The oldest and most prestigious cup competition in world football reaches the Second Round and BBC Sport and BT Sport will again provide comprehensive coverage as the remaining vie for a lucrative place in the Third Round in the New Year.
It is a massive weekend for the lower-league and non-league sides who have made it through to this stage of the competition and they will all be desperate to earn one of the 20 coveted places in the Third Round draw as the Premier League giants are placed in the hat.
Nearly 650 clubs have been knocked out of the competition since qualifying got under way in August. Now just 40 remain in the competition, with the 20 winning Second Round teams joining sides from the Premier League and Sky Bet Championship to play in the Third Round Proper on the first weekend of January.
Four Second Round ties will be broadcast live this weekend with two of those being shown free-to-air on the BBC, as it continues its return to covering the FA Cup this season, while the other two can be found on BT Sport as it resumes its second season as an FA Cup broadcaster.
Fans will be able to follow the road to Wembley every step of the between now and next May’s final with the BBC and BT Sport’s comprehensive coverage throughout the 2014/15 season.
The FA Cup returns to BBC Television this season after a six-year absence and the corporation will provide its usual extensive multi-platform coverage on TV, radio and online, along a raft of new innovations that it is hoped will revive TV coverage of the competition.
The BBC will be giving extra prominence to the early rounds of the competition, placing lower league clubs in the spotlight, with BBC Local Radio stations across the country charting the route to the first round proper, with many local sides up against league teams ranked much higher than themselves.
Alongside live coverage of 16 games on BBC TV from round one in November to the showpiece final in May next year, the BBC’s FA Cup coverage will also include a new special Sunday interactive Final Score programme on BBC One during the early rounds, which will take in eight different FA Cup games with all the goals being shown from those fixtures as they happen.
There will also be tea-time highlights of all the weekend’s matches in the early rounds, airing either on Saturday or Sunday, while there will also be special editions of Football Focus on Saturday lunchtimes during every FA Cup weekend.
In addition, the FA Cup draw moves back to a permanent slot this season on Monday nights, hosted by Mark Chapman, which will be held at different footballing venues around the country during the season.
BBC Sport will be sharing live coverage of the FA Cup for the next four seasons with BT Sport, running through to the 2017-18 season, after the two broadacsters secured a multi-million pound rights deal in the summer of 2013, with the BBC taking over free-to-air rights from ITV.
The BBC will broadcast the first pick of matches from the first and second rounds, while BT Sport will screen at least two live matches during the opening two rounds, as well as replays if required.
From rounds three to six, BBC TV will show the first pick games and BT Sport the second choice, plus a selection of two other matches from rounds 3-5, with the third and fourth picks alternating between the two broadcasters each round, while both will share two quarter-final matches each.
The first pick of the replays during this phase of the competition will alternate between the BBC and BT, with the BBC screening one match while BT has the option of screening at least two other games.
The BBC has first pick of the semi-finals with the other being screened by BT Sport, with both channels sharing live coverage of the 2015 FA Cup Final at Wembley in late-May.
In addition, one other live FA Cup tie featuring Welsh teams during the early rounds of the competition will be televised by either Welsh-language channel S4C or on BBC Cymru Wales.
Follow all the excitement of this season’s FA Cup live on the BBC and BT Sport from now through to the showpiece final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, May 30, 2015.
For more information about this season’s FA Cup, visit www.thefa.com/thefacup.
.
| FRIDAY 5th DECEMBER |
| HARTLEPOOL UNITED v BLYTH SPARTANS 2nd Round | 19:55 |
 |
| SATURDAY 6th DECEMBER |
| WREXHAM v MAIDSTONE UNITED 2nd Round | 17:30 |
 |
| SUNDAY 7th DECEMBER |
| FA Cup Final Score Instant goal clips from eight ties | 14:00 |
 |
BBC Sport’s FA Cup coverage continues this weekend with two live Second Round ties, both of which will be complemented by a vast array of support programming.
A North-East derby under floodlights will kick-off the BBC’s coverage on Friday night as it screens non-league side Blyth Spartans’ trip the coast to face League Two side Hartlepool United, kicking off at 7.55pm, live on BBC Two.
The Northern Premier League side stunned Altrincham on Sunday with Robert Dale and Daniel Maguire both bagging braces in a 4-1 win for Blyth at their Croft Park home.
Pools had to overcome non-league opposition themselves in the First Round, beating Essex’s East Thurrock United 2-0 thanks to a Jonathan Franks double.
Dan Walker presents BBC Two’s coverage in Match of the Day Live from Victoria Ground, where he will be joined by special guests to preview the opening match of Second Round weekend from 7.30pm.
In a bonus for cup fans, the BBC will broadcast another live tie on Saturday tea-time as BBC Cymru Wales screens Wrexham’s match against Maidstone United, which will broadcast on BBC Two in Wales, but will also be available across the UK on selected digital platforms and online.
The game at the Racecourse Ground kicks off at 5.30pm and the home side, who earned their place in the second round with a win over Woking, will face Isthmian League Premier side Maidstone, who caused somewhat of a shock by prevailing in their First Round Replay against League Two Stevenage.
In addition to the two live games, the BBC has plenty of other FA Cup programming over the weekend, including a Football Focus special on Saturday, live from Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground, at 12.10pm on BBC One, ahead of the side’s BBC Wales-televised tie later in the evening.
All the goals from Saturday’s games will be shown on a loop on BBC Red Button from 6.00pm on Saturday evening, while updates on the all the latest from the 3.00pm FA Cup kick-offs will be shown on Saturday’s Final Score on BBC One and BBC Red Button.
This will be followed on Sunday by the second airing of the new FA Cup Final Score from 1.45pm on BBC One, presented by Jason Mohammad, with cameras at eight First Round ties with instant goal and match highlights as they happen.
Extended highlights and all the goals from the weekend’s games will be shown in an hour-long highlights programme on Sunday tea-time, on BBC Two at 6.00pm, presented by Manish Bhasin.
The BBC’s FA Cup weekend concludes on Monday night when Mark Chapman introduces live coverage of the must-see Third Round draw on BBC Two at 7.00pm, live from Hull, with all-time Premier League top goalscorer and BBC pundit Alan Shearer helping to drawing the balls as the League One, League Two and non-league clubs who have reached this stage will be hoping for a glamour tie against a top-flight side.
BBC Sport’s FA Cup website – bbc.co.uk/facup – will be the place to see all the weekend’s goals on-demand, as well as live text commentaries, reports and opinion from the BBC pundits.
All TV/radio coverage will be available to watch/listen via the BBC Sport app on all mobile devices, while all of BBC TV’s FA Cup coverage will be available on catch-up via BBC iPlayer shortly after transmission.
Looking ahead further into the competition, the BBC will dedicate the month of January to a plethora of FA Cup programming, including two live games on BBC One from rounds three to six.
There will be FA Cup highlights shown on Match of the Day on both Saturday and Sunday from round three onwards and the BBC’s Get Inspired will be holding participation events which will tie in with key FA Cup moments.
A similar pattern will follow for future rounds, culminating in FA Cup final week, when a special documentary will be aired on BBC One, with the showpiece match being played at Wembley on Saturday, May 30, 2015.
Read more about BBC’s coverage in SOTB’s Q&A with head of football Mark Cole
.
| SUNDAY 7th DECEMBER |
| GATESHEAD v WARRINGTON TOWN 2nd Round | 12:00 |
 |
| COLCHESTER UTD v PETERBOROUGH UTD 2nd Round | 16:30 |
|
BT Sport has a double-header of live action from the Second Round of this season’s FA Cup on Sunday, December 7.
The channel’s cameras will be in the North-East for the opening live game on Sunday lunchtime as Gateshead host FA Cup first round giantkillers Warrington Town.
The Yellows and their manager, Shaun Reid, made national headlines when they beat Exeter City 1-0 in the BBC-televised tie in round one, while Gateahead had to ensure they didn’t become an FA Cup statistic when they made the trip to competition top scorers Norton United.
A hat-trick from Rob Ranshaw after Alex Rodman’s early opener saw the Conference side cruise through to the Second Round, and Gateshead now take on Warrington for a place in the Third Round, with the match kicking off at 12noon.
Later in the afternoon, BT Sport’s second live FA Cup tie comes from Essex as Colchester United host Peterborough United, kicking off at 4.30pm at the Wetson Homes Community Stadium.
The U’s avoided a potential banana skin at Gosport Borough in round one, hitting the Conference South side literally for six.
Colchester led 4-1 at the break and eventually chalked up a 6-3 win while Darren Ferguson’s Peterborough left it late to beat Carlisle United 2-1 with Christian Burgess scoring his second of the game in injury time.
BT Sport’s live FA Cup coverage will be anchored by Jake Humphrey from pitchside alongside regular pundits including Michael Owen, Robbie Savage, Owen Hargreaves and Steve McManaman, as well as a number of special guests.
Ian Darke, Darren Fletcher and Derek Rae lead commentary duties on all of BT Sport’s FA Cup ties, while Ray Stubbs and Darryl Currie provide reports and interviews from pitchside.
As well as the live games, BT Sport will broadcast highlights and goal clips from each round of the competition in programmes throughout each FA Cup weekend.
BT Sport will also simulcast live coverage of the draw for the Third Round, which will be made on Monday, November 10, presented by the BBC’s Mark Chapman from Hull, during Football Tonight on BT Sport 1 from 7.00pm.
Alongside comprehensive TV coverage, fans can enjoy all the action on the go throughout each FA Cup weekend via the BT Sport app, while match highlights, goal clips, interviews and special features will also be available to watch on the app and via btsport.com.
.
Saturday 6th December Football Focus: FA Cup Special Live from Racecourse Ground, Wrexham 12.10pm-1.00pm BBC One Final Score Feat: FA Cup score updates LIVE: 2.30pm-6.00pm BBC Red Button / 4.30pm-5.25pm BBC One WREXHAM v MAIDSTONE UNITED Kick-off: 17:30 LIVE: 5.15pm-7.30pm BBC Two Wales FA Cup Goals Highlights Loop: 6.00pm-6.55pm BBC Red Button
Sunday 7th December GATESHEAD v WARRINGTON TOWN Kick-off: 12:00 LIVE: 11.30am-2.00pm BT Sport 1 FA Cup Final Score Feat: Instant goal clips & match highlights LIVE: 1.45pm-4.20pm BBC One Featured Matches (all k/o 2.00pm): Scunthorpe United v Worcester City Wycombe Wanderers v AFC Wimbledon Southport v Eastleigh Barnsley v Chester Bradford City v Dartford Cheltenham Town v Dover Athletic Bristol City v AFC Telford United Aldershot Town v Rochdale AFC COLCHESTER UNITED v PETERBOROUGH UNITED Kick-off: 16:30 LIVE: 4.00pm-6.45pm BT Sport 1 Match of the Day: FA Cup 2nd Round Highlights: 6.00pm-7.00pm BBC Two
Monday 8th December FA CUP 3rd ROUND DRAW Venue: The Deep aquarium, Hull LIVE: 7.00pm-7.30pm BBC Two / BT Sport 1 .
.