United In The Capital

“The second of their 3 steps to heaven”

The famous words of Clive Tyldesley as Manchester United players joined in a celebratory armoury at Wembley stadium 22/05/1999 with the FA Cup placed in the middle. In what would be the greatest 10 days in the club’s history, Roy Keane led his army of then to be treble winners up the Wembley steps to lift the oldest cup competition in the world. The Fa Cup and Manchester United have always had a strong romance. From Busby’s European triumph at Wembley 68, United won the FA Cup 4 times, the only silverware served up until the boss arrived from Govan.

From a Manchester United’s fan perspective, more so than any other club in my opinion, the cup means a lot more to the fans. A club used to winning leagues and European trophies, the cup has given me and other United supporters some of the best memories over the years.

My earliest memory and the reason I fell in love with Manchester United was Eric Cantona’s 85^th minute minute winner against Liverpool in 1996. A fitting way to silence the Scoucers and their infamous white suits. "Who designed that? They say it was Armani. I bet his sales went down." Classic Fergie.

Another famous cup victory parade was the 85 meeting with Everton. Down to 10 men and Whiteside curls a beauty past Southall, not for the first time, the determination of Manchester United had deprived Merseyside of a treble.

Who can forget the 1994 cup final against tomorrows opponents Chelsea where a 4-0 whipping was handed out to the rents on a rainy day at Wembley which completed the league and cup double. King Eric again the star of the show.

Having held and hopefully tomorrow will be reclaiming the joint record for winning the oldest knockout tournament in world football the most times, you can see why a trip to the capital will always get the United fans excited. Having mentioned previous cup success has provided great moment in times where United have been starved of league success. Fingers crossed tomorrow at Wembley will be no different.

United fans will descend on the capital tomorrow morning and rest assured will be well oiled up by the time kick off comes around with the hope of creating absolute scenes for a last minute United winner. The red scarlet ribbons, one can only pray will be blowing freely in the Wembley evening breeze tomorrow night. This can only mean one thing, UNITED IN THE CAPITAL!

“UTD UTD UTD”

Ian