Once upon a time, dear blog reader - and not all that long ago either - 3pm on the first Saturday in January would see sixty four professional football teams kick-off in the Third Cup of the Football Association Cup. Unless, of course, the early January weather had been inclement and there was a postponement or several. This would occur in stadia usually full to the rafters with excited punters, each of them dreaming of a decent cup run for their team. For some smaller clubs it was often a question of a good financial pay day or two and a chance to pit themselves against one of The Big Boys but, for many clubs, and not just in the top division either, there was the tantalising vision of Wembley glory at the end of the rainbow. 
The forty four first and second division clubs were joined by twenty from the third and fourth divisions and, usually, one or two semi-professional non-league side all of whom had survived the earlier qualifying round to reach this point in the competition. And each of them - both players and fans - had their own specific ideas about what constituted 'the magic of the FA Cup.' There was no question of any manager playing a weakened team, they wouldn't have even dreamed of such a thing - and, if they had, their supporters (and FA itself) would never have stood for it. The BBC would cover three games on Match Of The Day (rather than the standard two league matches per week) and would always send their cameras to at least one tie at a lower-league ground in the hope of capturing a genuine moment of so-called 'giant-killing' (like the infamous occasion when non-league Hereford Town dumped this blogger's beloved - though, even then, unsellable - Magpies out of the competition in 1972). Sadly, those days are now long gone and the FA Cup appears, to many, to be a rather inconvenient chore to be got out of the way as soon as possible so that they can concentrate with the really important job of making sure they don't get sucked into a relegation fight in the Premier League and, thus, miss out on mega-millions of television money and sponsorship wonga. Just one more example, dear blog reader, of ways in which crass greed and dreams of filthy lucre have utterly ruined The People's Game. This Third Round weekend, we still had thirty two ties - that much hasn't changed. But, now they were spread across four days - Friday to Monday.
Virgil van Dijk (Dick's son. Possibly) made a dream start for The Liverpool Alabama Yee-Haws (seven times previous winners of the competition) following his seventy five million knicker move from Southampton as his late header settled a highly competitive Merseyside derby against Everton (five times winners) at Anfield. The visitors looked on course for a replay at Goodison Park until goalkeeper Jordan Pickford misjudged a corner allowing Van Dijk, who cost a world record fee for a defender, to steal in six minutes from time and send The Reds into the Fourth Round. And he was certainly dancin' his Old Bamboo after scoring. Gylfi Sigurdsson's smooth finish from the edge of the area put Everton level in the second half after Liverpool had taken the lead ten minutes before half-time, with James Milner scoring from the penalty spot following Mason Holgate's foul on Adam Lallana. In a fiercely fought game there was a first-half flashpoint when Holgate foolishly pushed Reds forward Roberto Firmino over the advertising hoardings and into the crowd, with the Everton defender left furious after the pair subsequently 'exchanged words.' The clash is currently being investigated by the Football Association amid - unconfirmed, let it be noted - media reports that some of the 'exchanged words' may have included alleged racist malarkey and other naughty shenanigans. Also on Friday, The Scum (twelve times competition winners) left it late to beat Derby County (the 1946 Cup winners) in an entertaining game at Old Trafford. A replay looked on the cards until Romelu Lukaku laid the ball off to Jesse Lingard, who took a touch and sent a twenty-yard shot on the bounce into the top corner, seven minutes from time. Half-time substitute Lukaku sealed the win moments later after playing a one-two with Anthony Martial. Marcus Rashford had hit the post in both halves - with a close-range header that he should have buried and a fierce shot across goal.
The bulk of the ties were still played on Saturday on a weekend in which, for the first time in sixty seven years, no non-league club was represented in the Third Round. In the lunchtime kick-off, League One Fleetwood Town - who, as recently as five years ago were a non-league side - held Premiership Leicester City (who have never won the Cup but have finished runners-up four times) to a goalless draw at Highbury (no, the other one) and earn a replay at the King Power Stadium. Ex-Fleetwood striker Jamie Vardy was left out of the Leicester squad by manager Claude Puel having, allegedly, 'failed to recover fully from a groin injury.' One or two people even believed him. The Premier League side - who demonstrated more than a hint of contempt for both the competition and their opponents by fielding a much-changed side from the team which beat Huddersfield in the League on New Year's Day - did not manage a single shot on target in Vardy's absence and withstood huge and sustained pressure from their plucky hosts. Ashley Hunter was denied a late winner for Fleetwood when his deflected shot hit the post. Fleetwood have never progressed beyond the Third Round of the competition and this the first time in their history that the club has faced top-flight opposition. Or, in this particular case, top-flight reserves opposition. Goals from Rudy Gestede and Martin Braithwaite gave The Middlesbrough Smog Monsters (the 1997 runners-up) a rather routine victory over two-time Cup winners, The Mackem Filth, in the Tees-Wear derby. Gestede opened the scoring in the tenth minute when he slid the ball under Blunderland goalkeeper Jason Steele. Braithwaite added Boro's second three minutes before half-time after Steele failed to deal with a corner. Josh Maja came closest for The Mackems when he headed off the crossbar at a corner early in the second half. The only other meaningful opportunity for Chris Coleman's struggling side, who currently sit extremely at the bottom of the Championship, came from another second-half corner but Darren Randolph spectacularly tipped over Tyias Browning's header. Victory for The Smoggies puts them into the Fourth Round for a second successive season - having reached the quarter-finals last year - and gives new manager Tony Pulis a second win in a row.
Having spend most of November and December playing like a bunch of complete and utter girls yer actual Keith Telly Topping's beloved - though still, seemingly, unsellable - Magpies got their season slightly back on track with successive away Premier League victories over the Christmas period at West Hamsters United and Dirty Stoke. Six-times Cup winners and seven times runners-up Newcastle (albeit, the last win was when Jimmy Scoular held aloft the trophy in 1955) struck three goals in a nine-minute first-half spell as they saw off a spirited display by the League Two leaders Luton Town in front of a crowd of over forty seven thousand at St James' Park. Ayoze Perez pounced on goalkeeper Marek Stech's error and then added a second after Stech had denied Dwight Gayle. Jonjo Shelvey extended the lead, side-footing home a first goal since April. Luton rallied as Danny Hylton steered in after rounding United's debutant keeper Freddie Woodman and also had another effort ruled out for offside before Elliot Lee struck the woodwork. Lee came off the bench to join his brother, Olly - their father, Rob, was of course a Magpies legend for a decade from 1992. The 1959 finalists Luton's energy in the second period impressed a seven thousand-strong away support, who thought they were back in the game when Hylton celebrated wildly after finding the net a second time, only for the assistant's flag to deny him. Nathan Jones' side - who have only been outscored by Sheikh Yer Man City in England's top five leagues this season - will rue their first-half capitulation but showed a spirit befitting a side topping the League Two table by four points though they were unable to repeat the efforts of previous Luton teams of 1973 and 1994 and knock the Magpies out the Cup. Notlob Wanderers against Huddersfield Town might've been a decent bet to be the actual Cup Final ... in the 1920s. Huddersfield - the 1922 Cup winners - scored two goals in two second-half minutes to beat Championship side Notlob (four-time winners of the trophy). After a dull first-half, substitute Rajiv van la Parra gave the Premier League side the lead when he bundled in from close range following a corner. Straight from kick-off, Danny Williams' deflected thirty-yard strike caught out the Notlob keeper. Derik Osede gave home side hope, heading in a corner, but Huddersfield held on.
The major giant-killing act of day occurred at the Ricoh Arena. League Two Coventry City (the 1987 Cup winners but having, dramatically, fallen on hard times of late) pulled off the shock of the round by beating Premier League strugglers Dirty Stoke City (the 2011 runners-up) and heaping further misery on The Potters' beleaguered boss, Mark Hughes (who got his ass very sacked within hours of the result). It was a game of two managers, both previous cup winners as teammates in The Scum's 1990 side, as Coventry boss Mark Robins plotted the downfall of Hughes's (now former) club. Jordan Willis's towering header put the hosts ahead, before the defender felled Ramadan Sobhi shortly after the break and Charlie Adam levelled from the spot. But Coventry full-back Jack Grimmer fired his side back ahead from outside the area with twenty minutes to play and the Sky Blues held on for an historic victory. Stoke have now lost six of the last eight matches so, in that regard, it's hardly surprising Old Sparky has, finally, got the Tin Tack. The day's other big giant-killing act saw League One Peterborough score three late goals to knock out Championship side Aston Villa (seven times competition winners). Villa's Keinan Davis opened the scoring early in the first-half from close range after The Posh's defence failed to clear Ritchie De Laet's cross. Posh equalised as Jack Marriott headed in before Ryan Tafazolli converted Marcus Maddison's corner on eighty three minutes. Villa pushed forward, but Maddison set up Marriott to score on the break and seal a deserved win in injury-time and, no doubt, put a geet big nasty scowl on Villa boss Steve Bruce's geet big nasty mush. Which was funny, admittedly. Another League One side, MK Dons, produced a battling performance to knock out another Championship club, Queens Park Strangers. Jack Robinson and Matt Smith spurned close-range chances for The Strangers (the 1982 runners-up) before Ousseynou Cisse curled one into the top corner to give The MK Dons the lead. Steve Cook headed in an injury-time equaliser to save Premiership AFC Bournemouth from a shock exit against League One leaders Wigan Not-Very-Athletic. The Latics, who famously won the competition in 2013, had been two-nil ahead, but The Cherries fought back to earn a replay. Will Grigg had put Wigan ahead early on from six yards after Gavin Massey had headed on Reece James' cross. Nick Powell's free-kick deflected off Emerson Hyndman for two-nil, before Lys Mousset scored Bournemouth's first. Despite having to defend deep in the second period, The Latics still created a couple of chances, but substitute Ivan Toney shot wide and Max Power also missed the target when well placed. The was some geet rive-on late in the game at the Vitality Stadium, Wigan's assistant manager Leam Richardson was sent to the stands after complaining that a foul on Toney in the penalty area had not been given. Subsequent TV replays suggested that the on-loan striker had merely tripped over his own feet. Cherries manager Eddie Howe said that he had 'no regrets' after seeing his much-altered side fight back to stay in the competition. Howe made eight changes from the side that drew at Brighton on New Year's Day. 'Vindicated or not, I thought the decisions were right for us, for this game, I don't regret them,' said Howe.
Alan Pardew (a Cup finalist as a player with Crystal Palace in 1990) finally got his first win as West Bromwich Albinos manager as his side made it past League Two Exeter City at (the other) St James' Park. Saloman Rondon fired The Baggies ahead after less than seventy five seconds before Jay Rodriguez doubled the lead, pouncing on a defensive error. Hal Robson-Kanu had a third disallowed and missed a penalty for West Brom (five time Cup winners). Birmingham City (the 1931 and 1956 runners-up) edged a scrappy tie against fellow Championship strugglers Burton Albinos thanks to Sam Gallagher's second-half strike. Another Championship side, Hull City (the 2014 runners-up_, progressed with an uneventful victory over League One Blackburn Vindaloos at Ewood Park. Full-back Ola Aina, on loan from Moscow Chelski FC, scored the only goal of the game, heading in Jon Toral's corner just before the hour mark. Blackburn (six time winners, albeit, the last one being in 1928) almost took the lead in the first half as Paul Caddis' twenty-yard volley hit the top of the crossbar. Danny Graham had the chance to equalise but fired inches over. Hull, who are twenty first in the second tier, have now progressed from the Third Round in six of the past seven seasons (they were, of course, runners-up to The Arse in 2014). For Tony Mowbray's Vindaloos, third in League One, it was a first defeat in eighteen games in all competitions.
Veteran striker Jon Stead's stunning second-half strike earned League Two side Notts County (the 1894 Cup winners) a surprise at Championship Brentford. The thirty four-year-old twice went close before finding his range on sixty five minutes when he cut inside and curled the ball into the old onion bag. A weakened Bees side settled after a slow start and The (Other) Magpies keeper Ross Fitzsimons made several fine saves. James Ward-Prowse's first-half goal was enough to see Southampton (the 1976 Cup winners) progress at Poor Bloody Fulham (the 1975 runners-up). The Saints midfielder latched onto a rebound off Fulham's Kevin McDonald to shoot past David Button. Jack Stephens headed against the bar for the Premier League side, but Fulham responded strongly with Lucas Piazon and Denis Odoi going close. The result ends a run of nine games without a win for Mauricio Pellegrino's side. Sergio Aguero scored twice in two second-half minutes to help Premier League leaders and five-time Cup winners Sheikh Yer Man City fight back and beat fellow Premiership side Burnley (the 1914 Cup winners). A John Stones mistake let in Ashley Barnes to give Burnley the lead. However, Aguero levelled from a quickly-taken free-kick and then made it two-one from Ilkay Gundogan's back-heel. Leroy Sane ran on to David Silva's pass to add the third before Bernardo Silva slotted the fourth into an empty net. City's win stretched their domestic unbeaten run to twenty six games this season and keeps alive their chances of winning four trophies. Watford (1984 runners-up) beat a much-changed Bristol City (1909 runners-up) with goals from Andre Carrillo, Troy Deeney and Etienne Capoue. The Championship club struggled to get going, playing three days before their Carabao Cup semi-final first leg at Sheikh Yer Man City. Promotion-chasing City, preparing for their first major competition semi-final for twenty eight years, made seven changes for the match at Vicarage Road and spent most of the match defending in their own half.
Cardiff City were held to a goalless draw by League Two Mansfield Town. With a crowd of only just over six thousand at the thirty three thousand-capacity Cardiff City Stadium, the hosts had the better chances in a scrappy first-half. Mansfield had a golden opportunity to score after the break when Lee Angol's close-range shot was saved by Brian Murphy. The Stags, who last reached Round Four in 2008, will host the replay in the week starting 15 January. It is safe to say that Cardiff - Cup runners-up in 2008 and, famously, the only non-English winners of the competition back in 1927 - have not been charmed by the romance of this competition in recent seasons. League Two side Carlisle United earned an replay at the Championship's Sheffield Wednesday (three time Cup winners) after a goalless draw at Brunton Park. Atdhe Nuhiu headed against the bar for the visitors in the first minute and also saw a close-range shot saved. Lucas Joao headed narrowly wide for The Owls early in the second-half, while Reggie Lambe went close for the hosts. Sam Cosgrove had a Carlisle goal ruled out for offside before Jack Bonham brilliantly kept out a Nuhiu header. The result means Lee Bullen finishes with one win in four games as Owls caretaker boss, with new manager Jos Luhukay watching the game from the stands. League Two Stevenage increased the pressure on Reading's boss Jaap Stam as they held the Championship side to a draw. Ben Wilmot's header was tipped over by Royals keeper Anssi Jaakkola as the hosts impressed early on. Dave Edwards had the visitors' best chance of the first half, but Tom King reacted quickly to stop his header.
Premier League strugglers Swansea City and Championship leaders Wolverhampton Wanderings (four time Cup winners) played out another goalless draw as both sides ended the game with ten men. Wolves' Ruben Vinagre was sent off in the fortieth minute for a high lunge on Swans midfielder Nathan Dyer. Swansea's Leroy Fer was also shown a straight red for a cynical trip on Helder Costa in the sixty seventh minute. Calvin Andrew's goal was enough for Rochdale to beat League One rivals Doncaster Rovers. Andrew glanced in Joseph Bunney's free-kick after eighteen minutes to give the away side a lead to hold onto. John Marquis hit the post, Andy Butler headed wide and Tommy Rowe missed a good chance to earn Doncaster a replay. Southampton loanee Marcus Barnes' debut goal helped League Two Yeovil Town, the lowest-ranked side left in the competition, knock out Bradford City. League One Bradford (the 1911 Cup winners) were second best in a goalless first-half before improving after half-time at Huish Park. But, on the counter, Barnes slotted in the opener for The Glovers, before Jordan Green slotted in from Francois Zoko's pass to double the lead. The visitors have now failed to score in four away FA Cup games since winning at Stamford Bridge against Moscow Chelski FC in 2015. The Glovers will play in the fourth round for only the third time since famously eliminating top-flight Blunderland in Round Four in 1949. Championship side Preston Both Ends (twice winners of the competition, in 1889 and 1938) eased into the Fourth Round with a thumping five-one victory at League Two Wycombe Wanderers. Josh Harrop's fine free-kick put The Lilywhites ahead after just eighty seven seconds and Alan Browne's volley doubled their lead. Luke O'Nien pulled one back for Wycombe before the break as his deflected cross went in. Preston then ran riot with Daryl Horgan scoring from distance, Browne adding a penalty after Dan Scarr fouled Paul Huntington and Harrop heading in a fifth.
Nathan Thomas' spectacular long-range effort gave four-time Cup winners Sheffield United an away victory against fellow Championship side Ipswich Town (the 1978 Cup winners). Thomas scored in the twenty fifth minute with a powerful strike that went into the top corner, past Town's Bartosz Bialkowksi. Ipswich, who have not won an FA Cup tie since January 2010, did not record a shot on target, but did have a late attempt as Luke Chambers headed wide. The hosts thought they should have had a first-half penalty, claiming the ball struck Lavery's arm - but referee Michael Jones was not interested. Ten-man Barnsley (the 1912 Cup winners) were dumped out of the competition after a comprehensive thrashing away at 2004 finalists Millwall. The Reds started brightly and even took the lead through Brad Potts' early strike. But Millwall were stirred after conceding and scored three times after the break to capitalise on Joe Williams' reckless sending-off. The Reds have not progressed beyond the Third Round in five seasons since they reached the quarter-finals before being thrashed five-nil by Sheikh Yer Man City. Aiden O'Brien (with two), Ben Thompson and Fred Onyedinma scored the Millwall goals. In Saturday's late game, Championship side Norwich City held a much-changed Moscow Chelski FC (seven times Cup winners) to a goalless draw at Carrow Road. The Canaries had the better of the first-half without creating a clear-cut chance, Josh Murphy drilling well wide, while Alex Pritchard could not capitalise on an error from the returning David Luiz.
On Sunday League Two Newport County defeated Championship side (the 1972 Cup winners and three-times runners-up) Leeds United thanks to Shawn McCoulsky's late header at a rocking Rodney Parade. McCoulsky's winner in the eighty ninth minute was deserved reward for the home side, who were probably the better side throughout. Conor Shaughnessy's own goal drew them level with fifteen minutes remaining after Gaetano Berardi's deflected ninth-minute opener for the visitors. Leeds' misery was completed when Samuel Saiz was sent off in added time, apparently for spitting at one of the Newport players. Which really isn't a very nice thing to do. Newport's dramatic recovery caps an incredible few months for The Exiles, who only stayed in the Football League last season with a winner in the closing stages of their final match of the campaign. Dirty Leeds looked vulnerable and lacked fluency, which was perhaps no surprise given that only Berardi and Kalvin Phillips maintained their places from the side that started the goalless draw with Nottingham Forest in their last league game. Shrewsbury Town earned an replay after a goalless draw against three times winners West Hamsters United. The hosts, who are currently second in League One, put in an impressive performance throughout but were unable to find the winner. Ben Godfrey almost poked home from Shaun Whalley's free-kick and Mat Sadler saw his chance saved by goalkeeper Wankhands Hart. The Hamsters, who made four changes from Thursday's Premier League draw with Stottingtot Hotshots, looked lethargic playing their third match in six days. They were pinned into their own area for most of the game and could only register two shots on target - both from Andre Ayew. It means the Shrews will now travel to London Stadium later this month with the hope of reaching the Fourth Round for only the second time in fourteen seasons. The Hamsters, meanwhile, will be hoping to avoid being knocked out in the Third Round for the sixth time in eight years. Harry Kane scored twice in two second-half minutes as The Stottingtot Hotshots broke AFC Wimbledon's resistance. The England international poked in from close range in the sixty third minute before sweeping home another after Spurs (eight times Cup winners) had been frustrated by the League One strugglers. Defender Jan Vertonghen made it three-nil in the seventy first minute with a deflected long-range strike for his first goal since October 2013. And, finally, the Sunday teatime game gave sour-faced Arsene Wenger something else to whinge about besides his recent three game touchline ban as The Arse (the holders and thirteen times previous winners of the competition) were beaten four-two at Nottingham Forest (twice Cup winners). In a game packed with incident at The City Ground, Eric Lichaj twice gave Forest the lead either side of a Per Mertesacker equaliser. Forest pulled further clear in the second-half when Ben Brereton sent David Ospina the wrong way from the penalty spot after Rob Holding had upended Matty Cash. Danny Welbeck reduced the deficit with eleven minutes remaining after Forest keeper Jordan Smith failed to hold a through-ball. The Arse's first defeat in the Third Round since losing a replay to Sheffield United in 1996 was confirmed courtesy of Kieran Dowell's eighty fifth-minute penalty, before Joe Worrall was shown a straight red card for the home side in the closing stages following a late tackle on Chuba Akpom. There was some geet rive-on at the end with The Arse's players getting all stroppy and discombobulated at the referee, Jon Moss. Probably because they didn't like his drumming on 'Karma Chameleon'. Or something. The thirty-second - and final - tie of the Third Round, between two teams who have never previously won the Cup but who have both been beaten finalists in the competition, Brighton & Hove Albinos and Crystal Palace, will take place on Monday evening. The Video Assistant Referee system will be used for the first time in a competitive club match in England at this match.
The forty four first and second division clubs were joined by twenty from the third and fourth divisions and, usually, one or two semi-professional non-league side all of whom had survived the earlier qualifying round to reach this point in the competition. And each of them - both players and fans - had their own specific ideas about what constituted 'the magic of the FA Cup.' There was no question of any manager playing a weakened team, they wouldn't have even dreamed of such a thing - and, if they had, their supporters (and FA itself) would never have stood for it. The BBC would cover three games on Match Of The Day (rather than the standard two league matches per week) and would always send their cameras to at least one tie at a lower-league ground in the hope of capturing a genuine moment of so-called 'giant-killing' (like the infamous occasion when non-league Hereford Town dumped this blogger's beloved - though, even then, unsellable - Magpies out of the competition in 1972). Sadly, those days are now long gone and the FA Cup appears, to many, to be a rather inconvenient chore to be got out of the way as soon as possible so that they can concentrate with the really important job of making sure they don't get sucked into a relegation fight in the Premier League and, thus, miss out on mega-millions of television money and sponsorship wonga. Just one more example, dear blog reader, of ways in which crass greed and dreams of filthy lucre have utterly ruined The People's Game. This Third Round weekend, we still had thirty two ties - that much hasn't changed. But, now they were spread across four days - Friday to Monday. 
