The true ‘romance of the FA Cup’ is when Basildon Town beat Manchester United. Because it can happen. Doesn’t often but that’s what the Cup is all about. Anything is possible. However improbable. That’s the bit that the proponents of the failure that was the EPL missed completely. Never cared about it in the first place and were shocked that any kind of ‘level playing field’ could ever be allowed to stand in the way of increasing their personal fortunes. Well, fuck ‘em; that’s finished.

But another ‘romance of the cup’ is when anyone other than Chelsea, Man City or Arsenal win it. Especially Chelsea because I’ve been conducting a straw poll and they are definitely the team most football fans hate. With good reason. Which I’m not going to tell you. Just trust me: very good reason.

And Leicester City are not in any way a ‘big club’. They were, back in black’n’white days, but then they floundered mostly in the lower leagues for decades. Only to return to the top flight about 5 years ago and, despite being mere impoverished upstarts in the established ‘money buys everything’ years, they won the league. That was romantic. Outstandingly so. To be a relegation-favourite team with little money and beat off the real big (read: ‘rich’) clubs was, in essence, the fulfilment of a wonderfully anachronistic ideology which sustains fans of Bury and Dagenham and Yeovil and Arsenal. And runs contrary to every facet of the EPL.

So for Leicester, everyone’s favourite above-weight-punchers, to beat Chelsea yesterday was a thing of true beauty. Everyone’s other favourite beating the team we all hate. Perfect. And romantic. Because although its ‘only the Cup’, it carries a strange and unique status. Which is that of being greatly diminished from its worthy past and yet still something teams really want to win. And Man City and Chelsea seem to win it most years. Funny that. That richest two clubs in the world (PSG notwithstanding) and they keep winning stuff. But not yesterday. Leicester City won. The romance returned.

And then Spurs just beat Wolves and can still make the top four. If three other teams all just go away. Otherwise its probably Europa Leauge for us next year.

Happy Sunday

A xxxx