Editing FA Cup (section)

===Outside the top division===
Since the creation of the Football League in 1888, the final has never been contested by two teams from outside the top division, and there have only been eight winners who were not in the top flight: [[Notts County F.C.|Notts County]] ([[1894 FA Cup Final|1894]]); [[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur]] ([[1901 FA Cup Final|1901]]); [[Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.|Wolverhampton Wanderers]] ([[1908 FA Cup Final|1908]]); [[Barnsley F.C.|Barnsley]] ([[1912 FA Cup Final|1912]]); [[West Bromwich Albion F.C.|West Bromwich Albion]] ([[1931 FA Cup Final|1931]]); [[Sunderland A.F.C.|Sunderland]] ([[1973 FA Cup Final|1973]]), [[Southampton F.C.|Southampton]] ([[1976 FA Cup Final|1976]]) and [[West Ham United F.C.|West Ham United]] ([[1980 FA Cup Final|1980]]). With the exception of Tottenham, these clubs were all playing in the second tier (the old Second Division) – Tottenham were playing in the [[Southern Football League|Southern League]] and were only elected to the Football League in 1908, meaning they are the only non-League winners of the FA Cup since the League's creation. Other than Tottenham's victory, only [[#Winners and finalists|24 finalists]] have come from outside English football's top tier, with a record of 7 wins and 17 runners-up: and none at all from the third tier or lower, Southampton ([[1902 FA Cup Final|1902]], then in the Southern League) being the last finalist from outside the top two tiers.

Sunderland's win in 1973 was considered a major upset, having beaten [[Leeds United F.C.|Leeds United]] who finished third in [[1972–73 Football League#First Division|the top flight]] that season,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/History/Postings/2003/11/46982.htm |title=TheFA.com – Shocks do happen |publisher=The Football Association |access-date=6 April 2005 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20050305044037/http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/History/Postings/2003/11/46982.htm |archive-date=5 March 2005 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> as was West Ham's victory over Arsenal in 1980 as the Gunners were in their third successive FA Cup Final and were the cup holders and just having finished [[1979–80 Football League|4th in the First Division]], whereas West Ham had ended the season 7th in Division 2. This also marked the last time (as of 2023–24) a team from outside the top division won the FA Cup. Uniquely, in [[2007–08 FA Cup|2008]] three of the four semi-finalists (Barnsley, [[Cardiff City F.C.|Cardiff City]] and West Bromwich) were from outside the top division, although the eventual winner was the last remaining top-flight team, [[Portsmouth F.C.|Portsmouth]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/7286364.stm |title=FA Cup semi-final draw 2008 |publisher=BBC Sport |access-date=15 March 2012 |date=10 March 2008 |archive-date=17 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080317164702/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/7286364.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> West Bromwich (1931) are the only team to have won the FA Cup and earned promotion to the top flight in the same season; whereas [[Wigan Athletic F.C.|Wigan Athletic]] ([[2013 FA Cup Final|2013]]) are the only team to have won the Cup and been relegated from the top flight in the same season.