Meet the underdog soccer team from a seaside town in England that just pulled off an epic upset

Fleetwood Town posed the question: “The biggest cup shock of all time?”

That's what the fourth-tier team asked on social media after knocking Premier League champion Arsenal out of the English League Cup on Tuesday in a penalty shootout.

There was little question about it as Fleetwood fans woke up Wednesday still pinching themselves following one of the biggest upsets in the Cup’s 66-year history.

More than 80 places separate the two teams in the English soccer pyramid. Arsenal’s stellar squad is worth an approximate $1.6 billion, while Fleetwood’s is valued at a relatively paltry $3 million. Fleetwood’s stadium has four parking spaces, its former owner is in prison for fraud, and its home city is best known as the place where Fisherman’s Friend cough drops are manufactured rather than soccer dominance.

Mikel Arteta has steered Arsenal to five trophies, including last season's Premier League title — as well as the Champions League final.

Fleetwood boss Matt Lawlor is less than a year into his first senior managerial position, having been given the job on an interim basis in January before his appointment was made permanent in March.

“I was trying to not cry and I didn’t,” said the 38-year-old Lawlor, who hails from nearby Poulton-le-Fylde. “I’ve managed to hold it. My family, my little boy here, we’re all local.

“I was turning around and people were screaming at me in the crowd and people that I knew and grew up with. Obviously that’s really special and really emotional — to do something that special early in my career as well.”

Here’s some more things to know about the latest giant-killers in English soccer:

Fleetwood is a coastal town in the northwest of England, with a population of around 26,000.

It is more famous for being the place where the lozenge Fisherman’s Friend is manufactured than its soccer team.

The team is nicknamed the Fishermen, while its supporters are called the Cod Army, because of the town’s fishing industry history.

Almost literally. Fleetwood play at Highbury Stadium, which was the scene of Tuesday’s cup upset.

That is the same name as Arsenal’s storied former stadium from 1913-2006 but the link is pure coincidence and the ground is a world away from what the Premier League team is used to.

Fleetwood’s intimate stadium takes its name from a nearby road and has a capacity of just 5,300. It also has only four parking spaces, which meant Arsenal representatives had to find alternatives on the street, according to British newspaper The Guardian.

The match against Arsenal was Fleetwood’s first sell-out in more than a decade.

Fleetwood is most famous for being the team where former England and Leicester striker Jamie Vardy made his name.

Vardy was there for just one season and helped Fleetwood gain promotion out of the fifth tier, and into the English Football League, before getting a move to Leicester in 2012.

The sale of Jamie Vardy to the then Championship side for 1 million pounds ($1.3 million) was for a long time the highest fee ever paid for a player in Non-League, before it was broken two months ago.

Andy Pilley was the chairman and owner of Fleetwood until he stepped down in 2023, shortly before being handed a 13-year prison sentence for fraud. He lost an appeal in February this year.

Pilley invested more than 10 million pounds ($13 million) into the club, which saw the complete renovation of Highbury Stadium during his tenure.

Pilley was convicted in May 2023 for his part in a multi-million pound fraud which duped firms into expensive energy contracts.

His son, Jamie Pilley, took over Fleetwood in May 2024.

Andy Pilley's stewardship sparked a remarkable rise: six promotions in 10 seasons, including entry into the Football League for the first time in 2012 and culminating in a place in the third-tier League One in 2014.

Fleetwood's highest-ever finish in the soccer pyramid was fourth place in League One during the 2016–17 season. The team was relegated back to the fourth tier in 2024.

After Tuesday's nights heroics — Arsenal rested some first-team stars but still picked a strong lineup — Fleetwood will have to immediately turn its attention to Saturday's visit of Bristol Rovers.

Fleetwood is 18th in the 24-team League Two, hovering just above the drop zone after winning just one of its past eight league matches.

“Football’s getting a little bit more, I don’t know, clinical and removed,” Lawlor said. “And that to me, there was that feeling that we all get as football fans. That was what you kind of live for, isn’t it?

“I want us to carry the momentum forward. I want that feeling that we’ve created here to be something that we can recreate on a regular basis.”

See AP’s full soccer coverage here

Fleetwood's goalkeeper Jay Lynch celebrates during penalty shootout during the English League Cup soccer match between Fleetwood Town and Arsenal in Fleetwood, England, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson)

Fleetwood's coach Matt Lawlor, left, and Arsenal's manager Mikel Arteta, center, talk with referee during the English League Cup soccer match between Fleetwood Town and Arsenal in Fleetwood, England, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson)

Fleetwood's coach Matt Lawlor celebrates with his players after winning a penalty shootout during the English League Cup soccer match between Fleetwood Town and Arsenal in Fleetwood, England, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson)

Fleetwood's coach Matt Lawlor celebrates after winning a penalty shootout during the English League Cup soccer match between Fleetwood Town and Arsenal in Fleetwood, England, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson)

Fleetwood's players celebrate after winning a penalty shootout during the English League Cup soccer match between Fleetwood Town and Arsenal in Fleetwood, England, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson)

NEW YORK (AP) — The bond market swung, while U.S. stocks held relatively steady after the Federal Reserve decided not to raise its main interest rate to bring down high inflation. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.3%. In the bond market, the two-year Treasury yield initially jumped after the Fed held its main interest rate steady. It then reversed course after traders pared expectations for coming hikes to rates. Higher rates can help get high inflation under control, but they can also hurt the economy.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back for updates. AP’s earlier story follows below.

NEW YORK (AP) — The bond market swung Wednesday, while U.S. stocks held relatively steady following the Federal Reserve ’s decision not to raise its main interest rate to bring down high inflation. The bond market’s moves indicated traders see less of a chance of hikes to rates in the future that would help ease inflation but could also hurt the economy.

The S&P 500 rose 0.1% after drifting between small gains and losses through the day, both before and after the Fed's decision. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 70 points, or 0.1%, as of 3:30 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.1% lower.

The action was much stronger in the bond market, where the yield on the two-year Treasury initially climbed after the Fed announced its decision to hold rates steady. It got above 4.79% from 4.70% late Tuesday after the Fed said two officials actually wanted to raise the federal funds rate at their meeting, only to get outvoted by their peers.

The central bank last month raised its main interest rate for the first time in three years in hopes of bringing down inflation, which has remained above the Fed’s 2% target for years and has been discouraging Americans broadly.

But the two-year Treasury yield, which closely tracks expectations for Fed action, quickly reversed course. It dropped as low as 4.69% after Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh said the central bank wants to see how conditions play out before making its next move on rates.

He pointed to how rates for loans going to businesses and others across the economy have already climbed recently and how lenders and investors have become “more discerning.” He said the overwhelming judgment among Fed officials at their meeting was that “monetary medicine” is “starting to work some.”

Along with signals that the U.S. economy continues to grow, Warsh said that “broadly, these developments go in the direction” of helping the Fed achieve its two goals of a healthy economy and relatively low inflation.

Traders on Wall Street still see further increases to rates by the Fed as likely, but they pared back bets for how many may come by next summer, according to data from CME Group.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which moves on expectations for inflation and economic growth in upcoming years, had its own yo-yo moves following the Fed's meeting but was largely steadier. It rose to 5.04% from 4.99% late Tuesday.

Higher rates push downward on stock prices, which has raised the pressure on companies to deliver growth in profits to counteract that. Several companies rallied Wednesday after joining the list of those beating analysts’ expectations for the summer.

GE HealthCare Technologies jumped 6.4% after delivering both profit and revenue for the summer that surpassed analysts’ expectations. It also raised its forecasts for revenue growth and other financial measures for the full year.

Etsy climbed 6% after its profit for the latest quarter blew past analysts’ forecasts. CEO Kruti Patel Goyal said the online marketplace saw growth in active buyers from prior-year levels for the first time in two years, while its active seller base grew at its fastest rate in two years.

Stocks in the artificial-intelligence industry were also relatively solid. They’ve stabilized this week following big swings on worries that high borrowing costs will undercut the boom in AI data centers largely built with borrowed money.

AI stocks got an additional boost after a major player in the industry, South Korea’s SK Hynix, soared 10.9% in Seoul following its latest profit report. The seller of memory chips said it’s in the midst of a virtuous cycle of rising AI usage, and it expects demand to continue to outpace supply through 2030.

On Wall Street, Micron Technology rose 5.4% and was the strongest force lifting the S&P 500. It also sells memory for computers.

Outside of tech, Wendy’s jumped 14.6% to $7.04 after Trian Fund Management, run by investor Nelson Peltz, offered to buy the chain for $7.35 per share in cash.

That helped offset a drop for Boston Scientific, which fell 4.1% even though the seller of medical devices reported a milder drop in profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It gave a forecast for profit in the current quarter that fell short of analysts’ expectations.

Robinhood Markets sank 3.9% after reporting weaker profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

In stock markets abroad, South Korea’s Kospi jumped 6.6% following SK Hynix’s leap. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.1%, while France’s CAC 40 edged down by less than 0.1%.

AP Writer Elaine Lai contributed to this report.

FILE - Traders Joseph Stevens, left, and Robert Arciero work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, file)

FILE - Trader Daniel Kryger works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

Employees work near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), the foreign exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the South Korean won, and the Korea Securities Dealers Automated Quotations at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer stands near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the South Korean won in a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer walks near the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) in a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)