They used to call the FA Cup the little tin idol, and in modern times it's assumed that only the supposedly primitive folk of the lower divisions still venerate it. The fervour they experience, especially on third-round weekend, is meant to be compensation for the hardship of their ragamuffin lives.
Today every eye swoops on the picturesque tales. Jefferson Louis plays for Oxford United against Arsenal, his boyhood heroes, just over a year after being released from prison, where he had been doing time for driving offences. Kevin Ratcliffe's Shrewsbury face Everton, the side he captained at the age of 23 in the 1984 FA Cup final success over Watford.
This year, however, the soft-focus lens is not an essential piece of kit for anyone who wishes to see the tournament at its most attractive. The appeal is overwhelming for clubs who realise they can no longer afford to be snooty about the FA Cup.
Bobby Robson has always been too much of a romantic to resist the allure of a knock-out competition and Newcastle United should be just as starry-eyed. Despite the anti-climactic finals of 1998 and 1999, Newcastle must warm to the FA Cup once again as the best hope of their first major honour since the 1969 Fairs Cup.
Liverpool, above all, will embrace any occasion in which there are no points at stake. With four draws as the most dignified element of their desultory form in the last 10 Premiership fixtures, Gerard Houllier's team relish any escape from a league they had planned to dominate. During that pitiful spell they have still knocked Ipswich Town and Aston Villa out of the League Cup, as well as beating Vitesse Arnhem home and away in the UEFA Cup.
Liverpool are still flourishing in the three competitions they won in 2001 and ought to negotiate the two-legged League Cup semi-final with Sheffield United that begins at Bramall Lane on Wednesday. Auxerre must be dealt with in the UEFA Cup fourth round, but the remaining participants in that competition are not as distinguished as they were two years ago when Liverpool had to jostle past Roma, Porto and Barcelona.
Before any feeling of anticipation can well up, though, the side need an invigorating result. Tomorrow's trip to Maine Road must make the flesh prickle with anticipation and anxiety. Regrettably for Liverpool, the fact that this is one of the six all-Premiership ties means that their emotions will be mirrored flawlessly in the Manchester City ranks.
Liverpool no longer run a match with the shrewdness that was so apparent in 2001. Then Gary McAllister, at 36, was giving some of the best performances of his career, varying pace and direction to stop Liverpool's style from lapsing into grinding monotony. Houllier cannot be faulted for the fact that the Scot grew too old to operate in the Premiership, but he was unable to find anyone to fill that role adequately.
Liverpool are to be bracketed with Chelsea, who meet Middlesbrough, as a side who know they will be prominent rather than supreme in the Premiership this season. For such clubs the FA Cup arrives just as they need something new on which to pin their attention and hopes.
The situation is not as clear for Newcastle, but the collapsible condition of their defence in away matches means they will probably not gather sufficient league points from beyond St James' Park. Recognition of that, as well as Bobby Robson's failure to tempt Leeds into parting with Jonathan Woodgate, tempered the manager's assessment of his Premiership prospects.
Those same limitations are not suspended when a club ease themselves into another competition. At Molineux there will surely be more frantic episodes for Newcastle to endure, even if the most torrid period of all is currently tormenting the Wolves manager. A vote of confidence is about the only thing he has not had to bear. Jack Hayward, the chairman, has stated harshly that Dave Jones's position is being reviewed on a game-by-game basis.
The paranoia of the fans can appear to be a rational stance. Perhaps the Wolves side really do have impressive spells only so that the woe will be all the more acute later. How else is one supposed to account for a run in the First Division that has seen 10 matches without defeat followed by five without a win? Wolves are as much in need of a change of scene as Liverpool and they will try to treat Newcastle's arrival as the cue for a transformation.
The third round is not just a fund-raising event for the poorer clubs. It is also a priority for some of the most prominent members of the Premiership. But treating it seriously will not guarantee success for Liverpool or Newcastle. They cannot be sure it will suffice for them to have much wealth, a multitude of good footballers and a surfeit of celebrity. There is no monopoly on the aggression and hunger which will be so influential this weekend.
Guardian Service
