With the Premier League becoming ever more powerful and dominant in recent years, teams from the lower leagues winning cup competitions have become rarer than ever.

These days it’s almost unheard of for teams from outside the English top flight to even get to a final at Wembley, never mind win one.

Coventry City’s run in the 2024 FA Cup has evoked memories of lower league sides winning the FA Cup.

The Sky Blues are in the Championship, the second tier of English football. But their 3-2 win over Premier League Wolves in the 6th Round showed that it is possible to upset the big boys in the latter stages of the competition if teams are prepared to have a go at them.

Still the same betting favourites

To quickly throw a bucket of cold water over all the romance of the FA Cup, Manchester City are the favourites with the betting sites to win it again this year. The bookmakers make Pep’s City team just 8/13 to win the trophy in the latest FA Cup betting 2024 odds. Coventry City of the Championship are 25/1.

This is what diminishes the romance and the prospects of lower-league clubs in the competition. Pep Guardiola’s team is arguably the best side in the world. Most Premier League teams don’t stand much chance against them, never mind lower league clubs.

The last non-Premier League team to appear in the FA Cup Final

Cardiff City were the last team from outside the top flight to make it to the FA Cup final. The Bluebirds did it in 2008. Led by Dave Jones, the Championship club eventually lost 1-0 to Harry Redknapp’s Portsmouth in the final.

Cardiff did themselves justice and were unlucky not to have taken the match to extra-time and maybe even penalties. A goalkeeping error proved to be the difference between the two teams as they played out an edgy match on the hallowed turf of Wembley.

Cardiff’s appearance in the final came hot on the heels of Millwall’s run to the FA Cup final in 2004. Also in the Championship, Millwall didn’t fare as well as the Bluebirds, losing 3-0 to eventual winners Manchester United at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.

The last team from outside the top flight to win the FA Cup

You have to go back to well before the formation of the Premier League, to find the last team from outside the top flight to win the FA Cup.

West Ham achieved it in 1980 with a 1-0 win over London rivals Arsenal. Legendary manager John Lyall steered the Hammers to victory in what was a good period for teams from the second tier of English football.

West Ham’s win came just four years after Southampton of the then-second division defeated Manchester United, which was just after Sunderland defeated the then-mighty Leeds United in the 1973 final.

Fulham also made it to the final in 1975. But they lost 2-0 to the then First Division West Ham.

Keep the faith

The 1970s won’t be returning anytime soon in English football, but there is still room for optimism.

Leicester City upset the odds to beat Chelsea 1-0 and win the FA Cup in 2021 for the first time. And in 2013, Wigan Athletic did the same thing, defeating Manchester City 1-0.

Both Wigan and Leicester were in the Premier League at the time of their wins. But they were both heavy underdogs, showing it is still possible for an FA Cup fairytale.