Pougatch: a proper FA Cup final
My colleague Ian Payne says you can always tell someone's age based upon the first FA Cup Final they can remember. Mine was 1974, Liverpool against Newcastle. I was six, my parents went racing and I remember watching the game on a telly in the kitchen as Kevin Keegan scored twice to send Malcom McDonald's sideburns home very unhappy indeed.
You've got to accept the march of time and the Cup Final's not what it was when I was growing up but it's still a major day in the football calendar, and my experiences of working at them for the past decade are shaped by who the two protagonists are.
Of course, both Manchester United and Chelsea fans wanted to win it in 2007, but being at Wembley was no novelty for them and so there was no early rush to sample the atmosphere by the supporters.
A year later, Wembley Way was awash with Cardiff and Portsmouth fans by midday, even though it was raining. I interviewed a trio of brothers who'd all got together for the big day - one from the States, one from Australia and one who'd popped up the M4 from South Wales. Their club being in the Cup Final was a once in a lifetime opportunity and they were not going to pass it up.
We took a choral singer with us that year down Wembley Way, singing Abide with Me with fans and other songs. It was great fun and part of the Cup Final experience.
In the first part of the last decade the finals were held in Cardiff, of course, and the Southampton fans had packed out their end in 2003 a good two hours before kick off, faces painted, flags waving, soaking up and savouring every second of a day that will probably not be repeated for a generation.
Three years later, West Ham's bubbles blew down the motorway and, wedged into the press seats next to their huge, hulking former goalkeeper Phil Parkes, I felt his weight sag against me when Steven Gerrard scored his magnificent last gasp equaliser.
Cardiff was a brilliant venue, an atmospheric stadium right in the middle of town, and it provided its own moments: Michael Owen's pilfering of the trophy in 2001, Ray Parlour's long range thunderbolt a year later and Liverpool winning on penalties after Gerrard's goal, but Wembley is the spiritual home of the English game and we were all excited by returning there.
This weekend is along the lines of the Cardiff-Pompey game for me in that both sets of fans are so excited about being in the Final. Yes, Man City have oodles of money but they haven't been in the final for 30 years, and Stoke have never reached this Wembley showpiece occasion.
For me, two friends - one a Stoke fan, one City - summed it up in identical texts after the semi finals. "I can't believe it. It's so exciting. I wish my dad could be here to see this."
It's still the greatest knock out competition in the world, so enjoy it with us this weekend.
Mark Pougatch presents 5 live Sport every Saturday, and will have all the build-up to the Cup Final.
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