2014-2015 FA Cup

[Famine]

Before looking into these non-league teams' results I noticed that none of the teams who knocked out those listed went on to win another game. Each winner has subsequently been knocked out.

This is pretty much it.

There is, in every cup competition absent a round robin phase, one team at the bottom of a long chain of losers - a team that loses to a team that then immediately loses, with the winners of that immediately losing and so on and so forth. There's only one of these even in a competition like the FA Cup where teams enter at different stages.


All of the listed teams are still eligible to be such a team - but as soon as one team in their chain of losing conquerors wins two successive matches, they are removed.

Take Stevenage, who were on the list. In their first FA Cup tie (in round 1), they lost to Maidstone. Maidstone then immediately lost in round 2 to your Wrexham. Wrexham lost in round 3 to Stoke City... but then Stoke won again in the next round, beating Rochdale, so Stevenage can no longer be that team. Instead it shifts to the team who are at the bottom of Rochdale's chain - which is Nottingham Forest

Leeds's run last season was:
R3 Leed United lost to Rochdale
R4 Rochdale lost to Sheffield Wednesday
R5 Sheffield Wednesday lost to Charlton Athletic
R6 Charlton Athletic lost to Sheffield United (which was in no was galling)
SF Sheffield United lost to Hull City
F Hull City lost to Arsenal

Causeway United's crapness in 2012-13 was rooted in the very first matches:
QEPR Causeway United lost to Continental Star (seriously?)
QPR Continental Star lost to Stourport Swifts
QR1 Stourport Swifts lost to Stafford Rangers
QR2 Stafford Rangers lost to Gresley
QR3 Gresley lost to Ilkeston
QR4 Ilkestone lost to Fylde
R1 Fylde lost to Accrington Stanley
R2 Accrington Stanley lost to Oxford United
R3 Oxford United lost to Sheffield United
R4 Sheffield United lost to Reading
R5 Reading lost to Manchester United
R6 Manchester United lost to Chelsea
SF Chelsea lost to Manchester City
F Manchester City lost to Wigan Athletic


So the answer to the question of what specific thing they all have in common, is that they have all been knocked out at the first attempt, by losing to teams who immediately lose their next tie - and whose conquerors in turn lose their next tie.

I do this pretty much every year - and I dub the team that "achieves" this the worst team in the competition.

 

[KudosM4]

That's pretty clever and interesting. Especially the Causeway United One..

 

[Liquid]

@Famine Very interesting stuff but could you explain how this is guaranteed to happen every year? I understand the concept, given the examples you've listed, but mathematics and statistics are my major weaknesses.

 

[Famine]

@Famine Very interesting stuff but could you explain how this is guaranteed to happen every year? I understand the concept, given the examples you've listed, but mathematics and statistics are my major weaknesses.

It's just the nature of either/or eliminations. It works with any knockout competition - take Wimbledon:

R1 Karlovic lost to Dancevic
R2 Dancevic lost to Kukushkin
R3 Kukushkin lost to Nadal
R4 Nadal lost to Kyrgios
QF Kyrgios lost to Raonic
SF Raonic lost to Federer
F Federer lost to Djokovic

If you get 64 coins, pair them off in a knockout competition and eliminate one that shows tails every time the one it's paired with shows heads, you'll always end up with a heads path from round 1 to the winner and a tails path from loser to loser to loser through to the runner-up.

 

[Famine]

More wrong-player shenanigans as West Ham might be expelled from the FA Cup after selecting a player who withdrew from his international team (Senegal) at the African Cup of Nations due to a back injury and played for West Ham against Bristol City in their FA Cup match while his country was still in the competition.

FIFA rules state that a player who should be on international duty cannot play for his club. Since Diafra Sakho had been selected for Senegal and Senegal were still in the African Cup of Nations at the time he played for West Ham, there could be sanctions...

 

[MUSC4EVER]

They could be thrown out of the cup according to todays papers....

FA Cup replays tonight and tomorrow, tonight its Fulham v Sunderland, Preston v Sheff United and Man United v Cambridge which is live on BT, tomorrow its Bolton v Liverpool which is live on BBC One...

 

[Liquid]

More wrong-player shenanigans as West Ham might be expelled from the FA Cup after selecting a player who withdrew from his international team (Senegal) at the African Cup of Nations due to a back injury and played for West Ham against Bristol City in their FA Cup match while his country was still in the competition.

FIFA rules state that a player who should be on international duty cannot play for his club. Since Diafra Sakho had been selected for Senegal and Senegal were still in the African Cup of Nations at the time he played for West Ham, there could be sanctions...

Nnnnnope. Just a £71,000 fine.

 

[Ross]

The funny thing is, West Ham received £90,000 in Prize Money for getting past the 4th Round

 

[MUSC4EVER]

Bolton 1-0 Liverpool, Gudjohnsson penalty and Bolton have had Neil Danns sent off, Liverpool piling on the pressure but only 10 minutes to go!!

Edit, 1-1 nice finish by Sterling, five minutes to play!

Bolton 1-2 Liverpool full time, great goal by Coutinho to win it, Liverpool away to Crystal Palace in the fifth round...

 

[MUSC4EVER]

Fifth round proper is this weekend, here is the schedule

Saturday
Blackburn v Stoke
Crystal Palace v Liverpool (5.30 BT)
Derby v Reading
West Brom v West Ham (12.45 BT)

Sunday
Arsenal v Middlesbrough (4.00 BT)
Aston Villa v Leicester (12.30 BBC One)
Bradford v Sunderland

Monday Night
Preston v Man United (7.45 BBC One)

Only two 3pm Saturday kick-offs, and the Bradford-Sunderland perhaps controversially not televised...

 

[Furinkazen]

4-1

 

[MUSC4EVER]

aWest Ham were terrible earlier losing to West Brom 4-0 and had Amalfitano sent off, Stoke are out of losing 4-1 away to Blackburn they also had a player sent off in Geoff Cameron, Reading beat Derby 2-1 with Yakubu getting the winner, Derby also had a player sent off

Palace have just scored against Liverpool, Campbell with the goal after an error between Skrtel and Mignolet..

Palace 1-0 Liverpool half time, been pretty much all Liverpool but the finishing has been poor and Palace have defended really well..

 

[Akmuq]

Do top 10 PL teams care about the FA Cup?

 

[MUSC4EVER]

Liverpool now 1-2 up!!!

 

[KudosM4]

4-1

All of the stoke fans were laughing saying we were going lose against Walsall, (Vale fan, league game) and we won one - nil, got home, read the scores... Laughed my ass off at Stoke!

 

[Jimlaad43]

Holy smokes, Bradford through again

 

[Akmuq]

All of the stoke fans were laughing saying we were going lose against Walsall, (Vale fan, league game) and we won one - nil, got home, read the scores... Laughed my ass off at Stoke!

Poor Stoke fans only have the Premier League now, I'm sure they're devastated they've more time to prepare for top flight games.

 

[MUSC4EVER]

Massive congrats to Bradford!

Villa beat Leicester 2-1 in a fairly dull affair, Arsenal 2-0 at home to Middlesbrough at half time..

 

[Peasantslayer]

Can't see how Boro can get back in it against Arsenal, they are completely in control.

 

[MUSC4EVER]

Arsenal 2-0 Middlesbrough full time, Arsenal pretty comfortable throughout.

Andy Townsend has popped up on BT....just when you thought you got rid of him!

 

[Furinkazen]

Down at the local pub last night I heard a rather alarming and disturbing tale from Blackburn vs Stoke. Couple of the people in there who are regulars are part of the Stewarding team for the matches and apparently they went to help a woman who collapsed with a heart attack during the game. Groups of the Stoke fans then started walking and climbing over her whilst the stewards attempted to get to her to help her. Then this group of the Stoke fans started fighting with police, approximately 50 of them, and another 30 then started yelling abuse walking back from the ground at Rovers fans going to the train station.

 

[Wavey2014]

Down at the local pub last night I heard a rather alarming and disturbing tale from Blackburn vs Stoke. Couple of the people in there who are regulars are part of the Stewarding team for the matches and apparently they went to help a woman who collapsed with a heart attack during the game. Groups of the Stoke fans then started walking and climbing over her whilst the stewards attempted to get to her to help her. Then this group of the Stoke fans started fighting with police, approximately 50 of them, and another 30 then started yelling abuse walking back from the ground at Rovers fans going to the train station.

All football fans from Stoke-on-Trent are like that. Us Vale fans are said to be the worst in League one... But that is terrible what they did to the woman.. The police though? Doesn't surprise me.

Edit; when I say like that, I mean violence with the police, not practically letting someone die.

 

[Wavey2014]

Although, I still can't believe I've met another Vale fan on GTP!

 

[sems4arsenal]

Oh for 🤬 sake, this draw is clearly rigged for Gerrard

 

[Fuzzy]

Oh for 🤬 sake, this draw is clearly rigged for Gerrard

Why ?

 

[Furinkazen]

Liverpool? Bring it on, let's repeat January 2000.

 

[sems4arsenal]

Why ?

A clear fix to get Stevie to Wembley for one last time, shame on you FA.

 

[Furinkazen]

United don't look comfortable here.

 

[Fuzzy]

A clear fix to get Stevie to Wembley for one last time, shame on you FA.

Haha.

Anyways, think Blackburn will be game, if we underestimate them then we'll fall flat on our faces.

Even though we've had abit of luck this year with the draw, our games haven't been straight forward.

 

[sems4arsenal]

Haha.

Anyways, think Blackburn will be game, if we underestimate them then we'll fall flat on our faces.

Even though we've had abit of luck this year with the draw, our games haven't been straight forward.

We will lose to United, which in my opinion makes you the favorites.