The Road to Wembley â ROUND THREE FA Cup 3rd Round week-end is one of the biggest days in the domestic footballing calendar. This is where the countryâs top 24 sides join the competition in its 9th actual Round. This is where the minnows await the draw in anticipation of a match against one of the Premier Leagueâs power-houses. Lower-League Watch The 20 sides that have made it from the earlier rounds are made up of teams from the following levels: League One â 7 League Two â 9 Conference â 3 Conference South â 1 Salisbury City, of Conference South are the lowest ranked team in the competition and have been drawn away to League One Sheffield Utd. While it may have been a tad disappointing for some of their fans not to have drawn a Premier league or Championship side, you have only to cast your thoughts back three years. Havant and Waterlooville, also of Conference South, reached this stage for the first time in their history that year and, to the disappointment of a number of fans, were drawn away to League One leaders Swansea City. History tells us, as we all know, that the Hawks drew away and won the replay, resulting in a dream trip to Anfield in Round Four, where, amazingly, they twice led against Liverpool before eventually going down 5-2. The Road so far. Extra Preliminary Round Cowes Sports 1-4 Newport IOW Preliminary Round AFC Porchester 2-2 Newport IOW Replay Newport IOW 2-1 AFC Porchester First Qualifying Round Bournemouth 2-1 Newport IOW Second Qualifying Round Bournemouth 0-0 Truro City Replay Truro City 3-2 Bournemouth Third Qualifying Round Gloucester City 7-2 Truro City Fourth Qualifying Round Chelmsford City 1-1 Gloucester City Replay Gloucester City 0-1 Chelmsford City Round ONE Chelmsford City 4-0 AFC Telford Round TWO Chelmsford City 1-1 Macclesfield Town Replay Macclesfield Town 1-0 Chelmsford City Next Match Round THREE Macclesfield Town v Bolton Wanderers Focus on Bolton Wanderers (some information is drawn from wikipedia). Bolton have reached the FA Cup final on seven occasions, lifting the famous trophy four times, although their most recent triumph was back in 1958. Their first Final was in 1894, when they lost 4-1 to Notts County at Goodison Park. Their first FA Cup Final victory came in 1923, when they beat West Ham 2-0 in the very first final to be played at Wembley Stadium. In the 1887-88 season they were involved in a very elongated First Round tie with Everton. Bolton won the initial match 1-0, but the result was declared void as Bolton had fielded an illegible player. The 2nd and 3rd matches were both drawn and then Everton won the fourth match 2-1. However it was then noted that Everton had fielded two professional players, although they registered them as amateurs. As a result, Everton were disqualified and Bolton progressed to Round Two. Their âvictoryâ was short lived though, as they went down 9-1 to Preston in the next round. Cup Run so far: The Trotters are joining the competition at this stage Last Season A fine cup run finally came to an end at a Wembley semi-final against Stoke City, after wins over York, Wigan, Fulham and Carling Cup winners Birmingham. Random Fact Boltonâs record victory and defeat scorelines have both come in FA Cup ties. Their biggest defeat was the afore mentioned 9-1 loss at Preston in Round Two, in 1887-88. Their biggest win was 13-0 over Sheffield United at the same stage two seasons later. Ironically, they were eventually knocked out that season by none other than Sheffield Wednesday. Match Odds (Thursday lunchtime) from Skybet Macclesfield: 7/2 Bolton: 8/11 Draw: 11/4 Links to previous rounds: Extra Preliminary Round http://www.not606.com/showthread.php/77539-Road-to-Wembley-2012-Extra-Preliminary-Round Preliminary Round http://www.not606.com/showthread.php/83098-Road-to-Wembley-2012-Preliminary-Round First Qualifying Round http://www.not606.com/showthread.php/86439-Road-to-Wembley-2012-First-Qualifying-Round Second Qualifying Round http://www.not606.com/showthread.php/90624-Road-to-Wembley-2012-Second-Qualifying-Round Third Qualifying Round http://www.not606.com/showthread.php/93778-Road-to-Wembley-2012-Third-Qualifying-Round Fourth Qualifying Round http://www.not606.com/showthread.php/97131-Road-to-Wembley-2012-Fourth-Qualifying-Round Round ONE http://www.not606.com/showthread.php/100330-Road-to-Wembley-2012-ROUND-ONE Round TWO http://www.not606.com/showthread.php/105785-Fa-Cup-road-to-Wembley-round-2
Liverpool are the first team into Round Four after a comprehensive win over Oldham. Where will the "Cupsets" happen this week-end? These are the ties which see sides playing away from home against opposition in lower divisions. Birmingham v Wolverhampton, Dag & Red v Millwall, Barnsley v Swansea, Crawley Town v Bristol City, Fleetwood Town v Blackpool, Gillingham v Stoke, MK Dons v QPR, Macclesfield v Bolton, Swindon v Wigan, Bristol Rovers v Aston Villa, ________________________________________ Sunday, Sheffield Wed v West Ham, Peterborough v Sunderland,
