279B: The FA Cup, The Trophy Cabinet, Merlin’s F.A. Premier League 2000, Millennium Edition Sticker Collection

The first weekend of January can only mean the Third Round of the oldest club football competition and time to raid the kitchen drawers for as much tin foil as you can find to fashion yourself a piece of silverware for a freezing Saturday afternoon of potential drama. This being 2024, however, the first fixture took place on Thursday and saw two lower mid-table Premier League sides play out an uninspiring draw with notable absentees from their starting elevens which only gained any passing interest due to a contentious VAR decision. Crystal Palace and Everton, no doubt both hoping to forego the magic of the cup to focus on the league, will meet again in a replay which will probably produce another draw and go to penalties. Worst still are the managers in the upper echelons of the top flight who use this special time of year to complain about fixture congestion and suggest ways in which the competition can be further dismissed. It will be music to their ears, therefore, that the Football Association is likely to scrap replays from next season to allow England’s most likeable clubs to free up time in their schedules for the newest incarnation of risible European Super League project.

Only one of us here at A Sticker’s Worth 500 Words has ever experienced FA Cup glory supporting the clubs we do yet it remains one of the things we all love about the game and the potential of an upset when the big boys join in the Third Round is at the core of the tournament’s appeal. Perhaps the rot set in when Manchester United decided to give the FA Cup a miss back in 1999/2000 in favour of continental chaos. Over to Mat.

As a fan of privilege (supporting United not one silver spoons) the FA Cup probably has a different place in my footballing mind. For one, my club has, in most years and not one where the club is imploding more than usual, a chance of winning.

What first came to mind about the magic of the FA Cup, however, was when my club seriously questioned it, leading to sensationalist headlines from the Daily Mirror asking “Is there anyone left in Britain who does not think Man United should be in the cup?”. The 1998/99 Treble winners (we did it first City) were entered into the new FIFA Club World Cup but fixture congestion coupled with pressure from government and footballing bodies. United felt they were put under unfair political pressure by then-Sports Minister Tony Banks and the FA, and were unable to juggle the league, League Cup, Champions League, Club World Cup and Intercontinental Cup games with the FA Cup games as well.

All I know is that the FIFA Club World Cup was a bust – “Gary Neville and Laurent Blanc being pantsed by Romario”, “Edmundo deciding to ruin it”, and “Beckham getting sent off against some made up lads for trying to Keane on Haaland someone” in the words of my collaborators. Being knocked out against part-time Australians didn’t help either. What made it worse is that we won the Intercontinental Cup in November 1999 (but who remembers or cares?) and couldn’t defend our FA Cup title, allowing Chelsea to win it. Shame. Back to Manny.

There have, of course, still been a suitable number of FA Cup upsets in the Third Round in recent years. Despite missing out on the competition in the 1999/2000 season Sir Alex Ferguson did get to enjoy seeing his son Darren score and assist to help pre-Hollywood Wrexham knock out Premier League Middlesbrough. An Everton side featuring a teenage Wayne Rooney were embarrassed by Shrewsbury Town back in 2003 while Newcastle United were humbled by Stevenage in 2011. The previous year Reading had their own Third Round fairy tale. Over to Emlyn.

My favourite Third Round moment was in the 2009/10 season when Reading were in the relegation zone of the Championship and drew Liverpool which seemed likely to end in a miserable result. After a surprise 1-1 draw at the Madejski Stadium the midweek replay was in snow-covered Merseyside.

I’d travelled up with my housemates at the time and stayed overnight at an avid Liverpool fan’s house ahead of the game, for which we had tickets in the home Centenary Stand. Being in the home stand I had to hide my displeasure at Liverpool’s opening goal and avoid celebrating the late penalty equaliser. For added comedy Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard went off injured before Brynjar Gunnarsson set up Shane Long for the winner to the fury of those around me. Back to Manny.

The beauty of knockout football is that an early shock win can build momentum and set up a surprise run to the later rounds. Back in 2009/10 Reading went on to the Sixth Round courtesy of further victories over Premier League opposition in the forms of Burnley and West Bromwich Albion and knocked out the Baggies again the following year before besting Everton on another run to the last eight. In the 2016/17 tournament non-league Lincoln City knocked out Championship Ipswich Town in the Third Round, second tier Brighton and Hove Albion in the Fourth Round before the scalp of Premier League Burnley to set up a quarter-final against Arsenal. Grimsby Town enjoyed similar joy just last season having embarrassed Burton Albion, Luton Town and top flight Southampton. Over to Rich for the drama of the draw.

After the heady years where Grimsby Town were in the Championship and the Third Round was a God given right it has been slim pickings as far as memories go. In fact since we exited English football’s second tier at the end of the 2002/03 season we have only qualified for the Third Round three times.

That said, as the draw approaches, there is always the overriding thoughts of “let it be Man United at Old Trafford for the excitement and boost to the coffers, or a nice easy draw against a sixth tier side so we can get through to the next round”. It rarely ever happens like that. Normally, as the numbers are pulled from the velvet bag, you see your hopes fading away until you hear the inevitable “Number 27, Preston North End, will play number 16, Grimsby Town”. Unglamorous and unwinnable – the perfect combination.

Then again I do still believe in the magic of the cup. I mean, we got to the bloody Quarter Final last year! Back to Manny.

This year the Third Round has a handful of potential banana skins although to describe some of these sides as minnows is to disregard the history of the tournament. Ipswich Town may be flying high in the Championship but defeat to League Two AFC Wimbledon would see the 1988 winners through. Manchester United could add to their host of woes with defeat to 2013 champions Wigan Athletic who currently sit in the lower reaches of League One. Non-league representation from Maidstone United, Chesterfield, Eastleigh and Aldershot Town could see league opposition ousted from the tournament and the majority of neutrals will be in their corner. Although this year’s fixture spread has turned one of my favourite weekends of the footballing calendar into a pastiche of an old Mitchell and Webb sketch it’s almost impossible to not get wrapped up in the excitement. After all the idea that anyone can beat anyone else at any given moment is what keeps us all dreaming and believing in the magic of the cup.

Let us know what your favourite Third Round memories are on Twitter and if you fancy writing for us in the coming months we’d love to hear from you. Our first guest spot is due out in two weeks time.