Say, why do they call the opening round of the FA Cup the Third Round Proper? Oh those crazy English!!!
Ah, a wonderful weekend in the life of a true English football fan; the FA Cup is finally here! Yes, it's wonderful to put all of that plebeian, crass Premier League business behind and focus on this, the true spirit of English Football, on its opening weekend. This FA Cup opening weekend (the first weekend in this year's tournament, if that wasn't clear) should be a real treat, with little tiny clubs no one has ever heard of taking on other little tiny clubs no one has ever heard of! I mean, "West Ham"? What is that, the bacon on the left side of the package? LOL! And Sheffield Wednesday? When do we get to Edgar Renteria Tuesday?!?!
A lot of the fixtures in this opening round of the FA Cup feature clubs from some pretty far-out and obscure leagues, teams no one but the craziest of football lunatics has ever heard of. I mean who the heck is Millwall? Or Portsmouth? Geeze, it's tough to even keep them straight! But here's a little insider tip for you: Portsmouth fans are known for singing a song called "the Pompey Chimes" (because Portsmouth is also known as Pompey; that's a hidden, bonus insider tip for you) while Millwall fans are known for beating the everloving beejesus out of everyone else. Ah, the local color (or colour!) of lower-level English football!
But rest assured, it's not just a bunch of boring old pub teams like Birmingham City, Leicester or Middlesborough; there are also some big matchups between long-standing traditional powers such as Manchester City-Manchester United! Boy, that fixture would be a classic during ANY era! Yes, the FA Cup is a competition unlike any other; I mean, where else would you see a "minnow" like Leeds United tangle with a superpower like Arsenal? Only in the very first opening round of the FA Cup!
FA Cup 3rd Round Full Fixture List
Friday January 6th
Liverpool vs. Oldham, 20:00 GMT/3:00 PM ET
Saturday January 7th
Birmingham City vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers, 12:30 GMT/7:30 AM ET
Dag & Red vs. Millwall,13:00 GMT/8:00A ET
Barnsley vs. Swansea, 15:00 GMT/10:00 AM ET
Brighton vs. Wrexham, 15:00 GMT/10:00 AM ET
Coventry vs. Southampton, 15:00 GMT/10:00 AM ET
Crawley Town vs. Bristol City, 15:00 GMT/10:00 AM ET
Derby vs. Crystal Palace, 15:00 GMT/10:00 AM ET
Doncaster vs. Notts County, 15:00 GMT/10:00 AM ET
Everton vs. Tamworth, 15:00 GMT/10:00 AM ET
Fleetwood Town vs. Blackpool, 15:00 GMT/10:00 AM ET
Fulham vs. Charlton, 15:00 GMT/10:00 AM ET
Gillingham vs. Stoke City, 15:00 GMT/10:00 AM ET
Hull vs. Ipswich Town, 15:00 GMT/10:00 AM ET
Macclesfield vs. Bolton, 15:00 GMT/10:00 AM ET
Middlesbrough vs. Shrewsbury, 15:00 GMT/10:00 AM ET
MK Dons vs. Queens Park Rangers, 15:00 GMT/10:00 AM ET
Newcastle United vs. Blackburn Rovers, 15:00 GMT/10:00 AM ET
Norwich City vs. Burnley, 15:00 GMT/10:00 AM ET
Nottingham Forest vs. Leicester City, 15:00 GMT/10:00 AM ET
Reading vs. Stevenage, 15:00 GMT/10:00 AM ET
Sheffield United vs. Salisbury, 15:00 GMT/10:00 AM ET
Swindon vs. Wigan Athletic, 15:00 GMT/10:00 AM ET
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Cheltenham, 15:00 GMT/10:00 AM ET
Watford vs. Bradford, 15:00 GMT/10:00 AM ET
West Bromwich Albion vs. Cardiff City, 15:00 GMT/10:00 AM ET
Bristol Rovers v Aston Villa, 17:30 GMT/12:30 PM ET
Sunday January 8th
Manchester City vs. Manchester United, 13:00 GMT/8:00 AM ET
Chelsea vs. Portsmouth, 15:00 GMT/10:00 AM ET
Sheffield Wednesday vs. West Ham United, 15:00 GMT/10:00 AM ET
Peterborough vs. Sunderland, 15:30 GMT/10:30 AM ET
Monday January 9th
Arsenal vs. Leeds United, 19:45 GMT/2:45 ET
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