There was once a time when Newcastle United and FA Cup success would be synonymous with one another but in recent years the Magpie faithful have had to endure some horrid times in the country’s greatest cup competition.
Rafa Benitez’s men are number 28 in tonight’s draw and will be hoping for an easy tie to progress through to the fourth round as the Spaniard looks to become the first manager to win a trophy for the Magpies since 1969.
But with a squad short on quality, Premier League survival will be the top priority. Benitez’s ethos of wanting to win every game will make sure that whatever team turns out in the third round cup tie - will be set up to win.
United fans will be hoping to see their side progress further than they have done in last six years.
Newcastle were drawn against fellow Championship side Birmingham but a relatively strong Toon Army team could not get past the Blues. Rocked by an early injury to Aleksandar Mitrovic, United had taken the lead through Daryl Murphy but Lukas Jutkiewicz pulled one back before half-time.
United won the replay at St James’ Park with Matt Ritchie and Yoan Gouffran getting the goals but they went out at Oxford in the 4th Round with an embarrassing 3-0 defeat.
2015-16 - Watford (A)
United crashed out in the third round. The Hornets were 1-0 winners as Steve McClaren’s reign went from bad to worse. A Gini Wijnaldum back pass allowed Troy Deeney to slip home and despite the Magpies being the better side, they couldn’t get back into the game.
2014-15 - Leicester City (A)
Another 1-0 defeat in third round. It was John Carver’s second game in charge as interim manager but he failed to guide his side to victory over a Leicester City team which were bottom of the Premier League. Leonardo Ulloa netted the only goal of the match.
2013-14 - Cardiff City (H)
United took the lead through Papiss Cisse but couldn’t hold out against the Bluebirds. It was Cardiff’s first win against United in 51 years and Craig Noone and Fraizer Campbell shocked Tyneside.
2012-13 - Brighton (A)
Brighton found it relatively easy and knocked the Magpies out thanks to goals from Andrea Orlandi and Will Hoskins as Shola Ameobi saw red. It was seven defeats in eight games for Alan Pardew’ s men.
2011-12 - Blackburn (H)
Jonas Gutierrez scored a 95th minute winner to put United through to the fourth round as they beat Blackburn Rovers 2-1 in front of nearly 31,000 at St James’ Park. Rovers had taken the lead just after the half-hour mark through David Goodwillie before Hatem Ben Arfa scored arguably the goal of his Toon Army career witha superb solo effort.
He skipped past several players, running from his own half before slotting home. Gutierrez played a one-two with Leon Best before firing home, and out came the Spiderman mask.