All 16 teams left in this season’s FA Cup are now just two wins away from a trip to Wembley and fans can follow all the drama from the Fifth Round live on BBC One and BT Sport this weekend.
The action over Valentine’s weekend begins on BT Sport at lunchtime on Saturday, February 14, as West Bromwich Albion take on West Ham United at 12.45pm, then later Alan Pardew’s Crystal Palace welcome Liverpool to Selhurst Park and the game will be broadcast live on BT Sport, kicking off at 5.30pm.
Then on Sunday, February 15 there is another Cup double for TV viewers. First up are Aston Villa, who welcome Leicester City to Villa Park at 12.30pm, live on BBC One, followed by Arsenal’s home tie against Middlesbrough follows at 4pm, which will be the third and final Fifth Round tie to be shown live on BT Sport.
The fifth and final live tie has the BBC Sport cameras travelling to Preston North End, who will take on the might of Manchester United, live on BBC One on Monday, February 16, kicking off at 7.45pm.
Since the BBC welcomed the FA Cup back to television last autumn it has delivered big peak time audiences for live matches on BBC One, with both the Wimbledon v Liverpool and Cambridge United v Manchester United games getting an average audience of over six million.
Meanwhile, the FA Cup has also proved hugely popular among fans, with record-breaking attendance figures for the Fourth Round. More than half a million people passed through the turnstiles to watch Cup football between 24 January and 4 February, with the average attendance reaching a 37-year high.
It was just the second time in 23 years, and the third in 33, that the total attendance figure surpassed the half-million mark – while the average of gate of 25,761 was the highest in the Fourth Round since 1977-78.
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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| SUNDAY 15th FEBRUARY |
| Aston Villa v Leicester City 5th Round | 12:30 |
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| MONDAY 16th FEBRUARY |
| Preston North End v Manchester United 5th Round | 19:45 |
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The BBC’s FA Cup coverage continues with two live ties to be shown over Fifth 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 Fifth Round, with two live games, nightly highlights and special editions of Football Focus and Final Score.
Gary Lineker will present both of BBC One’s live games over Fifth Round weekend, starting from Villa Park on Sunday lunchtime as Leicester City make the trip across the Midlands to face Aston Villa.
With both sides struggling in the league, the value of a good cup run becomes even greater, and both Villa and Leicester will be desperate to put their names in the quarter-final draw
Only three teams have lifted the FA Cup more often than seven-time winners Villa, but their last triumph was back in 1957, so it’s bound to be a fiercely fought tie against a Leicester side managed by Nigel Pearson, who captained Middlesbrough to the 1997 FA Cup final, and who will be hoping to inspire the Foxes to take another step towards Wembley.
League One Preston overcame cup specialists Sheffield United in a fourth round replay to set up a potential giant killing against 11-time winners Manchester United, in the second of BBC Sport’s live Fifth Round ties under the floodlights on Monday night.
The Red Devils also needed a replay to progress from the previous round after being held to a 0-0 draw by League Two Cambridge United.
Louis van Gaal’s team were knocked out of the League Cup earlier this season in a shock 4-0 defeat to MK Dons, also from League One, so will need to tread carefully as they seek to get their hands on a first FA Cup trophy since 2004.
Finally, before Monday’s live BBC tie, Sir Tom Finney’s son Brian and England boss Roy Hodgson, who will be a BBC pundit on the night, will make the draw for the FA Cup Sixth Round at Deepdale before Preston’s fifth-round tie against Manchester United, which will hosted by Mark Chapman.
Alongside the live games, BBC audiences will be able to go behind the scenes of Birmingham City in a special edition of Football Focus, 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 fifth rounds ties on Saturday and Sunday nights, both on BBC One at 10.30pm each night.
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.
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 14th FEBRUARY |
| West Brom v West Ham United 5th Round | 12:45 |
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| Crystal Palace v Liverpool 5th Round | 17:30 |
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| SUNDAY 15th FEBRUARY |
| Arsenal v Middlesbrough 5th Round | 16:00 |
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BT Sport will screen three live FA Cup Fifth Round ties this weekend with double-header taking centre stage on Saturday as two pairs of Premier League rivals collide.
It may be Valentine’s Day but the clubs will be looking to inflict cup heartbreaks as West Brom face West Ham in the lunch-time kick-off, before in-form Liverpool visit Crystal Palace.
Brendan Rodgers’ Reds visit South London knowing their recent trips to Selhurst Park have been ones to forget, seeing their title hopes collapse after squandering a three-goal lead last May before being beaten 3-1 on another miserable outing in November.
But Liverpool have been resurgent since that disappointment and will be feeling confident after a midweek Premier League victory over Tottenham stretched their unbeaten streak to 15 in all competitions, including nine wins.
Palace, meanwhile, caused upset when they knocked out Premier League high-fliers Southampton on their own turf in the fourth round, and Alan Pardew’s side will be hoping they can spring another surprise this weekend.
In the lunch-time kick-off, West Brom will be looking to maintain momentum after a crucial 2-0 league win over Swansea in midweek put some much-needed distance between them and the relegation zone, leaving them in 14th place.
The Baggies had club record £10million signing Brown Ideye and England Under-21 striker Saido Berahino to thank for that win and Tony Pulis will be hoping his men can make it back-to-back wins against the visiting Hammers.
The East Londoners kept their cup hopes alive against League One Bristol City in the fourth round, with Diafra Sakho grabbing the late winner.
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 and Darren Fletcher lead commentary duties on all of BT Sport’s FA Cup ties, while Ray Stubbs and Des Kelly 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 Sixth Round, which will be made on Monday, February 16, presented by the BBC’s Mark Chapman, during Football Tonight on BT Sport 1.
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.
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Saturday 14th January
Matchday Live with Fletch & Sav
Preview: 10.00am-12.00pm & 3.00pm-5.00pm BT Sport 1
FA Cup Rewind: Fifth Round Classics (Ep. 1/2)
Archive: 11.00am-12.00pm BBC Two
WEST BROMWICH ALBION v WEST HAM UNITED Kick-off: 12:45
LIVE: 12.00pm-3.00pm BT Sport 1
Football Focus: Live from St Andrews, Birmingham
Preview: 12.10pm-12.50pm BBC One
Final Score
LIVE: 2.30pm-6.00pm BBC Red Button / 4.30pm-5.20pm BBC Two
CRYSTAL PALACE v LIVERPOOL Kick-off: 17:30
LIVE: 5.00pm-8.00pm BT Sport 1
Match of the Day: FA Cup 5th Round
Highlights: 10.30pm-11.35pm BBC One
Sunday 15th January FA Cup Rewind: Fifth Round Classics (Ep. 2/2) Archive: 10.20am-11.20am BBC Two ASTON VILLA v LEICESTER CITY Kick-off: 12:30 LIVE: 12.15pm-2.30pm BBC One ARSENAL v MIDDLESBROUGH Kick-off: 16:00 LIVE: 3.30pm-6.30pm BT Sport 1 Match of the Day: FA Cup 5th Round Highlights: 10.30pm-11.20pm BBC One
Monday 16th January FA Cup 6th Round Draw LIVE: 7.35pm approx BBC One / BT Sport 1 PRESTON NORTH END v MANCHESTER UNITED Kick-off: 19:45 LIVE: 7.30pm-10.00pm BBC One
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