Non-league's greatest giant-killers eye another scalp

Non-league Altrincham is aiming to secure its 18th FA Cup scalp in an upcoming match against Notts County. Currently seventh in the National League, the club has defeated 17 Football League opponents in the competition, a figure Yahoo Sports notes is more than any other club to have spent its entire existence in non-league football.

Graham Heathcote, a former midfielder who made over 500 appearances for the club, believes the team's history can provide the confidence to pull off an upset against the League One side despite the two-division gap. Heathcote told BBC Sport that during a period between 1978 and 1982, the part-time team reached the FA Cup third round for four consecutive seasons. He noted that such achievements were significant because the competition did not feature the same weakened sides from larger clubs as it does today.

Brief written by urgent.news from BBC Sport Football, Yahoo Sports, BBC Sport — 3 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.