Author: BBC Sport
Michael EmonsCopyright: Michael Emons
This match is a repeat of last year’s FA Cup third-round tie when Blackpool, then a Championship side, easily defeated a much-changed Nottingham Forest outfit, with the Tangerines winning 4-1 at Bloomfield Road before losing to then-Premier League Southampton in round four.
That was only the third time in the past 12 seasons that Blackpool have been in the fourth round.
Both of these sides have lifted the FA Cup before. Forest on two occasions, in 1897-98 and 1958-59, thanks to wins over Derby and Luton respectively, with Forest losing 2-1 to Tottenham in the 1991 final.
Blackpool’s greatest moment in their history came in the FA Cup, when they won the 1952-53 tournament by beating Bolton 4-3 in a seven-goal thriller in front of 100,000 people at Wembley Stadium.
The match is known as the ‘Matthews Final’ for the role a then 38-year-old Stanley Matthews played in helping them fight back from 3-1 down to win the final, which also included a hat-trick from Stan Mortensen and a 92nd-minute winner from Bill Perry as Joe Smith’s side lifted the cup.
They had come close twice before but lost in the 1948 and 1951 finals, against Manchester United and Newcastle respectively.