...to The Tap-Inn. Where you can tap in to the world of soccer with me, your first-gen Irish Tap-Inn bartender, Joe.

Imagine waking up tomorrow and Sydney Sweeney lying there beside you. Unlikely, sure. And yet still it would be more likely than the upset the FA Cup just witnessed on Saturday. We’ve got the full story below, including:

It’s tap-in time.

This is a big one, folks.

Two days ago, on January 10^th, Moss Rose Stadium — with a capacity of just 5,348 — bore witness to the biggest upset in the 154-year history of the oldest soccer competition in the world, the FA Cup.

Reigning FA Cup champions Crystal Palace were defeated 2-1 away to non-league Macclesfield FC. This is the soccer equivalent of the boys from your Monday night pickup basketball league taking on the Miami Heat — and winning.

“Non-league? What’s that?”

That means the club isn’t even in the top four tiers of the English soccer pyramid; i.e., the professional leagues (Premier League, Championship, League One and League Two).

It’s even better though — Macclesfield FC aren’t even in the top FIVE divisions. They’re in the SIXTH tier of English soccer. If you stacked those six tiers one on top of the other, there would be 117 places between the two teams. Dizzying stuff.

To perfectly illustrate the size of the gap between these two sides, consider this: during the week, while Palace’s pampered PL stars were busy perfecting their skincare routines and sending out PR-polished “All eyes on Saturday” tweets, Macclesfield players were busy putting bread on the table.

Captain Paul Dawson was literally shovelling snow off the pitch and delivering club tracksuits, while defender Sam Heathcote was teaching PE to 10-year-olds. Palace’s players could never.

For Macclesfield, this game will live on as framed cutouts on bar walls, endless “Where were you when?” stories, and a slice of player immortality. For the rest of us, it was a sharp reminder that in soccer, it’s never the badge on the shirt that scores — it’s the players wearing it.

A total of 45 teams have won the FA Cup since it was established in 1871. But who has won the most times?

Keep scrolling to see the answer 👇

The Red Dragons’ Hollywood headlines hit new heights this season as they knocked out Premier League Nottingham Forest 4-3 on penalties after playing out a 3-3 draw, their first win over top-flight opposition in 26 years.

It seems co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney can do no wrong. Apart from Rob legally changing his last name to Mac because Irish names are “DiFfIcUlT tO pRoNoUnCe”. You used to be cool, Rob.

The Premier League took a break this weekend to allow the FA Cup to kick off — and with some pretty tasty results:

Man City flexed their muscles in a 10-1 hammering of League One Exeter City, Tottenham fell 2-1 at home to Aston Villa in one of the few all-Premier-League ties, and both Chelsea and Arsenal won away to Championship sides Charlton (5-1) and Portsmouth (4-1) respectively.

Pour one out for Manchester United fans, however. Their 2-1 defeat at home to Brighton means they’ve exited both domestic cups (FA & League Cup) at the first hurdle this season and therefore are guaranteed to play just 40 games — their fewest in a full campaign since 1914-15. Yikes.

It’s squeaky-bum time in Morocco. Quarter-final results below:

The semi-final lineups of Egypt vs Senegal and Morocco vs Nigeria kick off on Wednesday.

Phrase: The magic of the cup

Origin: The FA Cup (English cup) has an open, unseeded, knockout format that means lower-league teams can face — and sometimes beat — Premier League sides.

Definition: The belief that form, money, and reputation don’t always matter in cup football.

Usage: “I can’t believe Palace just lost to a non-league side”, “That’s the magic of the cup, baby”.

Introducing Didier Drogba — the only man to score in four FA Cup finals. The former Chelsea striker loved big occasions and big occasions loved him. He bagged goals in each of the 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2012 finals — and took home the trophy while he was at it. Big-game player.

When asked where Macclesfield’s win over Crystal Palace ranked in her life, diehard fan Paula Parks duly noted,

“Not even the birth of my children or my wedding that I waited so long for (come close). This has got to be the top of it all, definitely.”

I’m sure her husband would be hard pushed to disagree.

The Gunners have won the competition 14 times. They’re followed by Man Utd (13 wins), and Chelsea, Liverpool & Tottenham Hotspur (all 8 times).

They’re 9/2 to win it again this year. Watch this space, fellas.

Thanks for stopping by The Tap-Inn.

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I’ll be behind the bar every week, Monday and Friday, serving up soccer. Sláinte.

— Joe