The beauty of the FA Cup

As a kid the FA Cup was the highlight of the season, although as a Charlton fan it was and still is extremely rare to make it past the 3rd Round! However it was the non league teams that you had never heard off pre-Google. The giant killings on sticky puddings of a pitch in grounds with no floodlights, the excitement of the draw, the replays that would go on for three or four games, the big crowds, the Wembley songs sung as early as January, semi-final day, and then the final itself when television would cover the event as early as 9am with a special It's a Knockout edition. Ah, the memories..

But then what happened? oh yeh, the Premier League rewrote the history of football, and foreign players and owners didn't give a toss about the beauty of the FA Cup. Oh and Wembley disintegrated and was knocked down and it was almost a decade before it re-opened.

Players with squad numbers of 67 on their back were about the only players interested in playing in the 3rd Round at Gateshead because they were desperate for a game, the superstars didn't want to lower themselves and managers let them. Managers were more worried about winning the Champions League or escaping relegation. Once Man U even gave it a miss, treating it like an insignificant 5-a-side knockabout. They went to Brazil instead. Oh the FA allowed them, yes they were busy kissing FIFA's pimply arse and didn't give a toss either. A lot of good that did them.

Anyway, the last season or two I have seen a little change. Liverpool and Arsenal have realised that they probably have as much chance of winning the Premier League as Gateshead and they need to deliver silverware. Middling Prem teams have seen Cardiff, Portsmouth (twice) and Stoke have their day in the sun. Maybe the 130 year competition has become fashionable again?

Perhaps I'm getting a little carried away but the 3rd Round was a real throwback to the old days. Match of the Day was for once worth staying up or in for.

There were some absolutely stonking games. Wrexham's draw at Brighton, Crawley beat Bristol City, Tamworth did themselves proud at Goodison, Blackpool and Fleetwood played their hearts out in the Fylde derby, Macclesfield compounded Bolton's problems, Neil Warnock was sacked after MK Dons bettered QPR despite a last minute R's equaliser, Stevenage won at Reading and the big shock.... Paulo DiCanio's Swindon beating Wigan.

But of course it wasn't just these games, a 3rd Round will always turn up shocks, a non league hero and the odd decent match but it was the high profile games, which even my son was purring over - see he is a Premier League baby boomer and the Cup has never got him excited.

The Manchester derby, Paul Scholes coming out of retirement and then Thierry Henry scoring after he came on as sub for Arsenal. His 227th goal for the club saw some emotional scenes at The Emirates.

Then there was the 4th Round draw and I can't actually wait for the next round (even though for the umpteenth time Charlton won't be in it!). Liverpool v Man U. After all Evra and Suarez incident stuff. Fireworks will be in short supply at Anfield that day.

Then of course we have the QPR v Chelsea game. The match comes four days before a scheduled court date in which the England captain faces a charge, which he denies, of committing a racially aggravated public order offence by abusing Ferdinand.

A north-east derby between Sunderland and Middlesbrough is also thrown into the mix, a couple of all Prem games and a certain League One side through to the 5th Round after Stevenage were drawn at home to Mad Dog Martin Allen's Notts County.

The FA Cup is back!