pyramid.

Shrewsbury's 34-year-old captain Nigel Jemson opened the scoring with a stunning free-kick and then, after Niclas Alexandersson equalised, the veteran struck again with a header to send the Shrews into the fourth round.

They would have won by more were it not for the heroics of Everton goalkeeper Richard Wright.

Plymouth 1-0 Liverpool (fourth round, 2025)

Arne Slot made 10 changes to his Liverpool side after they had won an EFL Cup semi-final in their previous game - and they were made to pay.

Eight minutes after the interval, the Pilgrims were awarded a penalty after Harvey Elliott's handball and Ryan Hardie drilled home from the spot in emphatic fashion.

Hardie almost added a second shortly afterwards when his shot was turned on to the post by Liverpool keeper Caoimhin Kelleher.

The bottom club in the Championship held on, with Conor Hazard making crucial late saves, to beat a team who would go on to win the Premier League title.

Chelsea 2-4 Bradford City (fourth round, 2015)

Bradford ranked 49 places below their opponents as they travelled to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea, who at that point were top of the Premier League.

Gary Cahill and Ramires netted to put the hosts 2-0 up and give Chelsea firm control of the fourth-round tie.

Bradford had other ideas, though, as Jon Stead pulled one back before Filipe Morais side-footed in an equaliser.

Andy Halliday then blasted the Bantams ahead before Mark Yeats slotted a fourth to inflict a shock defeat on Jose Mourinho's side.

Oldham 3-2 Liverpool (fourth round, 2013)

Premier League giants Liverpool had ample strength at Boundary Park, with Luis Suarez, Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge all starting.

League One hosts Oldham were in the midst of financial problems but produced a spirited display against the odds, with Matt Smith nodding in a Youssouf M'Changama cross to open the scoring.

Suarez levelled, but Smith soon took advantage of an error from Liverpool goalkeeper Brad Jones before Reece Wabara netted a back-post header to give the Latics a 3-1 lead.

Joe Allen volleyed home to pull one back and Liverpool brought on Steven Gerrard, but it was not enough to avoid defeat.

Wrexham 2-1 Arsenal (third round, 1992)

Arsenal were reigning First Division champions and second in the top flight. Wrexham had finished the previous season bottom of the Fourth Division.

The Gunners made the trip to Wales as firm favourites and were just 10 minutes from securing a spot in the fourth round after Alan Smith's first-half opener.

But Mickey Thomas sent a 25-yard free kick past David Seaman before Steve Watkin's strike earned victory for Wrexham just two minutes later.

Sutton 2-1 Coventry (third round, 1989)

Sutton United had a memorable cup run in 2016-17, beating three EFL teams - including Leeds United - before losing to Arsenal in the fifth round.

They have also produced one of the biggest shocks of all time.

The non-league side took on a Coventry team who were then in the First Division and had won the FA Cup in 1987.

The part-time side upset the odds at home, with Matthew Hanlan volleying home the winner just before the hour mark.

Hereford 2-1 Newcastle (third round, 1972)

Top-flight Newcastle were beaten in the third round of the FA Cup by non-league opposition when they took on Hereford United in 1972.

Hereford took the tie to a replay after a 2-2 draw at St James' Park, but Newcastle looked destined to make it to the fourth round thanks to a late goal by Malcolm McDonald in the rematch.

However, the non-leaguers had other ideas and Ronnie Radford popped up to score the most famous 30-yard goal in FA Cup history to take the game into extra time.

Substitute Ricky George scored the winner - amid scenes of wild celebration at Edgar Street - as Hereford became the first non-league club to defeat a First Division side since 1949.