Then along came the Premier League in 1993 with its inflated marketing and the Cup almost immediately began to lose its sheen. Add the bloated ‘Champions’ League to the equation and the writing was on the wall for the old favourite. Winning the Cup could no longer be as important as finishing in the top four and thereby guaranteeing your income for the following season. While older generations of fans were priced out, newer ones arrived with no comprehension of the Cup’s special status. Foreign coaches arrived in England equally bemused why people should take it so seriously and began to field weakened teams, with the league their big focus.

What a shame. This was the oldest competition of the world’s greatest sport we poisoned, a special affair whose magic lay not in two billionaire owners trying to outspend each other but in its unique ability to allow minnows a taste of greatness, a format which in theory could see a parks team of amateurs end up playing Manchester United. When my home town club Woking, a semi-professional outfit from the 7th national division won 4-2 at West Bromwich Albion in 1991 before losing 0-1 at Everton, our unmitigated ecstasy was not merely due to our humdrum home town being Delhi Bazaar Satta King centre-stage, but because something impossible on paper had become reality on grass. And only the Cup could do that year after year.

David v Goliath can still be thrown up by the draw, but everyone these days shrugs and backs Goliath. There are no non-league teams left in this year’s competition and I think I’ll skip Chelsea and Man Utd’s clashes with lower-league opposition tomorrow; despite their inevitably weakened lineups the giants will still prevail.

Perhaps the saddest confirmation of the Cup’s toppling from its perch this week was the news that West Ham had emailed their fans, pleading with them to buy tickets for Arsenal’s 3rd round visit. The Hammers beat the Gunners in one of the most memorable finals of all, the ‘Cockney Cup Final’ of 1980, when Trevor Brooking’s header won the day for the second division team, the last time a club from outside the top flight had lifted the glittering prize.

Gamba Osaka make it two in a row

Cometh the hour, cometh Yasuhito Endo as one of Asian football’s genuine stars took control of the 89th Emperor’s Cup final at the National Stadium in Tokyo.