A place in the last 16 of the oldest and most famous domestic cup competition in the world is up for grabs this weekend for clubs dreaming of a trip to Wembley in May and fans will be able to enjoy six live FA Cup ties across BBC Sport and BT Sport.
With the Premier League clubs having joined the competition during the third round, there will be plenty of big-hitters in action over the course of one of the most exciting weekend’s on the football calendar, with the winners from this round’s ties just two victories away from a coveted semi-final place at the national stadium.
Eventual winners Arsenal cruised past Coventry City at this stage last season, while it was the end of the FA Cup adventure for the only non-league side left in the competition, Kidderminster Harriers, who lost 1-0 at Premier League Sunderland.
While all the remaining non-league teams in the competition were knocked out in the Third Round, there are still plenty of potential upsets and major scalps for lower league opposition to take against the much-fancied Premier League and Championship teams.
Cambridge United’s FA Cup Fourth Round showdown with Manchester United has been chosen by the BBC as its first choice of live games, with the match set to be played under the floodlights on a Friday night at Abbey Stadium.
The BBC-televised match on Friday, January 23, will kick off at 7.55pm, and will be the first of six matches to televised by the BBC and BT Sport over four days of frantic Cup action.
On Saturday lunchtime, BBC Wales viewers will be able to watch Swansea City’s away tie at Blackburn Rovers, kicking off at 12.45pm, while Liverpool’s home tie against Bolton Wanderers at Anfield will be televised by BT Sport later in the day, with a 5.30pm kick-off.
Sunday brings another double-header, with Bristol City taking on Premier League opposition in West Ham United at Ashton Gate, both having needed replays to progress, in the second live tie on BBC One, kicking on 2.00pm.
This will be followed at 4.00pm on BT Sport as Brighton & Hove Albion play host to current Cup holders Arsenal at the Amex Stadium.
Finally on Monday evening, League One side Rochdale, who defeated Nottingham Forest in the Third Round and Leeds United a year earlier, welcome Stoke City to their Spotland home, kicking off at 8.00pm.
BBC Sport returned to covering the FA Cup this season after a six-year absence, sharing live coverage for the next four seasons with BT Sport, running through to the 2017-18 season, after the two broadcasters 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.
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| FRIDAY 23rd JANUARY |
| Cambridge United v Manchester United 4th Round | 19:55 |
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| SATURDAY 24th JANUARY |
| Blackburn Rovers v Swansea City 4th Round | 12:45 |
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| SUNDAY 25th JANUARY |
| Bristol City v West Ham United 4th Round | 14:00 |
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The BBC’s January FA Cup month continues with three live ties to be shown over Fourth Round weekend, all of which will be complemented by the usual array of support programming.
Football’s oldest domestic knockout competition returned to the BBC this year and free-to-air viewers will be able to follow all the drama, action reaction and stories of the Fourth Round, with three live games, nightly highlights and special editions of Football Focus and Final Score.
Gary Lineker will present BBC One’s two live games over Fourth Round weekend, starting on Friday night with Manchester United trip to the Abbey Stadium to face Cambridge United, where the eleven-time winners of the competition will be under pressure to avoid an upset against the League Two side.
This will be followed on Sunday afternoon by Bristol City of League One welcoming Premier League opposition in the shape of West Ham to Ashton Gate, with a place in the last 16 at stake.
In addition to the two main live games on BBC One, Swansea City’s FA Cup third round tie away at Blackburn Rovers will be broadcast live on BBC Two Wales, on Saturday lunchtime, kicking off at 12.45pm, a match which will also be available via the BBC Sport website.
Alongside the live games, BBC audiences will be able to go behind the scenes of Birmingham City in a special edition of Football Focus live from St Andrews, while Final Score on Saturday afternoon will bring all the results and drama from the day’s fixtures.
There will also be Match of the Day highlights shows covering the weekend’s fourth rounds ties on Saturday and Sunday nights, both on BBC One, presented by Gabby Logan and Mark Chapman respectively.
In addition, other FA Cup-themed BBC TV programmes to watch out for include FA Cup Rewind on BBC Two, introduced by Guy Mowbray. which looks back at some of the most memorable FA Cup moments from each round.
The draw for February’s Fifth Round will be made during The One Show on BBC One at approximately 7.15pm on Monday, January 26, presented by Mark Chapman.
BBC Sport’s dedicated 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.
Read more about BBC’s coverage in SOTB’s Q&A with head of football Mark Cole
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| SATURDAY 24th JANUARY |
| Liverpool v Bolton Wanderers 4th Round | 17:30 |
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| SUNDAY 25th JANUARY |
| Brighton & Hove Albion v Arsenal 4th Round | 16:00 |
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| MONDAY 26th JANUARY |
| Rochdale v Stoke City 4th Round | 20:00 |
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BT Sport cameras will again be in place at three grounds across the country over the weekend as the road to Wembley continues with the Fourth Round of the FA Cup.
Three Premier League clubs will go up against lower-league opposition live on BT Sport over Fourth Round weekend, starting with Liverpool’s visit of Championship side Bolton Wanderers on Saturday, kicking off at 5.30pm.
Neil Lennon’s men will be hoping to cause upset over the Reds, whose road to Wembley continued after outgoing captain Steven Gerrard inspired them to a 2-1 victory over AFC Wimbledon in the third round.
BT’s live coverage continues on Sunday as holders Arsenal hope to make another step towards defending the trophy when they visit Championship strugglers Brighton & Hove Albion, which kicks off at 4.00pm on the south coast.
The Seagulls beat second-tier promotion hopefuls Brentford to progress to the fourth round as Chris Hughton made a winning start to his tenure as manager.
Finally, Stoke City travel to Rochdale in a Monday night cup clash under the floodlights as the League One side look to pull off a giant-killing.
The Dale already caused upset in the third round when they knocked out Championship side Nottingham Forest and will hope to continue that trend against top-flight opposition.
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 Fifth Round, which will be made on Monday, January 26, presented by the BBC’s Mark Chapman, 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.
Friday 23rd January
CAMBRIDGE UNITED v MANCHESTER UNITED Kick-off: 19:55
LIVE: 7.30pm-10.00pm BBC One
Saturday 24th January FA Cup Rewind: Fourth Round Classics (Ep. 1/2) Archive: 11.00am-12.00pm BBC Two Football Focus: FA Cup Special Live from St Andrews, Birmingham City Preview: 12.10pm-1.00pm BBC One BLACKBURN ROVERS v SWANSEA CITY Kick-off: 12:45 LIVE: 12.30pm-3.00pm BBC Two Wales / BBC Sport Website Final Score LIVE: 2.30pm-5.20pm BBC Red Button / 4.00pm-5.20pm BBC One LIVERPOOL v BOLTON WANDERERS Kick-off: 17:30 LIVE: 5.15pm-8.00pm BT Sport 1 Match of the Day: FA Cup 4th Round Highlights: 10.25pm-11.55pm BBC One (repeated Sunday 7.30am)
Sunday 25th January FA Cup Rewind: Fourth Round Classics (Ep. 2/2) Archive: 10.00am-11.00am BBC Two BRISTOL CITY v WEST HAM UNITED Kick-off: 14:00 LIVE: 1.15pm-4.05pm BBC One BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION v ARSENAL Kick-off: 16:00 LIVE: 3.30pm-6.30pm BT Sport 1 Match of the Day: FA Cup 4th Round Highlights: 10.30pm-11.30pm BBC One (repeated Sunday 7.30am)
Monday 26th January FA Cup 5th Round Draw LIVE: 7.15pm approx BBC One (during The One Show) / BT Sport 1 ROCHDALE v STOKE CITY Kick-off: 20:00 LIVE: 7.30pm-10.00pm BT Sport 1
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