Rovers entered the 3rd round of the 2023-24 FA Cup courtesy of their Championship status, on Sunday and were among 43 other teams who were coming into the competition, for this campaign at this stage.
The draw for the 3rd round occurred live on ITV as the 44 sides from the Championship and the Premier League entered the draw, alongside all the 2nd round victors from League 1, League 2 and the rest of the English footballing pyramid.
With the draw seeing the introduction of the mouth-watering ties against the ‘big boys’ from the top tier, Rovers – ball #5 in the draw – were given a home draw against League 1’s Cambridge United. The clash is set to take place at Ewood Park, across the weekend of the 6th of January, with a confirmed date to be set in the near future.
Despite Rovers being successful in this competition, having been the victors six times, the team were agonisingly close to getting their first semi-final appearance since 2007, but were narrowly knocked out in the Quarters last season in dramatic fashion as Sheffield United came from behind at Bramall Lane to oust Rovers out of the competition.
Cambridge United have reached the Quarters twice in their history – in back-to-back seasons – all the way back in 1989/90 & 1990-91, where they lost to Crystal Palace and Arsenal, respectively. In recent times, the furthest they have reached is the 4th round, on two occasions – losing to Manchester United in 2014-15 and Luton Town in 2021-22.
Whilst this is the first ever meeting between the teams in the world’s oldest competition, they have met previously in the League Cup, back in 1993 – which was the last time the two sides met. January 1993 saw them meet at Ewood Park in the Quarter-Finals of the League Cup, with Rovers running out 3-2 winners.
