Carabao Cup news: Grimsby Town vs Man Utd and the magic of the cup – Why giant-killings matter

The English football pyramid is often credited for its support, money, and fanbases being levels above international counterparts.

Aside from the individual leagues that make up the pyramid, all teams enter cup competitions each year where there are opportunities to play absolutely any other team in said pyramid.

Usually, clubs from the top-flight win with ease, but occasionally someone might just be caught off-guard in what is termed a ‘giant-killing’.

Here, Sports News Blitz writer Charlie Gardner explains how this results in some of the best scenes you can experience in England’s favourite game, using Manchester United’s recent loss at Grimsby Town as an example.

Unheralded Grimsby beat United

On Wednesday night last week, fourth-division side Grimsby played host to a Carabao Cup second-round tie where they would face one of the juggernauts of European football in United.

A rainy night on England’s east coast saw the League Two side play the 20-time Premier League champions for the first time since 1948 under the floodlights of the historic Blundell Park.

You likely know the rest – Charles Vernam netted the first for the hosts, while former United academy player Tyrell Warren grabbed the second from a messy scramble in the box.

Bryan Mbeumo then scored his first for the club with a tidy finish in the second half, before Harry Maguire nodded in a late equaliser to take the game to a penalty shootout.

Grimsby goalkeeper Christy Pym, who joined from Mansfield Town in the summer, continued the stunning form he exhibited in the 90 minutes beforehand as he kept out ex-Wolves forward Matheus Cunha’s penalty to keep Grimsby in the shootout.

This came after Bradford City loanee Clarke Oduor had seen his Mariners penalty saved just a day after joining the club.

A lengthy sudden-death shootout subsequently ensued in which both goalkeepers scored.

Eventually Mbeumo stepped up to take his second penalty and duly struck the crossbar, an act received with utter bedlam from the home fans, who stormed the pitch in numbers to celebrate.

READ MORE: Man Utd analysis: Ruben Amorim’s Red Devils hit a new low with Carabao cup exit to Grimsby Town

Why cup upsets matter

As expected, the result has brought endless ridicule to the Red Devils, who ended the previous campaign with a record-low Premier League finish under the management of one of Europe’s most promising coaches, Ruben Amorim.

With a front line of shiny, big-money newcomers to fit the manager’s style paired with a demanding fanbase, this result will live long in the annals of English cup upsets.

But why do these upsets matter so much?

Mostly, they give the ‘smaller’ sides a chance to show themselves to the world.

The life of supporting a lower-league side may feel pointless at times, with clubs going years, sometimes decades, stagnant in one league, with relegation sometimes the only way out.

These cup runs thus give opportunities for clubs to get closer to some ever-desired bragging rights, not to mention a big payday.

Grimsby, it must be said, are no strangers to cup runs.

Aside from beating arguably the biggest team in England, they also saw themselves beat Premier League side Southampton at St Mary’s in 2023 to make it to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

United, for their part, were also found to be a laughing stock in 2014, when they were beaten 4-0 by MK Dons in the same round of the Carabao Cup that saw them exit this year.

Notable players that day included a young Dele Ali playing for his boyhood club and EFL superstar Will Grigg scoring two.

Bradford City likewise saw success in the EFL Cup in the 2012/13 season, beating Watford, Arsenal, and Aston Villa on the way to the final of the competition while in League Two.

The Bantams later beat Jose Mourinho’s table-topping Chelsea in the FA Cup in 2015.

Another notable giant-killing came in 2023, when League Two’s Stevenage visited Villa Park in the FA Cup, scoring two goals in the final five minutes to win the game 2-1.

That feat – one of the most memorable nights in the club’s history – arrived just one season after narrowly avoiding relegation from the Football League in its entirety.

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Propping up the system

Countless more examples of giant-killing exist, with there no doubt that plenty more lie in wait in the future, but what’s the significance of all this?

In an era where the top flight of English football grows richer by the day and many clubs – even leagues – around the world are owned by states, giant-killings give teams with dwindling optimism a chance to experience something none of the ‘bigger boys’ can.

While Premier League clubs vote to cut cup replays or lessen trickle-down funding that has at times saved clubs from going bust, this gives opportunities for sides to throw a lack of pity back into the heavy hitters’ faces.

These wins are then more than an embarrassment to the bigger club; they are a testament to the smaller ones and the system that props the whole thing up: the fans.

It’s a small dampening of common-place arrogance – “yeah, but who’s your prem team?”, “Why do you support them? They’re rubbish!” – that gives EFL fans pride in their side.

Of course, being a lower-league club can drag at times, but when sides like Morecambe, on the verge of going bust, get a big visit to Stamford Bridge, there’s at least something to look forward to, something to potentially be proud of.

And with EFL attendances only increasing in recent years alongside the rising profiles of sides like Wrexham and Birmingham City, lower-league sceptics can rest assured that these clubs and their fans – closely-knit communities – are no less respectable than those flying high.

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