Third Round and Fourth Round FA Cup Ties on UK TV

Sky Sports and the BBC have made a decision on which fourth round FA Cup matches they’ll be televising and, for the most part, they’ve gone after the money ties instead of the matches that make the FA Cup special. First, here are the games that will be shown live in the UK:

Saturday, January 26
Mansfield v Middlesbrough, BBC, 7:30am ET
Wigan v Chelsea, BBC, 12:15pm ET

Sunday, January 27
Manchester United v Spurs or Reading, BBC, 9am ET
West Ham or Manchester City v Sheffield United, Sky Sports, 11am ET

The heads of the BBC and Sky Sports have therefore decided to overlook the one FA Cup match that would have had the most appeal, depending on what happened in the third round replay, and that was Liverpool or Luton v Swansea or Havant and Waterlooville.

As for the third round replays, the matches televised in the UK will be:

Tuesday, January 15
Liverpool v Luton Town, Sky Sports

Wednesday, January 16
Manchester City v West Ham United, BBC