The FA Cup fifth round- almost Wembley bound but not quite

The FA Cup fifth round- almost Wembley bound but not quite.

Football has always had time for the FA Cup. Many of us are distinctly aware of its central themes and narratives. The FA Cup, of course, is renowned for its giant killers, its romantic liaisons, its moonlit rendezvous by the river Seine, its gallant heroes, its timeless value, its nationwide fascination, the shock results, the non League goal-scorers who were builders by  day and then valiant knights in shining armour by the evening. In the world of football the FA Cup is unique, irreplaceable and a huge topic of discussion. In fact we talk about nothing else if our team can almost smell the strong scent of Wembley Stadium and the Cup Final.

So what exactly will the potential giant killers be thinking of by the time I've written this piece? I've just been informed by my son that Lincoln City have just created a monumentally seismic shock by beating Burnley at Turfmoor 1-0. Now the truth is that none could have possibly imagined that a non League side who used to be in the old Fourth Division, could, quite plausibly, reach a Wembley FA Cup Final in even their wildest dreams.

 But how the FA Cup continues to make faces behind football's back and and leaves most of us breathless. So much for Burnley and your proud history. I bet you couldn't have seen that one coming. For a day Burnley were given the most rude awakening and to think that once they were proud winners of the League- or the old First Division. Quite frankly the FA Cup affords little respect for the presumptuous or the pompous.

 And yet it's happened and how amazing is that? We wish them well on their way and can hardly believe what's happened. But the FA Cup has that almost rare capacity to upset everybody when least expected. The FA Cup can creep up on you and just surprise you which can only boost the morale of those who believe that only the big teams should win the FA Cup. I kid you not the FA Cup has woven its magic spell, summoned up its fighting spirit and caught us off  guard. The headline makers had dominated the back pages again. Wow who would have thought it. Lincoln City are in the FA Cup quarter finals and football is still getting its breath back.

On Monday evening, the laws and averages. the probabilities and possibilities that the FA Cup can so often throw up will create havoc with our emotions. Non League Sutton United, who in 1989  once upset everybody's Saturday afternoon's expectations by beating the then old First Division Coventry City, can only think their birthdays have arrived all at once. Maybe they were still blowing out the candles.

Sutton United, those dogged non League battlers from the Surrey stockbroker belt had the audacity and the effrontery to knock over Coventry City who 20 years before had been one of the most visionary teams of the late 1960s with a bearded Jimmy Hill as chairman. Coventry, as is well documented, had reached the FA Cup Final two years later and won the FA Cup. But on a far distant day Sutton's gorgeous Gander Green Lane was the venue of one of the biggest shocks in FA Cup history and Coventry must have felt both degraded, demeaned and ever so slightly embarrassed. Now how's that for a shock, more of an electric shock I'd say.

But the FA Cup adores its social climbers, its humble upstarts,  its blatant disregard of form and fancy, its vast democratic reach and the players who dream the impossible. When the newsagents, postmen, milkmen, lorry drivers, cleaners and gardeners part company with their non League duties and focus on FA Cup glory, most of us begin to believe that the dreamers are entitled to their dreams. Because if you don't have a dream. Oh happy, happy talk. Sorry, that line bears no relation to the FA Cup.

And so it is that on Monday evening Sutton United will be rushing into their dressing rooms on a cracking, electrifying evening in the heart of Surrey. The citizens of Sutton will sprint home from their day in the office and wonder if they'll ever experience another night like it. Sutton United will come face to face with Arsenal, a side of world class internationals, a tradition the size of a continent and a reputation so formidable that Sutton might be questioning their motives for even turning up.

So it's Sutton United meets Arsenal. Now if all goes according to plan and everybody does what they're told to do then Arsenal should run up the most colossal cricket score. In fact it could be said that Sutton United should do themselves an immense favour and just stay at home. But oh no this is not going to happen because we all love the underdog, the teams who just play for the personal satisfaction of being there and soaking up the big time atmosphere.

But we embrace the FA Cup does its utmost to smooth out the level playing field, flipping up social hierarchies on their head and making monkeys of us all. Lincoln are ever so slightly light headed and dizzy with delirium. This is not supposed to happen in the FA Cup. Those small time Non League minnows should just mind their business and leave the greatest Cup competition alone. But then the cathedral city of Lincoln will be drinking themselves silly, singing their songs deep into the night and quite possibly lifting that famous old Cup high into the Wembley air. You can be assured the likes of Sutton United and Lincoln City have always been our fanciful fantasists and who knows? Besides Donald Trump became the 45th President of the United States. Now what were the odds on that.