Nostalgic crowd photos from Notts County’s famous draw with Manchester City in 2011

Even if you’re not particularly interested in football, the FA Cup can have you glued to the television and cheering on the underdog. 

The world’s oldest football competition is often a time when David meets Goliath, as clubs from up and down the English football pyramid battle it out for a shot at reaching Wembley. 

Over the years the FA Cup has produced some pretty bizarre results, perhaps most famously League One Bradford City’s victory over Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in 2015. 

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Giant killings are an essential component of the FA Cup’s magic - and one very nearly happened at Meadow Lane in 2011. 

On January 30 of that year, Robert Mancini’s big-spending Manchester City rocked up at Meadow Lane with one eye already on progression to the fifth round. 

But Notts County, buoyant after promotion to League One the previous season, has other ideas. 

In the 59th minute of the game, striker Neal Bishop rose above the City defence and glanced in a pinpoint header to give County a shock lead. 

Mancini’s Abu Dhabi-backed side, featuring the likes of Joe Hart, Yaya Touré and Patrick Vieira, were stunned. 

With 31 minutes left of the game to play, there were hopes that maybe, just maybe, a piece of Meadow Lane history was about to be written. 

Dreams of a shock County win were dashed 10 minutes before the end when Edin Dzeko, a £27 million buy from VFL Wolfsburg the previous summer, earned the visitors a draw. 

A spirited performance, however, had earned County a replay at City’s 53,000-capacity Etihad Stadium. 

Sadly, Paul Ince’s men fell to a 5-0 defeat in the replay, but that famous day at Meadow Lane will live long in the memory of the Magpies faithful. 

We’ve trawled through the archives and picked out some of the best photos from that 1-1 draw, back in 2011.