lowland star Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 Was tonight game the biggest cup shock . I think it maybe 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiders4ever Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 57 minutes ago, lowland star said: Was tonight game the biggest cup shock . I think it maybe Yes. -1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oht Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 (edited) “Maybe”. I did some digging on post-war upsets a year ago and posted here. Aberdeen is the first top flight team to lose to non-league since 66/67 - my beloved Ayr. Only happened four times and never since creation of Premier Division until now - first screenshot below. The highest “gap” to non-league was Dundee in 58/59 who finished fourth but lost to Fraserburgh. Second screenshot below is of biggest non-league upsets by number of positions between the defeated and non-league. Up to end of last year, the biggest measurable post-war shock was 2013/14 and 2nd place Motherwell losing to fourth bottom Div 2 Albion Rovers, a gap of 37 league spots. Places are where teams finished, not position at time of match. Edited January 24, 2023 by oht 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StellarHibee Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 Fair play to Aberdeen Football Club. Even they were so sick of hearing about 1983 from their fanbase that they've now given them 1906 to talk about. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherrif John Bunnell Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 I think Brora beating a fairly decent Hearts team is underrated. Brora hadn't played a a match in two months and had barely played at all in the previous year. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewh Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 Kelty v the cup holders a year ago was bad. Yes, they were division two, but only just. That’s when CD, for me, should’ve gone, regardless of contract/pay off. But this? This takes the biscuit. Well done mighty Dons. Your two stars from the 80’s were, alas, of no benefit against the Darvel boys. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Wonder Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 6 hours ago, Sherrif John Bunnell said: I think Brora beating a fairly decent Hearts team is underrated. Brora hadn't played a a match in two months and had barely played at all in the previous year. It was no doubt a shocker, and definitely one of the worst ever but Brora were a higher level than Darvel and Hearts were a Championship team with Aidy White, Gervane Kastaneer and Ross Stewart in our lineup. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highlandmagar Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 (edited) No one can equal Queens Park in 1892-93. Beat league sides Hearts and Celtic as a non league side to win the cup. Or Season before that. Beating Dumbarton( who won the league) and Renton before losing in the final. And again in 1899-1900. Getting to a losing final beating league sides Dundee and Hearts on the way. Don't ever see that being equalled. Edited January 24, 2023 by Highlandmagar 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scary Bear Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 420 P&B posters. Must be the biggest shock in P&B history anyway. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillonearth Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, Highlandmagar said: No one can equal Queens Park in 1892-93. Beat league sides Hearts and Celtic as a non league side to win the cup. Or Season before that. Beating Dumbarton( who won the league) and Renton before losing in the final. And again in 1899-1900. Getting to a losing final beating league sides Dundee and Hearts on the way. Don't ever see that being equalled. In the decade prior to 1893 Queens Park had twice been beaten finalists in the FA Cup...the only reason they refused to join a league was that they thought it would dilute their amateur status, preferring to play friendlies and cup competitions. They were still one of the biggest teams in Scottish - perhaps world - football at that point, and weren't some plucky no-hoper non-league side. I'm maybe in a minority in that I don't really see the Aberdeen/Darvel result as much of a shock...for all Darvel are in the sixth tier they're in a false position due to the pyramid project being in its infancy certainly in the west. There's always at least one sugar-daddy backed team in non-league who are financed at a level far higher than the level they're playing at who can consequently attract players to step down to play for them - at the moment it's Darvel and TBH they could probably hold their own in League 1. The actual result didn't feel like a shock last night...the only eyeopener was just how gutless and pish Aberdeen were. To me, the Drumchapel United v FC Edinburgh result earlier this season probably felt like a bigger upset, but again there were extenuating circumstances....Edinburgh clearly didn't fancy it on a quagmire of a pitch up at Lochburn on the day. Prior to that, maybe Sunnybank from Aberdeen being the first current junior side to beat a league side in the Scottish...it was obviously coming at some point, but with the North being by far the weakest of the old junior regions, it was a real surprise when it came from that direction. Edited January 24, 2023 by Hillonearth 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VincentGuerin Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 1 hour ago, Tony Wonder said: It was no doubt a shocker, and definitely one of the worst ever but Brora were a higher level than Darvel and Hearts were a Championship team with Aidy White, Gervane Kastaneer and Ross Stewart in our lineup. Fucking hell. Names to make you crawl behind the sofa. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEADOWXI Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 (edited) 54 minutes ago, Hillonearth said: Prior to that, maybe Sunnybank from Aberdeen being the first current junior side to beat a league side in the Scottish...it was obviously coming at some point, but with the North being by far the weakest of the old junior regions, it was a real surprise when it came from that direction. Although now not junior team a year before the Sunnybank v Albion Rvrs game, on 28/11/09 Irvine Meadow XI beat Arbroath in the Scottish to become the first ever Junior team to beat league opposition in a competitive game. Meadow are now in the West Premier same as Darvel. Edited January 24, 2023 by MEADOWXI 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanky_ffc Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 Brora (v Hearts 20/21) and Albion Rovers (v Motherwell 13/14) were both bigger odds to win their ties than Darvel. Last night is obviously up there as one of the biggest in recent history but the number of league places between the sides is a bit of a misnomer due to the recent amalgamation of the pyramid and the bottleneck at tiers 5 and 6. That Darvel side would be fine in L2 imo. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillonearth Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 1 hour ago, MEADOWXI said: Although now not junior team a year before the Sunnybank v Albion Rvrs game, on 28/11/09 Irvine Meadow XI beat Arbroath in the Scottish to become the first ever Junior team to beat league opposition in a competitive game. Meadow are now in the West Premier same as Darvel. You're right of course - I had it in my mind those two games were in the same season. The Sunnybank one obviously stuck out more as it felt like there was a bigger shock there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thumper Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 Brora-Hearts and Talbot-Ayr walked so that Darvel-Aberdeen could run. ignoring time before the Second World War as irrelevant (players in flat caps running around in their work boots) and also that Darvel's squad would still look moneybags if they were playing two divisions higher, Aberdeen are easily the highest pedigree team to have been pumped by non-league opposition, and this is easily the biggest gap in positions. Not to mention that it wasn't a smash-and-grab but a side sticking to a plan, on a good pitch, and winning pretty handily in the end. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HibeeJibee Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 (edited) This inevitably ends-up like Pele/Cruyff/Maradona/Messi debates... Context plus nuance is needed - how good (or bad) were the toppled giants? What was general reaction like at the time? It so happens the last time non-league beat top tier (Elgin 2-0 Ayr) occurred in the same week back in 1967 as the oft-cited "greatest giant killing ever" (Berwick 1-0 Rangers)... However in reality Ayr were newly-promoted and finished 18th, going straight back down. Rangers in 1967 were holders, on their way to European final and only lost league by 3pts. Streets ahead of Aberdeen right now. Elgin 2-0 Ayr is unremarkable and understandably forgotten. Berwick 1-0 Rangers reverberated round the world and still does. Scores beyond living memory also get ignored: how many have even heard of Stenhousemuir (then non-league) thrashing Partick in 1903 to reach SFs, or Edinburgh City (then woeful) winning at Hibs in 1938? Armadale beat Clyde, then Hibs, then Ayr - all top division - to reach QFs in 1920. However as Division Two hadn't been reconstituted they were arguably of 2nd tier 'quality'. Edited January 24, 2023 by HibeeJibee 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulc Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 Arthurlie 4-2 Celtic 1897 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Brazil Forever Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 Rangers 2 - Cowdenbeath 3 - League Cup 1949. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dysart Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 On paper, in terms of league status, it is probably the biggest, but to really be a shock it would have to be a result nobody saw coming. Darvel's odds went from 60/1 to 8/1 in the days before the game which says a lot. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richey Edwards Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 Depends what you mean by "cup shock". 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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