From a club starting out in the Orpington and Bromley District Sunday League to the brink of the FA Cup first round proper in little over a decade.
The story of the 2026/27 FA Cup qualifying rounds has been South East Dons, who face Sholing in the fourth qualifying round on Saturday for a chance to progress to the FA Cup first round where the likes of Leicester City and Sheffield Wednesday will be waiting.
Formed in 2014 and founded by south-east London rapper Don Strapzy (real name Andrew McHugh), SE Dons started out as a Sunday League team with friends that's evolved into a football club with a community of more than 250,000 YouTube subscribers.
Building success on and off the pitch, a merger with Forest Hill Park saw them make the switch to Saturday football ahead of the 2024/25 season. They won promotion in the first campaign, and this August marked their FA Cup debut.
They've taken to the world's oldest and most prestigious football competition like a duck to water.
The ninth-tier side started in the extra preliminary round where they comfortably dispatched Lancing 6-0.
SE Dons then had to overcome Punjab United in another preliminary round before they could even think about the first qualifying stage of the competition, and after a 1-1 draw away from home, they won the replay 2-0 at their home ground, The Garrison, to advance.
Erith Town awaited them in the next stage of the FA Cup and another 2-0 success meant they were handed a tough second qualifying round draw away at Chichester City, who operate two levels higher than SE Dons.
The London club were on the brink of elimination when Ralfi Hand produced a sumptuous free-kick in stoppage time to level the scores at 2-2, and Antonio Gonnella's side produced a miraculous comeback when Alex Teniola netted just minutes later to send the away side through.
Up next was a trip to Weymouth, who had suffered back-to-back relegations from the National League South in the previous two seasons. The Terras were no match for a rampant SE Dons, who hammered them 5-1 courtesy of goals from Dominic Morgan-Griffiths, Joshua Bohui, Chichester saviour Hand, Joedon Gugas-Cowin, and Walter Figueira.
One of only three clubs left in the competition to have started in the extra preliminary round, SE Dons have beaten four teams from higher leagues to reach this stage of the competition.
2014 FA Vase winners Sholing - who are two divisions above SE Dons in the Southern League Premier South - now stand in their way, aiming to make their maiden appearance in the FA Cup first round proper since the club was reformed in 1960.
History awaits for both sides, and hopefully a good draw beckons for the victor.
Sholing v SE Dons odds
(Odds will display when markets are available).
