Plymouth Argyle will surely be reminiscing on Derby County, Watford after Liverpool success | OneFootball

Argyle's victory over the Reds sees them head into the FA Cup fifth round for the first time in 18 years

Plymouth Argyle were the talk of the footballing World on Sunday, as Miron Muslic’s side dumped Premier League leaders Liverpool out of the FA Cup.

Ryan Hardie’s second-half penalty was all the Greens needed to claim a 1-0 victory over Arne Slot’s side, who failed to score in a match for just the third time this season in any competition.

Every player in green gave their all for the Pilgrims’ cause to earn the momentous victory, which has only gone on to raise hopes of a dramatic revival at the bottom of the Championship table in the last few months of the campaign.

In terms of the famous cup competition, it will be hard for the Green Army not to reminisce on their last foray this far in the competition, where they went on to reach the last eight for just the second time in their history.

Plymouth Argyle’s FA Cup run must remind Green Army of Derby County, Watford encounters

You have to go back to the 2006/07 campaign for the last time Argyle reached the fifth round of the FA Cup, with a team for the ages giving plenty of sides a run for their money en route to the quarter-final stage of the competition.

With the likes of Akos Buzsaky and David Norris providing the sparkle in midfield, and Barry Hayles and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake firing in the goals up top, Argyle were on their way to a top-half finish in the second tier, while entertaining Janners with their cup exploits.

After needing a replay to scrape past Peterborough United in the third round, Argyle then travelled to Barnet in the fourth, which was a match that introduced the World to the talents of Scott Sinclair.

Just days after joining on loan from Chelsea, the 17-year-old speedster left half the hosts’ side for dead after picking up the ball 30 yards from his own goal, before prodding the ball home at the other end to secure a 2-0 win.

From there, the Greens were in something of uncharted territory, with their last fifth round encounter coming all the way back in the 1987/88 season, with Tommy Tynan et al. helping the Devon outfit get down to the last 16.

That year, as they will do this, the Pilgrims travelled to Manchester City for a place in the quarter-final, with the hosts running out 3-1 winners and putting an end to that particular fairytale story.

But in 2007 it was Derby County who stood in their way, and as is so often the case, Home Park became a cacophony of noise as the Rams came to town, with loanee Kevin Gallen giving the visitors the runaround during the 90 minutes.

The striker netted the opener from the spot after being brought down in the penalty area just before the quarter-hour mark, before making the most of an altercation with Darren Moore to see the defender given his marching orders in the second stanza.

Once again, Sinclair was on hand to settle matters in the dying stages, as a place in the last eight was sealed, and the chance to earn only a second FA Cup semi-final in their history came against Watford.

It was the Hornets who Argyle lost out to at Villa Park some 41 years ago in their moment in the limelight, and so it would prove once again this time around, with Hamer Bouazza’s strike proving the difference in a 1-0 win.

Argyle threw the kitchen sink at their opponents to try and rescue the tie, with a young Ben Foster proving an unbeatable force between the sticks for the visitors, as the Janners’ jaunt was brought to an end, but not without that sprinkle of stardust along the way.

Until the past few weeks, that was the cup run that any member of the Green Army old enough would reminisce on, but this season may well have changed all that already, with two unforgettable occasions already being etched into the memory.

Brentford, Liverpool victories set Plymouth Argyle up for Manchester City encounter

At the start of 2025, Plymouth Argyle hadn’t had much to shout about, with Wayne Rooney’s tenure coming to an end, and the prospect of relegation back to League One the most realistic scenario that anyone could foretell.

A cup run was far from the thoughts of anybody involved with the club, with an away trip to top-tier Brentford barely being given a second thought, such were the Greens’ woes on the road in the first half of the season.

But out of nowhere - or more precisely Morgan Whittaker’s left boot - Argyle claimed the first of their scalps this season, before repeating the trick against Liverpool, as they carried out their game plan to the letter against the Reds.

Things don’t get any easier for the Pilgrims, with current Premier League Champions Manchester City welcoming them to the Etihad in a fortnight’s time, but after recent performances, they will have the slightest of feelings that the impossible could once again be possible.

For the Green Army, it is the tonic they have craved after such a tough start to the campaign, with memories and stories to last a lifetime being forged in the last month, just as that cup run of 2007 did for the previous generation.