- Chelsea face Birmingham City at home - Photo by Steve Rogerson
The draw for the fifth round of the English FA Cup was made at Wembley Stadium on Sunday 29 January 2012.
The fourth round produced two big shocks with League Two Crawley Town winning away at Championship side Hull City and Brighton & Hove Albion securing a home victory against the Premiership’s Newcastle United. And Stevenage reached the fifth round for the first time in their history when they beat Notts County at home.
In the big game of the round, Liverpool needed a late winner to overcome Manchester United 2-1 after United had cancelled out Liverpool's early goal, and Chelsea won the west London derby 1-0 away at Queen’s Park Rangers. The Midlands derby saw Stoke City win 2-0 away at Derby County.
Other big names through include Tottenham Hotspur who won 1-0 away at Watford and Everton who beat Fulham 2-1 at home. Another all Premiership tie saw Bolton Wanderers overcome Welsh club Swansea City 2-1.
The fifth round will be played on the weekend of 18 and 19 February. The quarter finals will take place on 17 and 18 March followed by the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium on 14 and 15 April and the final itself also at Wembley Stadium on 5 May 2012.
The FA Cup Fifth Round Draw in Full
- Chelsea v Birmingham City
- Crawley Town v Stoke City
- Everton v Blackpool or Sheffield Wednesday
- Liverpool v Brighton & Hove Albion
- Middlesbrough or Sunderland v Arsenal
- Millwall or Southampton v Bolton Wanderers
- Norwich City v Leicester City
- Stevenage v Tottenham Hotspur
FA Cup Fifth Round Ties to Watch Out For
Little Stevenage’s reward for reaching this fifth round stage for the first time is a plum home draw against the Premiership's Tottenham Hotspur, while Crawley Town from league Two will also entertain Premiership opposition in the form of Stoke City. Both Merseyside teams find themselves at home. Everton will have to wait to see whether Blackpool or Sheffield Wednesday will be their opponents after an injury time equaliser by Blackpool forced a fourth round replay. And Liverpool take on fourth-round giant-killers Brighton & Hove Albion.
Norwich City managed a 2-1 away win at the Premiership’s West Bromwich Albion in round four and now face Leicester City who overcome Swindon Town. And Birmingham City’s prize for an emphatic 4-0 away win at Sheffield United is a trip to Stamford Bridge to play Chelsea. Arsenal came back from 2-0 down to beat Aston Villa 3-2 and earn a trip to the north-east, where they will face either Middlesbrough or Sunderland; they drew their fourth round match and have to replay.
Steve Rogerson - Steve Rogerson is a UK-based writer specialising in television, technology, sports and beer.
