There was a time when the FA Cup was considered one of the most prestigious trophies that a team could win. When Bill Shankly arrived at Liverpool, for example, turning the club into a ‘bastion of invincibility’, he was more than aware of the fact that the Merseysiders hadn’t won the competition and saw it as almost as important a thing to accomplish as restoring the side to winning the title on a regular basis.
The fact that it has now been watered down in terms of its importance by the Football Association itself, along with the Premier League, doesn’t make it any less a thrilling competition for the winners.
Deciding on What Defines a ‘Big’ Team
It is fair to say that working out what makes a team ‘big’ isn’t an easy thing to do. The supporters of a team that has never made it out of League Two apart from becoming a non-league side would doubtless consider the team that they love to be ‘big’ in their own minds. Sides that were once huge and won the English top-flight on a regular basis, such as Preston North End, were huge at the time but have now drifted into insignificance. Perhaps we could say the teams that have won the English top-flight or the European Cup could be considered ‘big’, but all of the title winners have won it.
As a result, we will instead look at the teams that have played in the Premier League up to and including the 2024-2025 season as an example of those that are ‘big enough’ for their lack of success in the FA Cup to be noteworthy. Here is a look at the ones that haven’t won it as well as how close they have come over the years:
| Team | Closest They’ve Come | Team They Lost To |
|---|---|---|
| Birmingham City | Runners-Up (1931, 1956) | West Bromwich Albion, Manchester City |
| Bournemouth | Quarter-Finals (1957, 2021, 2025) | Manchester United, Southampton, Manchester City |
| Brentford | Quarter-Finals (1946, 1949, 1989) | Charlton Athletic, Leicester City, Liverpool) |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | Runners-Up (1983) | Manchester United |
| Crystal Palace | Runners-Up (1990, 2016) | Manchester United, Manchester United |
| Fulham | Runners-Up (1975) | West Ham United |
| Hull City | Runners-Up (2014) | Arsenal |
| Luton Town | Runners-Up (1959) | Nottingham Forest |
| Middlesbrough | Runners-Up (1997) | Chelsea |
| Norwich City | Semi-Finals (1959, 1989, 1992) | Luton Town, Everton, Sunderland |
| Queens Park Rangers | Runners-Up (1982) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| Reading | Semi-Finals (1927, 2015) | Cardiff City, Arsenal |
| Stoke City | Runners-Up (2011) | Manchester City |
| Swansea City | Semi-Finals (1926*, 1964) | Bolton Wanderers, Preston North End |
| Watford | Runners-Up (1984, 2019) | Everton, Manchester City |
Looking at the Teams
Having told which teams we consider to be the ‘biggest’ that have failed to win the FA Cup, doubtless annoying supporters of sides like Millwall and Bristol City by not including them in our list, here is a closer look at how each of those teams got on when they at least attempted to get a win on the board:
Birmingham City
Birmingham City haven’t been in the Premier League for some time, which is made worse by the fact that their main rivals, Aston Villa, have not only established themselves in the top-flight but also won the FA Cup on numerous occasions.
@bbcsport Tomoki Iwata produces one of the greatest FA Cup goals you’ll see 🤩🤩🤩🤩 Incredible! #facup #birmingham #football ♬ original sound – BBC Sport
The Blues have been in the competition’s final twice, losing both times. The most painful defeat is likely to have been the one in 1931, on account of the fact that it was to fellow Midlands side West Bromwich Albion. They also lost to Manchester City in 1956.
Bournemouth
In some ways, the Cherries are lucky to be on our list. The club has the smallest football ground in the top-flight and one of the smallest in the Championship, so it is perhaps a touch surprising that they’re considered mention-worthy. That is perhaps reflected in the fact that the closest that they’ve come to an FA Cup success is the quarter-finals, which they’ve managed three times to date.
@afcbpodcast Would Bournemouth sell out the FA Cup semi final? #fyp #foryoupage #football #footballtiktok #footballfans #premierleague #facup #afcb #afcbournemouth #bournemouth ♬ original sound – Back of the net 🍒
The first was in 1957 when the eventual winners Manchester United knocked them out by defeating them 2-1 at a time when they were known as Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic. It was Southampton that defeated them in 2021 courtesy of a 3-0 win at Bournemouth’s home ground, then Manchester City won 2-1 against them in 2025 in what was also a home match for the Cherries.
Brentford
As with Bournemouth, Brentford have also played in the FA Cup quarter-finals three times and lost on all three occasions, with the Bees also considering themselves ‘lucky’ to be on the list given the fact that they haven’t been in the Premier League for many seasons and may well end up being one of the casualties to life in the top-flight in the not-too-distant future.
PLYMOUTH BEAT PREMIER LEAGUE BRENTFORD IN WILD FA CUP UPSET 🪄
Pilgrims kicked off bottom of the Championship, 11 games winless and led by a caretaker manager. A heroic performance followed and with it a 1-0 win—their first away victory of the season, powered by just a fourth goal on the road 🤯
— Men in Blazers Media Network (@meninblazers.bsky.social) January 11, 2025 at 6:43 PM
They made the competition’s quarter-final stage for the first time in 1946, losing to Charlton Athletic at a time when the competition was played over two legs. The first-leg ended 6-3, then the second was a 3-1 loss for a 9-4 aggregate win for the Addicks. In 1949 it was just a single leg encounter and Brentford lost 2-0 at home to Leicester City, then in 1989 the Bees lost 4-0 to eventual winners Liverpool.
Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton & Hove Albion have worked hard to establish themselves as a Premier League side in recent years, with the Seagulls following the expertise of Tony Bloom in order to bring in decent players and keep themselves in the top-flight. That success hasn’t stretched itself out into the FA Cup, however.
Brighton have just one FA Cup final appearance to their name, which came in 1983. They did manage to take Manchester United to a replay when the first finished 2-2 after extra-time, but a replay resulted in a 4-0 win for the Red Devils that Brighton simply had no answer to. The game was all but over by the half-hour mark.
Crystal Palace
Supporters of Crystal Palace will no doubt be delighted that they can laugh at Brighton & Hove Albion fans for the fact that they’ve never won the FA Cup, with the laughter being quickly curtailed when their rivals point out that the Eagles haven’t won it either. They have, at least, made the final twice.
Crystal Palace are going to Wembley! 🦅
They’re into the FA Cup semi-finals after beating Fulham 3-0 through goals from Ebere Eze, Ismaila Sarr and Eddie Nketiah 👏 pic.twitter.com/ebgStuU3FW
— Premier League (@premierleague) March 29, 2025
Sadly for Palace, though, it was the same team that defeated them on both occasions. The 1990 FA Cup final ended in a 3-3 draw after extra-time, which forced a replay that the Red Devils won 1-0. It was Sir Alex Ferguson’s first trophy and arguably saved his job. Fast-forward to 2016 and it was 1-1 at full-time, with United winning thanks to an extra-time goal from Jesse Lingard.
Fulham
Fulham have been something of a yo-yo club in recent times, bobbing up and down between the Championship and the Premier League. That has also reflected in their FA Cup performances, with the club only having made the final of the competition once.
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That was back in 1975, when England hero Bobby Moore made it to the final to face West Ham United in front of 100,000 people at Wembley. Any hopes of another heroic effort from Moore were dashed thanks to two goals from Alan Taylor as the Hammers won 2-0.
Hull City
Hull City are another of those sides that hasn’t really been in the Premier League for some time, with many of their supporters claiming that they don’t mind and that life in the Championship is actually great because there’s no Video Assistant Referee to worry about.
FA Cup Final 2014 Hull City v Arsenal -Curtis Davis scoring for Hull City – great day despite the result.
— baronfauconberg.bsky.social (@baronfauconberg.bsky.social) April 10, 2025 at 6:14 PM
What it means, though, is that the Tigers don’t get to play decent opposition very often. They did when they made the FA Cup final in 2014 and were 2-0 up against Arsenal after just eight minutes, only to lose 3-2 in extra-time thanks to a goal from Aaron Ramsey.
Luton Town
Speaking of Arsenal, the Gunners lost 3-2 to Luton Town in the League Cup final in 1988 thanks to a last-minute winner from Brian Stein. The Hatters’ appearances in the top-flight have been sporadic at best, however, and they haven’t enjoyed much success in the FA Cup either.
The closest they came to taking home the trophy was in 1959 when they faced Nottingham Forest at a sold-out Wembley Stadium. Forest were 2-0 up before 15 minutes, however, and all Luton could manage was a consolation goal through Dave Pacey in the 66th minute.
Middlesbrough
There was a time when it seemed like Middlesbrough would be Premier League stalwarts, only for the North-East club to be relegated out of the top-flight and struggle to make it back up again. It was during that period that they made it to the final and faced pre-Abramovich Chelsea.
#OnThisDay 1997
Roberto Di Matteo scored after 42 seconds to help Chelsea go on to beat Middlesbrough 2-0 in the 1997 FA Cup Final 🔵🏆 #CFCpic.twitter.com/ukQ8YjU0kU— Football Remind ⚽️ (@FootballRemind) May 17, 2023
It wasn’t much of a year to celebrate for Boro, given the fact that they lost to Leicester City in the League Cup final and were also relegated, so the 2-0 loss to the London club was really just rubbing salt into the wounds of a forgettable campaign.
Norwich City
Premier League supporters will know all too well that Norwich City have been in the division, out of the division, back into it again and then relegated once more numerous times in the competition’s recent history, whilst the Canaries have yet to make the final of the FA Cup.
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They have, however, been in the semi-finals three times, losing to Luton Town in 1959, Everton in 1989 and Sunderland in 1992. On all three occasions, the winning team went on to lose the final, so beating Norwich City in the FA Cup semi-finals might well be considered a bad omen.
Queens Park Rangers
It has been a good few years since Queens Park Rangers have troubled the English top-flight, with arguably their most memorable appearance in it being the time that they lost to Manchester City on the final day of the season to hand them a title win over city rivals Manchester United.
@mjneighbour 1982 FA Cup Final Spurs vs QPR ⚽️ #spurs #qpr #queenspark #queensparkrangers #tottenham #hotspur #wembley #facupfinal #1982 #80s #facup #final #programme #memorabilia #football #footballtok #hoops #soccer 💫 @QPR FC @Tottenham Hotspur ♬ Glue – BICEP
They were in the second tier when they played Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup final in 1982, which ended in a 1-1 draw after extra-time. The replay was equally as close, but this time QPR couldn’t get a goal and Spurs could, so they defeated their London rivals 1-0.
Reading
It isn’t outrageous to suggest that Reading haven’t really made any sort of meaningful impact on the English top-flight in the Premier League era, with the Royals also struggling to do anything of note in the FA Cup.
Not counting my chickens with that Arsenal fixture timing. Remember Reading having nothing to play for except an FA Cup game immediately after us in 2015 but playing like our game was the actual cup final!
They did make the semi-finals in both 1927 and 2015, but on both occasions they lost. The first defeat came at the hands of Cardiff City, who went on to defeat Arsenal in the final, whilst the second was against Arsenal, but it was Aston Villa that they defeated in the final.
Stoke City
It’s fair to say that Stoke City have enjoyed a couple of spells in the Premier League, even if they haven’t really done much to trouble the top of the table. The awful football of the Tony Pulis era is probably the closest that they’ve come to being considered a nuisance.
In 2011, they made it to the FA Cup final to face Manchester City in the sports-washing era of the club’s history, where Yaya Toure scored the only goal and put paid to the idea that they weren’t going to win any trophies under Sheikh Mansour and the UAE ownership.
Swansea City
In 1927, Cardiff City became the first non-English side to win the FA Cup when they defeated Arsenal in the competition’s final. Swansea City did the same when they won the League Cup in 2013 and could’ve been the first ones to do it in the more prestigious tournament.
34 years ago today a Swansea fan scored at Anfield in the midst of an 8-0 tonking in the FA Cup.
So much to love here: the shoes, the jeans, the wistful, melodic slow-mo.
And then the steward’s slide tackle that finally cleans him out.
A masterpiece.
— A Funny Old Game (@sid_lambert) January 9, 2024
The Swans actually made the semi-finals in 1926, when they were known as Swansea Town, losing 3-0 to Bolton Wanderers, repeating the trick in 1964 when they played Preston North End at Villa Park and lost that game 2-1 too. It’s the closest they’ve ever come to winning it.
Watford
There was a time in the Premier League era when Watford were something of a joke club, being promoted and relegated so often you could almost set your clocks by it. The Hornets weren’t always such a laughing stock, however, and finished a shock second in 1983 before making the FA Cup final the following year.
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They lost that 1984 FA Cup final to an Everton team that enjoyed its most successful period in the club’s history. In 2019, they made another shock appearance, this time in the FA Cup final where they were battered 6-0 by sports-washing club Manchester City before being relegated a year later.