The English FA Cup is the most famous knockout competition in the world and the draw for the third round was made at Wembley Stadium on Sunday 27 November 2010. Many people regard the third round as where the competition starts for real as this is when the forty-four Premiership and Championship teams join the twenty League One, League Two and non-league clubs that have survived the qualifying rounds and the first two rounds proper.
The third round matches will be played on Friday 7 January 2011, Saturday 8 January 2011 and Sunday 9 January 2011. The winners will go through to the fourth round on the weekend of 29 January 2011. The fifth round will take place on the weekend of 19 February 2011, with the quarter finals on 12 and 13 March 2011, the semi-finals on 16 and 17 April 2011 and the final at Wembley on Saturday 14 May 2011.
The FA Cup Third Round Draw in Full
- Burnley v Port Vale
- Coventry City v Crystal Palace
- Bristol City v Sheffield Wednesday
- Fulham v Peterborough
- Doncaster Rovers v Wolverhampton Wanderers
- Brighton & Hove Albion or FC United of Manchester v Portsmouth
- Huddersfield Town v Dover Athletic
- Crawley Town or Swindon Town v Derby County
- West Ham United v Barnsley
- Reading v West Bromwich Albion
- Arsenal v Leeds United
- Sheffield United v Aston Villa
- Leicester City v Manchester City
- Bolton Wanderers v York City
- Blackburn Rovers v Queens Park Rangers
- Swansea City v Colchester United
- Wycombe Wanderers v Hereford United or Lincoln City
- Stevenage v Newcastle United
- Burton Albion v Middlesbrough
- Millwall v Birmingham City
- Southampton v Blackpool
- Watford v Hartlepool United or Yeovil Town
- Chelsea v Ipswich Town
- Sunderland v Notts County or Bournemouth
- Scunthorpe United v Everton
- Manchester United v Liverpool
- Hull City v Wigan Athletic
- Stoke City v Cardiff City
- Tottenham Hotspur v Charlton Athletic or Luton Town
- Preston North End v Nottingham Forest
- Norwich City v Droylsden or Leyton Orient
- Torquay United v Carlisle United
FA Cup Third Round Ties to Watch Out For
The big tie of the round is Manchester United at home to Liverpool. All eyes will be on these two heavyweights slugging it out at Old Trafford. Holders Chelsea have a home tie against Roy Keane’s Ipswich Town and last season’s runners-up Portsmouth will play the winners of Brighton & Hove Albion and non-league FC United of Manchester, who battled out a 1-1 draw with the non-leaguers saving a penalty in the dying seconds.
This year’s main non-league giant killers Dover Athletic, who have already knocked out Gillingham and Aldershot, have been rewarded with a trip to Huddersfield Town. Last season, Leeds United were the surprise at this stage by beating Manchester United and will be looking to do the same again when they face Arsenal at the Emirates.
Big spenders Manchester City have been drawn away at Leicester City and Newcastle United face a tricky trip to Stevenage, who knocked out AFC Wimbledon in the second round. Middlesbrough also face a potential banana skin when they travel to Burton Albion, who beat Chesterfield.
Steve Rogerson - Steve Rogerson is a UK-based writer specialising in television, technology, sports and beer.
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