How Man Utd fared in only previous FA Cup away game in Wales

Manchester United face an unfamiliar journey in the FA Cup fourth round this season.

The 12-time winners of the competition will travel to Newport County’s Rodney Parade as they seek to continue making up for their FA Cup final defeat to local rivals Manchester City last season. For the Welsh side from League Two, it’s a simply colossal occasion.

It will be only the second time that United have visited Wales for an away game in the FA Cup before and the first for almost 70 years. So, what happened the last time?

Man Utd’s last trip to Wales in the FA Cup – excluding neutral clashes at the Millennium Stadium – involved a visit to Wrexham in the fourth round of the competition in early 1957, the first time the two clubs would ever meet in a competitive fixture. 35,000 fans descended on the historic Racecourse Ground to witness the Welsh underdogs take on Matt Busby’s rising babes.

The Red Devils had already endured a surprisingly challenging clash with third division Hartlepool in the previous round, beating the north east side 4-3 in a thriller at Victoria Park. However, things would be a little more straightforward up against Wrexham.

It took just seven minutes for the Red Devils to edge in front, Liam Whelan striking to break the deadlock following a corner from Colin Webster. The Welsh assist provider was then instrumental in United doubling their advantage, winning a penalty that Roger Byrne converted with 16 minutes gone.

A long afternoon for the Red Dragons got even worse before the break, Tommy Taylor’s backheel making it three after yet another Webster assist. Taylor would then set up Whelan for his second of the game just two minutes after the restart to put the contest well beyond doubt.

Taylor capped an impressive display with a brace of his own, heading home from a corner to finish the scoring with over half an hour to play. The encounter ended 5-0 in the visiting side’s favour.

United comfortably progressed to the fifth round, where they would see off Everton before subsequent victories against Bournemouth and Birmingham City set up an FA Cup final against Aston Villa. Unfortunately for Busby’s team, who were crowned league champions for the second successive season, they fell to a narrow 2-1 defeat at Wembley thanks to Villa striker Peter McParland’s double. A year later, a heavily depleted United side led by assistant Jimmy Murphy returned to the final mere months after the Munich air disaster had claimed the lives of eight players and left Busby fighting for his own. Sadly, there would be no fairytale as Bolton Wanderers won.