Bygones – 1962-63 FA Cup of chaos as ties hit by rescheduling

Just three out of 32 third-round games may have survived the weather on January 5, 1963, but the stoic Football Association carried on regardless with the fourth-round draw involving 62 clubs.

The round-four ties were due to be played on January 26. In the event, only one was in a thoroughly chaotic situation.

Lincoln City’s third-round tie with Coventry City ended up being rescheduled 15 times and was one of seven round-three ties that ended up being played for the first time after the fifth-round draw in early March.

The fifth-round draw was postponed on January 28 and then postponed again – to go ahead as scheduled would have involved pulling 49 names out of the hat for the eight ties.

It was eventually made on March 5, with those 49 names slimmed down to 36 clubs.

Amid what proved a difficult draw to make, the most convoluted fifth-round tie was Walsall or Manchester City or Birmingham City or Bury v Norwich or Blackpool or Bradford City or Newcastle.

Other round-five ties potentially involving Yorkshire clubs were Arsenal or Shrewsbury Town or Sheffield Wednesday v Liverpool; West Brom or Nottingham Forest v Blackburn Rovers or Middlesbrough or Leeds United or Stoke City; Southampton v Port Vale or Sheffield United or Bolton Wanderers.

The staggered third-round action for Yorkshire clubs saw only Barnsley play in January. The Reds bowed out 3-0 at home to Everton on January 15.

York City lost 5-0 at Southampton on February 13 and Hull City were beaten 2-0 in a replay with Leyton Orient six days later. Rotherham United lost 2-0 at Watford on February 20.

Huddersfield Town were beaten 5-0 at Manchester United on March 4 and Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday beat Bolton and Shrewsbury three days later, while Bradford City crashed 6-1 at home to Newcastle.

Leeds beat Stoke 3-1 and Middlesbrough triumphed by the same score in a replay with Blackburn on March 11.