Growing up, I had this image of City never really getting a good cup draw.
Palace a couple of times, Everton once, Southampton, that was about it. Without being too rude, middling clubs that didn’t exactly inspire.
In recent seasons, we’ve had a bit more luck. Everton, Arsenal, Liverpool and West Ham all coming out of the hat in different cups, and tonight we wait and hope once again. I want Chelsea to give my Dad one chance to see his main club (City) face off against his ‘big’ club. I’m sure a lot of local armchair fans would like Arsenal, Spurs, Man United or Liverpool as well. Man City? Nah, been there, beaten them.
Have draws really been unkind to us in this competition in the past? In fairness, the second round used to be the big one, but I thought I’d look back at third-round ties we’ve had before. We’ve reached this stage on 12 occasions: here are the clubs we drew and how ‘big’ they were at the time.
1963/64
In 1963/64, we overcame Hartlepool and York to reach the third round – those two teams finished in the bottom three of the Fourth Division. It meant a plum tie against… Millwall. Away. So, not plum at all. In fact, Millwall would be relegated from the Third Division at the end of the season.
We got a draw at the Den, but lost 2-1 in the replay.
Verdict – Bad draw
1966/67
The season after England’s World Cup win was not a classic for City – we finished bottom of the Fourth Division and had to apply for re-election, which we achieved. We did have a bit of a cup run, beating both Hull City and Huddersfield. Both were in the Second Division (now the Championship), so the wins were impressive.
Out of the hat in the next round were Leicester City, who thrashed us 5-0 at Filbert Street. That was a big draw – they finished eighth in the top flight, they’d won the League Cup in 1964, been runner-up in 1965 and would feature in the FA Cup final in 1969.
Verdict – Good draw