10 FA Cup 3rd Round Facts

Manchester United hit the FA Cup trail again this weekend when Sheffield United provide the opposition at Old Trafford.

Louis van Gaal's men will be keen to take a step closer to Wembley with victory over the League One side and we have taken a closer look at the club's record in the third round over the years, selecting 10 pieces of trivia that you may, or may not, already know...

Familiar foes
The Reds have met Sheffield United four times in the competition, all at Bramall Lane and twice at this stage. Indeed, the sides played each other in consecutive third-round ties in 1994 and 1995. United won on three occasions and reached the final each year (1990, 1994, 1995).

One-off
When football resumed after World War II, the FA Cup third round was a two-legged affair for the only time in its history. The opening game with Accrington Stanley was, in any case, a draw before a 5-1 rout at Maine Road took the Reds through in 1946.

Year out
United did not enter the competition in 2000 after completing the Treble a year earlier, due to participation in the Club World Championship in Brazil instead. Sir Alex Ferguson later commented: "We did it to help England's World Cup bid [to stage the tournament in 2006]. That was the political situation. I regretted it because we got nothing but stick and terrible criticism for not being in the FA Cup when, really, it wasn't our fault."

Sir Alex's opener
Sir Alex's first FA Cup tie at United came in 1987 when Norman Whiteside scored the only goal of a home derby victory over Manchester City. One of his most famous games was at Nottingham Forest in 1990, when Mark Robins's header clinched a 1-0 away success to ease the pressure on the former boss in what proved to be a stepping stone towards lifting his first trophy as manager at Old Trafford.

Bees battered
United's record win in the third round proper came against Brentford (7-1) at Old Trafford in 1928, while the biggest post-war triumph was in 1949, 6-0 against Bournemouth at Maine Road. The largest recent victory at this stage was the 5-0 replay win over Burton Albion in 2006.

Goals galore
The highest aggregate in a third-round tie involving the club came in 1948, when Aston Villa were beaten 6-4 at Villa Park. In 1998, the Reds overcame Chelsea 5-3 at Stamford Bridge and Sir Alex's side were leading 5-0 at one point.

Deadly Denis
Denis Law was the last man to score a hat-trick for the Reds at this stage of the competition, in a 5-0 hammering of his former club Huddersfield Town en route to the 1963 final. Dennis Viollet hit a treble in the 3-1 triumph over Workington Reds in 1958.

Recent replay
The last time United had a replay at this stage was against West Ham United in 2013, when Robin van Persie's dramatic equaliser rescued a 2-2 draw at Upton Park. Wayne Rooney scored the only goal early on in the second game at Old Trafford.

Multiple games
As the rules have since changed, the last-ever second replay came versus QPR in 1989. Following 0-0 and 2-2 draws with the Londoners, a 3-0 triumph set up a fourth-round date with Oxford United five days later. In 1903/04, a fourth game was required before Birmingham City were overcome as three ties were drawn 1-1.

Cracker Jack
Jack Rowley is the club's leading scorer in all third-round ties. The striker bagged 10 goals at this stage of the competition, including replays, and is well clear of his nearest challengers George Best and Joe Spence, who have seven. Law and Stan Pearson are on six while Jimmy Hanson, Mark Hughes, Paul Scholes, current skipper Rooney and George Wall have five strikes to their names.