On 4th January 1992, Arsenal were on the receiving end of one of the FA Cup’s biggest “giant-killings” ever in the oldest national football cup competition on Earth.
George Graham’s Arsenal of the time, who were ironically league holders going into the game after heralding the 1991 English top-flight title, were defeated by Fourth Division Wrexham, who were three leagues below them.
The FA Cup third round of the 1991/92 season witnessed the Gunners, playing in their fancy yellow away strip, bruised 2-1 in front of 13,343 on a cloudy day in Wales at their famous Racecourse Ground.
Arsenal take the lead before Wrexham fight back
Originally, Arsenal took the lead moments before half-time thanks to a smashing close-range shot from Alan Smith, who later steered us to European glory two years later in the Cup Winners’ Cup versus Italian side Parma.
Looking back at the upset 30 years later, Arsenal’s trailblazing goalkeeper David Seaman said he was apparently cautious going into it despite being favourites on paper.
It looked as if it would be “1-0 to The Arsenal”, as they say, with everything going “The Arsenal way”, but on a muddy pitch the dirt jumped up in front of the Gunners’ faces in the final eight minutes of the tie.
Michael Thomas, not the Arsenal legend, retaliated inside the 82nd minute, firing in the equaliser from an almighty, devastating free-kick just outside the box.
Within 120 seconds, Steve Watkin slid in the winner from the right-hand side of the box, falling down in the process of the Welsh side’s greatest triumph in history.
David Seaman reflects on Arsenal’s FA Cup shock
The former England international goalie told BBC Sport:
“You don’t think easy, but that’s a decent draw, you never underestimate an opponent, especially when you’re playing them away.”
“You know results like this can happens but the biggest thing is that you don’t want it to happen to you”
But it did, and to the whole of the Arsenal community, which recovered from it sooner rather than later.
The next season, Arsenal got revenge on the FA Cup after beating Sheffield Wednesday in the 1993 final, who they’d also beaten earlier on in the League Cup, becoming the first side in England to win the Cup double in a season under Graham’s guidance!
Liam Harding
Do you remember Arsenal’s famous FA Cup defeat at Wrexham in 1992? And where would you rank it among the biggest shocks in the club’s history? Let us know in the comments below.
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If my memory serves me correctly, didn’t we have an equalizer wrongly ruled out for offside.
I think it was Perry Groves who scored it, but I couldn’t swear on it. 🤷♂️
Yes Derek, we did indeed have an equaliser wrongly ruled out for offside. Pretty sure it was Jimmy Carter who scored it.
Herr Drier,
Thank you again for getting me out of trouble, you should start charging me a fee with the amount of times you dig me out f these holes I keep digging. 😂
As soon as you said Jimmy Carter, I pictured the moment back in my mind, and yes it was indeed Jimmy Carter. Where Perry Groves sprang from I don’t know. 🤔
Thanks again. 👍
Mickey Thomas still live off the proceeds from that cup shock against us
A dark day in our cup history
An era where pitches were past fit to play on even though cows would turn there noses up and not step foot on
They use to show that goal every time when fa cup came around on MoD. That and Bradford goal against Newcastle
I look back on it and now laugh but at the time it was a shocker
Onwards and upwards
I remember school the next day and we really got the piss taken out of us. I grew up not far from Woolwich Arsenal though, so luckily there were a lot of Gooners at my school so we all took it together 🤣