Sheffield Wednesday have discovered their first FA Cup opponents of the season

Sheffield Wednesday have discovered their first opponents in this year’s FA Cup, with Tony Pulis’ Owls pitted against Exeter City away from home.

Wednesday had a pretty good time of it in the competition last season, making it through to the Fifth Round under Garry Monk before eventually being knocked out by Premier League giants, Manchester City.

The Owls knocked out Brighton & Hove Albion along the way, picking up their first FA Cup win over Premier League opposition in 27 years.

Prior to Adam Reach scoring the winner over Brighton, the last time SWFC beat top-flight opposition in the FA Cup was back in the 1993 semifinal against city rivals, Sheffield United.

Wednesday will now lock horns with Exeter as they look to make it past the third round for the fourth year in a row, with the game set to take place on the second weekend of January.

The FA website stated, “This season's third round proper will take place across the weekend of Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 January 2021, with the 32 winning clubs at this stage collecting £82,000 from the competition's prize fund.”

New Owls manager, Tony Pulis, will have fond memories of the FA Cup having taken his Stoke City side on an incredible run to the final in 2011, though they fell at the final hurdle thanks to a Yaya Touré winner for Manchester City.

Wednesday haven’t faced Exeter too many times over the years, but it didn’t go too well for the Owls last time they made the trip to St James Park, losing 2-1 in 2012 during their time down in League One.

Looking back, it’s actually the Grecians who have the better record - they’ve won seven of the 11 meetings between the clubs since the first game (a 3-1 Exeter win in 1968), and lost just three. Wednesday have never won away at Exeter, which is a record that Pulis will be desperate to bring to an end in a few weeks’ time when his side take a bit of a break from league action to focus on the cup.

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