If Blackburn Rovers are to get past Birmingham City in Tuesday 31st January’s FA Cup 4th Round Replay, then they will face Leicester City at The King Power Stadium, in Round Five.
The draw for the 5th round occurred live on BBC1, live on The One Show by Mark Chapman, Jermaine Jenas and Alex Scott, as the 16 remaining teams were pulled out of the hat, despite there still being some replays remaining to settle.
Rovers – and Birmingham City – who both have to wait until tomorrow evening to learn of whether their time in the competition will continue into 5th round are both ball #9 in the draw.
The winner was handed an away draw against 2015-16 fairytale writers, Leicester City, who got past League Two, Gillingham in Round Three and League Two, Walsall, both by 1-0 scorelines, in order to get to this stage. The clash is set to take place at The King Power Stadium, across the week commencing Monday 27th February, with a confirmed date and ticket information, to be set in the near future.
Although Birmingham City have never won an FA Cup, Leicester City and Rovers do have winning pedigree in this competition, with Leicester City lifting the trophy under current boss, Brendan Rodgers in 2020-21, after beating Chelsea, 1-0 in the final, whilst six-times FA Cup Winners, Rovers – who are one of four teams to win consecutive finals – last lifted this famous competition in 1927-28.
Rovers and Leicester’s first ever meeting came in this competition, back in 1908, where the Foxes were 2-0 winners. The pair have faced each other three more times in the world’s oldest competition – one being a replay – with Rovers’ only victory coming in March 2005, as a Paul Dickov penalty saw off his ex-side by a 1-0 scoreline.
The two Midlands sides have also clashed in this competition, 11 times, to be exact. Like Rovers, Leicester & Birmingham’s first meeting came in the 1891 FA Cup, where Brum – then known as Small Heath – emerged 6-2 victors. Despite many battles over the years, the side’s most recent clash – also in this competition – saw Ricardo Pereira put daylight between the two teams, via a 1-0 Fifth Round Foxes victory.
