Spurs, Marine and the FA Cup third round - history and stats

On Sunday, we take our first step in this season’s FA Cup as we travel to Northern Premier League Division One North West side Marine (5pm kick-off).

Ahead of the clash at the Marine Travel Arena, we take a look through our history against non-league opposition in the competition, our third-round record, the story and statistics behind the Mariners’ campaign so far as well as the pre-match thoughts of Jose Mourinho.

Non-league FA Cup opposition

The FA Cup is a special competition in the world of football. Running since 1871, it is the oldest national tournament in the beautiful game and one that has been a source of great success for us throughout the years, having lifted it eight times. It is also the only competition that has the special potential to match up Football League sides and non-league sides – a factor can certainly rouse the magic of the cup.

It was that element of the competition that saw us lift the trophy for the first time in April, 1901, as we became the first ever and, to date, only non-league side to win the competition as we overcame First Division side and 1899 cup winners Sheffield United with a 3-1 replay triumph.

Seven years later, we were then admitted into the Football League for the first time and have since gone on to face non-league opposition ourselves on 11 occasions in the competition.

Four of those ties came within the first few years following our admission into the league in 1908 as we played now Football League sides Plymouth (1910), Millwall (1911), Reading (1913) and Norwich (1915) before going on to face West Stanley (1920), Worksop Town (1923), Boston United (1956), Margate (1973), Marlow (1993) and Altrincham twice (1979 and most recently 1995) - we advanced to the next round in each of the 11 ties.

A total of 26 years have now passed since that most recent of non-league encounters. Coming against Altrincham in January, 1995, goals from Ronnie Rosenthal, Teddy Sheringham and Stuart Nethercott at White Hart Lane saw us progress with a 3-0 win. Coincidentally, Altrincham faced Sunday’s opponents Marine earlier in their cup run that season, advancing past the Merseyside outfit with a 2-1 win in the fourth qualifying round.

The third round is the furthest Marine have ever progressed in the FA Cup – our upcoming tie being just the second time in their history that they have reached that stage. Previously, in the 1992/93 season, the Mariners went through four qualifying rounds before progressing past Halifax Town in the first round proper and then Stafford Rangers at the next stage to meet Crewe Alexandra in the third round where they ultimately came unstuck, losing 3-1. In their history, they have beaten three Football League sides in the competition - one being Halifax in 1992, the other two being Barnsley and Colchester United, with the meeting with the U’s occurring in this term’s first round.

This will be our first-ever meeting with Marine. There are currently seven divisions separating us and the Crosby-based outfit and at the time the draw was made, there was a record 167 places in total between the two teams - the gap now stands at 161. This will be the first time that the Mariners have faced a Premier League team but the second time they have faced an FA Cup winning-side with their previous cup opponents Barnsley having also won the competition in 1912.

Spurs in the third round

We reached the third round stage of the competition for the first time 121 years ago. Having made it through six games in the qualifying stages as a then amateur side in the 1898/98 season, we then dispatched Newton Heath (now better known as Manchester United) in the first round before progressing past the then three-time First Division champions Sunderland to make it to round three. Unfortunately, it was in that 10^th game of our journey that we came unstuck as we fell to defeat against Stoke City, who later went on to reach the semi-finals of the competition. Our 10-game run in 1898/99 remains a record for the most games we have faced in a single FA Cup campaign.

Since that inaugural third round tie for us against Stoke, we have gone on to reach this stage of the competition 105 times, playing 138 third-round ties in total (including replays) – we’ve entered the cup at the third round stage each year since 1926. Of those 105 appearances at this stage of the competition we have progressed 70 times and in the last 15 years, we’ve only failed to succeed in that endeavour on just one occasion.

The last time we headed to Merseyside for a third-round tie was in the 2018/19 season and it was an historic night for us on our travels as we recorded our highest-ever away victory with a 7-0 win over Tranmere Rovers. Fernando Llorente scored a hat-trick that night at Prenton Park, Serge Aurier grabbed a brace while a goal each from Heung-Min Son and Harry Kane completed the rout.

Last season, we were taken to a replay in the third round by Middlesbrough following a 1-1 draw at the Riverside in January, 2020 - a draw which set up the first-ever FA Cup tie at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Ashley Fletcher had given Boro the lead on 50 minutes in the original tie before Lucas Moura levelled just 11 minutes later to prompt a rematch in N17 nine days afterwards. Two goals in the opening 15 minutes from Argentine duo Giovani Lo Celso and Erik Lamela set us on our way in north London. The visitors did pull one back late on through George Saville, but it was just scant consolation for the men from Teesside as we held on to reach round four.

‘To respect these teams is to beat them’

Despite a disrupted schedule with a flurry of postponements over the past few months, Marine come into this game on a very strong run of form. In their last 14 games in all competitions they have lost just once and that run includes the last five games of their magical run in the FA Cup so far this season.

The Northern Premier League Division One North West side have come through seven rounds in total so far in the competition to make it to this stage. Entering the cup in the preliminary round back in September, the Mariners progressed past step nine outfit Barnoldswick Town with a 1-0 win before defeating fellow eighth-tier side Frickley Athletic of the Northern Premier League Division One South East later that month in the first qualifying round. Three more outings and three more victories followed for the team from Merseyside as they dispatched three Cheshire outfits in Runcorn Linnets, Nantwich Town and Chester to make it into the first round proper. Penalties were required at the next stage of the competition for the Mariners as they overcame League Two Colchester United 5-3 in a shootout before making it to the fabled third round with a 1-0 win over National League South side Havant & Waterlooville.

Jose Mourinho knows this game must be handled with respect.

“Marine is a club, a team, a group of boys playing the game of their careers. So, what can we do apart from respect them and win the match? Nothing,” Jose explained. “I always believe that to respect these teams is to beat them, and to show respect to them is to beat them. To show respect to them is to play with a good team, a team with responsibility, a team with motivation, a team that goes there and wins the game. That is to show respect, that is the cup mentality of the big teams.

“If we go there and we lose, of course it would be amazing for them, but it would be because of a lack of respect from us to them. So, we are preparing the game normally, we trained today looking at that game, we had tactical meetings looking at that game, and we are going there of course to win the match.”

In his career, Jose has faced nine third-round ties to this point and has won all of them - each one of those has come against lower league opposition. He has also reached the final twice, winning the first in 2007 before losing the second in 2018.