Rovers entered the Fourth Round of the 2023-24 FA Cup following a 5-2 home victory over Cambridge in the Third Round, and they were joined by the teams who were victorious in the previous round.
The draw for the Fourth Round occurred live on ITV 1 as the 32 victorious teams were placed into the hat and were handed their fate by Seema Jaswal, Gary Mabbutt MBE and Emma Byrne, ahead of Wigan Athletic’s home tie against Manchester United.
With the draw still seeing some loose ends with multiple replays still to decide some of the ties, Rovers who had secured their place in the Fourth Round already and were ball #22 in the draw, were given a home draw against League 2’s Hollywood stars in Wrexham AFC. The clash is set to take place at Ewood Park/Away, across the weekend of the 26th-29th of January, with a confirmed date to be set in the near future.
Rovers and their Welsh opponents have never met in this competition, but both sides do have some respectable pedigree in the FA Cup. Rovers are, of course, six times winners of the competition with the anniversary of their last triumph upcoming in a few years.
The teams do have some history together, with them facing each other 16 times inside a 22-year-period, but have not met in over 40 years, since the Red Dragons beat Rovers, 1-0, back in March 1982 in the old Division Two at the Racecourse Ground.
The Blues and Wrexham do have something in common in the FA Cup, as the pair were both knocked out of this competition last season by Sheffield United, in a rather unique set of circumstances.
Whilst Rovers had a run to remember in the FA Cup in Jon Dahl Tomasson’s maiden season at Ewood Park, as they beat Championship duo Norwich City & Birmingham City after a replay, then-Premier League Leicester City, before losing in dramatic fashion to eventual promotion winners, Sheffield United, in the Quarter Finals. Wrexham, meanwhile, showed great quality despite being in the National League, as they tumbled out at this stage – the Fourth Round – last season, after starting in the Fourth Qualifying Round back in October 2022. Phil Parkinson’s side beat Blyth Spartans after a replay and got the better of Oldham Athletic, semi-professional Farnborough and Championship Coventry City, before – like their soon-to-be hosts – losing to The Blades at Bramall Lane on a replay, after drawing 3-3 in the first game in Wales.
