London - Jaap Stam will make an emotional return to Manchester United next month after his Reading team were drawn at Old Trafford in the FA Cup third round.
Stam was a cult hero in his three years at United and the defensive rock of the team who won the 1999 Treble that included an FA Cup final win against Newcastle.
But he was sold to Lazio in Serie A after manager Sir Alex Ferguson took issue with claims in Stam’s autobiography that he had been ‘tapped up’ by United while he was still a player at PSV Eindhoven.
Ferguson later admitted it was ‘a big mistake’ to let Stam go but the relationship was never healed.
After finishing his playing career and taking coaching roles in Holland at Zwolle and Ajax, 44-year-old Stam took charge of Reading in the summer and soon made an impact.
He has led them to third in the Championship after 19 games but regardless of Reading’s promotion ambitions, he will be back at Old Trafford in the FA Cup to tackle the holders, who won the trophy in May under Louis van Gaal.
Jaap Stam (R) tackles Newcastle striker Alan Shearer. File Photo: Dan Chung/Reuters
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola’s first FA Cup tie will be at West Ham’s London Stadium and Antonio Conte’s will be at Stamford Bridge, where Premier League leaders Chelsea will host Peterborough or Notts County.
Ailing champions Leicester are at Everton, who last won the trophy in 1995, Arsenal travel to Preston and Tottenham are at home against Aston Villa.
Steven Gerrard and Ian Wright, who made the draw, failed to produce any romance for the non-League teams. Barrow were paired with Rochdale at home and Sutton at home against AFC Wimbledon, who came back from 3-0 down to beat Curzon Ashton 4-3 in the second round.
File Photo: Ian Hodgson/Reuters
The winners of Eastleigh and Halifax will go to Brentford. Stourbridge of the Northern Premier, the lowest ranked team in the draw, will travel to Wycombe if they first beat Northampton.
Lincoln City’s reward for beating Oldham 3-2 on Monday night is a trip to Championship side Ipswich.