FA Cup draw throws up potentially mouthwatering West Brom v Wolves tie
The FA Cup fourth round draw served up a potentially mouthwatering Black Country derby between Albion and Wolves.
Should Wolves come through a Molineux replay against Premier League rivals Brentford, with a date still to be confirmed, they will travel to The Hawthorns at the end of this month.
It would be the first fierce derby between the arch rivals since the 2020/21 season, where two Premier League fixtures – a 3-2 Albion win at Molineux and 1-1 Hawthorns draw – were played behind closed doors.
It would be the first derby with fans in the ground since 2012.
The tie would put to the test some underwhelming Wolves records against the Baggies, including an 11-match winless run at Albion’s home stretching back to September 1996, in a 4-2 First Division success.
Four-time FA Cup winners Wolves’ record in the competition at The Hawthorns is just as fruitless. The clubs have met 11 times in the competition – first in 1886 and most recently in 2007 – with Albion winners on eight occasions. Wolves have won just once, in the 1948/49 season – the season the Molineux men won the third of their four crowns in the competition. There have been two draws which went to replays.
The last time The Hawthorns hosted an FA Cup tie between the rivals was in 1931. The last five meetings in the competition have come at Molineux.
Albion, who have won the competition on five occasions and most recently in 1968, cruised through their third round tie against National League outfit Aldershot Town on Sunday, as Wolves earned a replay following a 1-1 draw against Brentford two days earlier.
The duo’s previous FA Cup meeting came at Molineux in the fourth round on January 28, 2007, as visitors Albion stormed to a 3-0 success. If selected for broadcast on Sunday later this month, the tie would take place exactly 17 years on.
Diomansy Kamara, Kevin Phillips and Zoltan Gera were on target for the victors that day.
Iwan Roberts was the hero the last time Wolves were victorious at The Hawthorns. The former Leicester man netted a hat-trick in that 4-2 success, with former Baggie Steve Bull also on target for Mark McGhee’s side.
Since that day, Wolves have won four of 24 attempts against their bitter rivals from across the Black Country divide.
Elsewhere, Villa will travel to Chelsea in all Premier League tie. All ties will be played on the weekend of Saturday January 27.
