Southampton Look For Another Home Draw In FA Cup 5th Round

The basic rule of thumb is that in the FA Cup you want the lowest ranked club in the draw and you want them at home, however at Burnley found out on Saturday, that does not always work out for the best.

Saints ar hoping that history will repeat itself in the FA Cup when 50 years ago as a Second division team they beat the mighty Manchester United in the final at Wembley.

In that season on 14th February 1976 they drew 1-1 at West Bromwich Albion in the 5th round and exactly half a century to the day this year they beat Leicester City at St Mary's on Saturday.

They will hope that it will be a good omen for the draw this evening and Cyle Larin and James Bree will also be hoping for a repeat of history, for the scorer 50 years earlier at the Hawthorns was Bobby Stokes, the man who would write his name in the history books of Southampton FC when he scored the winning goal in the final a few months later.

The draw in 1976 was a mixed bag, although in truth it was kind to Saints, in the 3rd round we drew Aston Villa at home, who were in the Division One whilst we were in the Second Division, it was 1-1 at the Dell followed by a 2-1 win in the replay at Villa Park.

In the 4th round we were drawn at home to Blackpool, who were in the same division as us and then in the 5th round we travelled to West Bromwich Albion who were again in the Second Division, but were on their way to promotion.

After beating them 4-1 in the replay after the aforementioned 1-1 draw, we got 4th Division Bradford in the quarter finals, the lowest ranked club, a 1-0 win up at Valley Parade saw us again draw the lowest ranked club left in then 3rd division Crystal Palace who we despatched 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in the semi.

There can't be a Saints supporter of any age who is not aware of whom we beat in the final, Manchester United with Bobby Stokes scoring to win us our only major trophy'

Back then you needed a bit of luck to win the cup, although these days it usually ends up with the likes of Manchester City or Chelsea winning it, it takes luck to reach the semi final, but then you usually need a miracle to get to Wembley, especially if you are a non Premier League club.

So this season lets keep our fingers crossed for the luck of 1976 and that means drawing Mansfield or if a miracle happens Macclesfield, if they can knock out a second Premier League club tonight Brentford.

All matches will be played around the weekend commencing Saturday, March 7., which means a new date will have to se set for the home game against Norwich City.

As in the 4th round, there will be no replays, but games will go to extra time and then penalties if things are level at the end of normal time.

Tonight's draw which is scheduled for around 6.35 will be made live on TNT Sports, the teams and numbers are below.

1. Liverpool
2. Fulham
3. Sunderland
4. Southampton
5. Wrexham
6. Arsenal or Wigan Athletic
7. Chelsea
8. West Ham United
9. Mansfield Town
10. Norwich City
11. Port Vale or Bristol City
12. Wolverhampton Wanderers
13. Newcastle United
14. Manchester City
15. Macclesfield or Brentford
16. Leeds United

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