The FA Youth Cup Fifth Round sponsored by E.ON
Liverpool Under-18's v Derby County Under-18's or Southend United Under-18's
Friday's draw for this season's 5th round of the FA Youth Cup from Wembley Stadium has given the young Shrimpers a mighty incentive to beat the Rams at Pride Park on Wednesday, January 26th, kick-off 19.00, because if they do Ricky Duncan's team will be on their way to Premier League Anfield and the Liverpool Under-18 side.
Of course, they missed out on playing at Old Trafford three years ago before defeat to Carlisle so Ricky will be hoping not to miss out on another chance to turn out at a big Premiership ground.
However, the Blues boys beat Coventry 3-1 at Roots Hall this week in a stunning victory and will be full of confidence for their tough trip to the East Midlands. (Report below.)
Liverpool beat Crystal Palace 3-1 on Merseyside to get through to the last 16 watched by a crowd of 1,197.
The last two winners of the competition, Chelsea and Arsenal, are still to face each other in the fourth round.
Full Fifth Round Draw (Dates to be arranged, they are a touch behind!)
Leicester City or Blackburn Rovers v Preston North End or Bradford City
Crewe Alexandra or Leeds United AFC v Peterborough United or Bristol Rovers/Aston Villa
West Ham United or Manchester United v Newcastle United or Grimsby Town
Fulham or Norwich City v Watford or Wigan Athletic
Liverpool v Derby County or Southend United
Sheffield United or Millwall v Blackpool or Birmingham City
Chelsea or Arsenal v Barnsley or Hull City/Rushden & Diamonds.
Nottingham Forest v Middlesbrough or Everton
Blues FA Youth Cup recent history
After a great run three seasons ago that took the Shrimpers Trust sponsored Southend United youth team to the verge of the sixth round and a tie away to Manchester United, the last two competitions before the present one have seen them exit in the First Round proper.
2008/09 saw them lose to Brentford on penalties, and they certainly got revenge for that result this time around, while last season they were unlucky to be drawn away to eventual Youth Alliance Champions Millwall, where they lost 3-1.
However, they started with a good win in the First Round over the Hatters and you can read the report here:
www.southendunited-mad.co.uk/feat/edb1/fa_youth_cup_first_round southend_united_under18s_3_luton_town_under18s_1_after_extratime_
575260/index.shtml
And followed it up by sinking the Bees in the next stage:
www.southendunited-mad.co.uk/feat/edb1/fa_youth_cup_second_round_
southend_united_under18s_3_brentford_under18s_0_601965/index.shtml
Then the major scalp of the Academy Sky Blues side in the third round:
www.southendunited-mad.co.uk/feat/edb1/fa_youth_cup_third_round_
southend_united_under18s_3_coventry_city_under18s_1_619226/index.shtml
All the results so far:
www.thefa.com/TheFACup/FACompetitions/TheFAYouthCup/Results
For more details of the competition, go here:
www.thefa.com/TheFACup/FACompetitions/TheFAYouthCup.aspx