No thanks to the boxers – it is Reading away

Last updated : 03 December 2006 By Tony Scholes

Andy Lochhead - scored our goal in both games in 1965

Things were somewhat different then, Burnley were still very much a First Division team at the time whilst Reading were languishing in the bottom half of the Third Division. It was a fourth round tie and Reading had reached that round with victories over Watford (also Third Division) and two Fourth Division clubs Aldershot and Newport County. Burnley meanwhile had beaten Brentford in the previous round.

It is one of only two occasions we have met Reading in the FA Cup and Andy Lochhead scored in a 1-1 draw at Elm Park in front of a crowd of almost 18,000 before scoring the only goal of the game three days later when over 20,000 were inside Turf Moor for the replay.

That took us to a tie with Manchester United at Old Trafford, and a tie that we lost 2-1 with Manchester United scoring two late goals after Lochhead again had given the Clarets the lead.

The other tie against Reading was as far back as 1902/03 season when we were beaten 1-0 at Elm Park. Reading went on to lose at Nottingham Forest in the First Round.

Into 2006/07 season and I'm not so sure we could have come up with anything much worse than this draw. Reading are riding high in the Premiership and will be clear favourites to end Burnley's interest in the FA Cup at the first stage for the second year in succession. Should that happen, it will mean very little money coming into the club again from cup runs with the tie not expected to pull in anything like a decent crowd.

I'm certain this draw will have been greeted with dismay in the Turf Moor board room, more than once recently the hopes for a good lucrative cup run have been referred to as a way of reducing the current losses.

Liverpool and Arsenal will meet in what must be the tie of the round and the full draw is:

Blackpool v Aldershot or Basingstoke
Barnet v Colchester United
Sheffield United v Swansea City
Reading v Burnley
Portsmouth v Wigan Athletic
Mansfield or Doncaster Rovers v Bolton Wanderers
West Ham United v Brighton & Hove Albion
Leicester City v Fulham
Derby County v Wrexham
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Oldham Athletic
Bury or Chester City v Ipswich Town
Manchester United v Aston Villa
Sheffield Wednesday v Manchester City
Tamworth v Norwich City
Salisbury or Nottingham Forest v Charlton Athletic
Cardiff City v Tottenham Hotspur
Preston North End v Sunderland
Liverpool v Arsenal
Bristol Rovers or Bournemouth v Hereford United
Watford v Stockport County
Crystal Palace v Swindon Town
Bristol City v Coventry City
Peterborough United v Plymouth Argyle
Queens Park Rangers v Luton Town
Southend United v Barnsley
West Bromwich Albion v Leeds United
Hull City v Middlesbrough
Birmingham City v Newcastle United
Torquay United or Leyton Orient v Southampton
Everton v Blackburn Rovers
Chelsea v Macclesfield Town
Stoke City v Bradford City or Millwall

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