Saddlers miss out on TV money

If Tamworth beat Stoke City in their 3rd round replay then the 4th round tie against either us or Barnsley will NOT be shown live on either BBC or Sky. This is some what surprising because if Tamworth did get through then you would think they would deserve the national exposure? Obviously not!! The TV stations have decided to show the teams with the larger fan bases instead of the romantic tie. In fairness there would be every chance of an upst if we were to play at the Lamb. Tamworth would have earnt their place the hard way having beaten Bournemouth and Hartlepool on their travels. Not bad for a team struggling in the Nationwide Conference!!

The ties that will be shown on TV are

Saturday 28 January 2006
2	Cheltenham Town or Chester City	v	Newcastle United
	Live on BBC, 12.30pm
7	Bolton Wanderers	v	Arsenal
	Live on BBC, 5.40pm
Sunday 29 January 2006
16	Wolverhampton Wanderers	v	Burton Albion or Manchester United
	Live on Sky, 4pm
5	Portsmouth	v	Liverpool
	Live on BBC, 6pm

Each team will receive £150,000 for the appearence. Its unlucky for Tamworth as they have not appeared live throughout their cup run to date. Walsall of course appeared on SKY TV in the first round trip to Merthyr Tydfil.