Sixth round and Six Nations
The great thing about the sixth round of the FA Cup is that all four games are televised - so no risk of any team not getting coverage. And this year we're back to the normal pattern of the matches being played over a weekend, as opposed to last year's Sven-inspired midweek fixtures to help the season finish early.
So let me explain our thinking and ...
To answer people who've criticised the lack of 3pm Saturday kick-offs, that's the one time we're contractually not allowed to place a televised game in order to protect the fixture list across the rest of the country.
And I mentioned in an earlier post how we have to negotiate with an array of people to get to a final schedule. Our partners at the FA; our fellow broadcasters at Sky; the clubs themselves; and the police.
But if anything I understated the number of factors. There's now often a European dimension to the discussions - do clubs have Uefa Cup or Champions League commitments? - as well as a more domestic one for us at the ´óÏó´«Ã½ about how our sport coverage slots in to the schedule on ´óÏó´«Ã½ One and ´óÏó´«Ã½ Two. (For instance, both Reading and Manchester United asked for their replay to be on a Tuesday rather than Wednesday as we'd expected.)
And in working out the pattern for the quarter-finals, we had another couple of interesting challenges: different police decisions in different parts of the country, and also showcasing the Cup alongside the fixed kick-off times for Six Nations matches.
Anyway, it's now done. And on the weekend of 10/11 March we have a fantastic menu of three Six Nations games and three FA Cup quarter-finals - and it comes together well, we hope.
I should say that the majority view is that Chelsea v Spurs is the , and paired with England v France it means it's a day you shouldn't plan Sunday lunch out. But this was an example where derbies in London can't be played later in the day - hence the 12.45 start.
Here's the full list:
Saturday 10 March
* 1.30 KO Six Nations: Scotland v Ireland
* 3.30 KO Six Nations: Italy v Wales
* 5.30 KO FA Cup: West Brom or Middlesbrough v Reading or Manchester United
Sunday 11 March
* 12.45 KO FA Cup: Chelsea v Spurs
* 3.00 KO Six Nations: England v France
* 6.00 KO FA Cup: Plymouth v Watford
The Arsenal/Blackburn v Manchester City quarter-final will be on Sky at 4pm on Sunday.
