Having dumped 1987 FA Cup winners Coventry City out of the competition four weeks ago, Conference North side Worcester City arrive at Glanford Park looking for another League One scalp.
Scunthorpe will be favourites to progress to the third round, but after losing to teams from divisions below them in each of the past three seasons, they’re no strangers to falling to cup upsets.Here is a look at some stats and records for both sides.
Iron’s 2nd Round record
Whilst the Iron have lost to lower division sides in the last three seasons, all of those defeats came in the first round. However, they’ve competed in the second round ten times since the 1997-98 campaign and only lost once at this stage.
On the four occasions that Scunthorpe have drawn a non-league side in the second round over the last seventeen years, they’ve progressed each time. Ilkeston Town came closest to causing an upset, taking United to a replay following a 1-1 draw at Glanford Park in December 1997.
The other three fixtures saw The Iron win 2-0 at home to Bedlington Terriers in 1998, 1-0 at Aldershot during the 2005/06 season and 4-0 against Alfreton Town at Glanford Park six years ago.
City’s finest hour
Worcester’s best showing in the FA Cup came in the 1958-59 season, when reaching the 4th Round. Starting with a 3-0 victory at home to Brierley Hill Alliance in the final qualifying round, they disposed of Chelmsford City in the first round proper.
Following a 5-2 trouncing of Fourth Division Millwall at St George’s Lane, City hosted Liverpool in the third round. A Tommy Skuse effort and Dick White own goal gave the home side a dream 2-0 lead, and despite a late penalty from The Reds’ Geoff Twentyman, the home side held on for an infamous 2-1 win.
A record St George’s Lane crowd of 17,042 showed for Worcester’s fourth round game against Sheffield United, which saw The Blades finally end City’s run with a 2-0 victory.
Last fifty years
Worcester City have been unable to repeat their FA Cup heroics of 1958-59, but they did reach the third round during the 1982-83 campaign before losing 3-1 at Coventry City. This run included another significant upset, as Third Division Wrexham fell 2-1 at St George’s Lane in the second round.
The Dragons have been beaten at this stage three times, all by a one goal margin. They lost a replay 2-1 to Newport County in December 1978, before a 3-2 defeat at Maidstone five years later. The last time they reached the second round came in 2005-06, when losing 1-0 at home to Huddersfield Town.