For those who have never been fortunate to experience the magic of the FA Cup then 28 years ago today it was almost as good as it ever got.
28th January 1984 a date etched in the mind of anyone born before about 1974, then as of today Saints had a 4th round FA Cup tie being played at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon, as we travelled the sort journey eastward for the much waited meeting with our upstart South Coast neighbours Portsmouth.
I dont think anyone young or old needs reminding of the score, 1-0 or the scorer Steve Moran or even when the goal was scored, the 90th minute, but perhaps younger supporters cant remember that time when the FA Cup was truly magical, fans talked about nothing else from the moment the draw was made and long after a game was won or lost.
This one was of course unforgettable, sadly of course even for Pompey fans who much as they would like to forget, know that they witnessed one of the great meetings in the history of the two clubs, arguably perhaps THE greatest one.
So today at around 4.40pm cast you mind back to Fratton and think of how the FA Cup used to be and indeed should be again, packed grounds full of supporters knowing that football is all about glory and not staying in a league that they have no chance of winning purely for the money, the FA Cup used to offer that glory, reserve teams werent played, and as Saints themselves had showed even sides in the second tier had a decent chance of winning it.
But back to Fratton Park on that January day 36,000 packed into the ground, over 10,000 Saints fans officially there and maybe a thousand or more in the home sections, will be ever see the like of this in the FA Cup again, or are we all destined to merely be teams that yearn to be in the Premier league for the money knowing that is all we wll be there for and oh because Man Utd & Chelsea etc cant play each other every week.