It’s not the first time that Manchester United have been involved in draw controversy. In the draw for the third round of [the FA Cup](https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zkn247h) back in the 1999-00 season, United weren’t drawn out at all – but on this occasion, it was entirely planned.
1999 was a big year for the club – with the Red Devils completing their astonishing league, cup and European treble. That Champions League win over Bayern Munich earned them a place in a brand new tournament – the Fifa Club World Championship.
The inaugural edition of the competition was set to take place in Brazil in January 2000 and teams faced three group games and a potential final. The Football Association were keen for United to take part in the Fifa competition as they felt it would be a boost to their ultimately doomed bid to host the 2006 World Cup.
Manchester United were concerned that the trip to South America would cause huge fixture congestion and asked the FA to consider giving them a bye to a later round of the FA Cup, allowing them as defending champions to skip the traditional January third and fourth rounds.
The FA came back with another idea – for United to skip the entire competition and withdraw from the tournament to play in Brazil. Reluctantly they accepted the offer.
This then led to an imbalance. The third round is traditionally when the teams from English football’s top two tiers enter the competition and with United out – there was now an odd number.
The FA’s solution – a wild card draw to give a lucky loser a second chance in the competition. Controversially, all the teams who were knocked out in the second round were given the chance to re-enter the competition despite concerns over the integrity of the competition by allowing a defeated team to play again.
Third Division side Darlington – beaten 3-1 in the second round by Gillingham – were the fortunate wild card recipients, but were promptly beaten 2-1 by Aston Villa.