Luton and Forest Green Rovers last faced in 2017-18 in League Two, with the Hatters winning both meetings (2-0 away, 3-1 home). They’ve never met in the FA Cup proper (first round onwards).

Forest Green Rovers have been eliminated in 13 of their last 14 FA Cup ties against Football League opposition – the exception was a 2-1 win at AFC Wimbledon in 2015-16.

This will be League One side Luton’s third consecutive FA Cup tie playing in a different division – they were a Premier League side in February 2024 (lost 6-2 to Man City) and a Championship side in January 2025 (lost 2-0 to Nottingham Forest). Bolton were the last EFL side to play three ties in a row in three different divisions (Championship, League One, League Two between 2018-19 and 2020-21).

Luton manager Jack Wilshere is a two-time FA Cup winner as a player with Arsenal (2014 and 2015), with his last FA Cup appearance coming in March 2021 for Bournemouth; this is his first FA Cup game as manager. Forest Green manager Robbie Savage is also managing his first game in the competition proper, and his last game as a player was for Derby in a 2-1 defeat to non-league Crawley in 2011.