FA Cup Final: The Big Four Are Gone, But The Magic Remains

The FA Cup this year has provided perhaps the most exciting and unexpected domestic knockout tournament in living memory, with the big guns falling at every round and the underdogs progressing to the country’s biggest stage.

But after the confetti cannons die down and the groundsmen have finished sweeping the ticker tape, how will this final be remembered, and will the lack of world-class names cause the event to suffer?

This year’s shocks have added spice to what is usually a procession of the major Premier League clubs charging to the showpiece in May.

With Barnsley’s remarkable run, Havant and Waterlooville threatening to cause the biggest "Cupset" in the history of the competition and a winner having not lifted the trophy for at least 69 years, the FA Cup has undergone a major resurgence in 07-08.

But with the biggest players in English football watching the game in the comfort of their homes, the game threatens not to live up to the high expectations expected of the nation’s season finale.

History also threatens to put a damper on the celebratory atmosphere around Wembley on May 17. Neither Cardiff nor Portsmouth have won the Cup since World War II, a statistic which will be in the front of the minds of both sets of players.

These clubs also know that an FA Cup final is an opportunity that will not come across every year of their careers. The fear of losing might just overpower the desire to win as defences could remain firmly on top during the final, making for a game lacking in quality or adventure.

Not only that, but with the dearth of "big names" in the sides, the audience of non-football fans will probably be smaller than in previous years.

Most who do not follow the game will take time out to watch a Manchester United vs. Arsenal final, but the prospect of Portsmouth vs. Cardiff presents something slightly lacking in terms of glamour.

Whilst this will not affect the atmosphere inside the stadium, which will certainly be rocking, the buzz around the country will not have the same edge to it.

Despite all this, I expect the FA Cup final of 2008 to be one that lives long in the memory of football fans. As was seen last year, quality of players does not necessarily equate to quality of match.

Chelsea vs Man United was possibly the most boring cup final of the modern era, with the excitement akin to the middle rounds of an Audley Harrison fight.

The passion of the occasion, the likes of which the vast majority of these players will not have seen before, could and should inject extra enthusiasm into the teams.

Both sets of fans have been looking forward to this match ahead of all others since the semi final wins. Indeed, some of the Portsmouth players seem to have decided that this is the only weekend that now matters as their league form disappears into mediocrity.

Both of these teams will surely see this occasion as the best chance for silverware in the last 20 years, with the only thing between them and the Cup being a side that cannot be seen of the uppermost quality.

Given this, I see a final being played in the greatest of spirit and an example that it is not only the "Big Four" that matter in English football.