The FA Cup may have lost some of its shine for the top sides, but fourth tier Cambridge United have a chance to rekindle some of the competition’s fabled magic against fourth round opponents Manchester United tonight.
The two sides are separated by 76 places in the English league and the tie pitches the country’s most successful team and 11 times winners against the lowest ranked outfit still in the competition.
The chances of an upset are slim, given the huge gulf in wealth, resources and talent, yet the lure of the David vs Goliath tie saw Cambridge fans camp out overnight through freezing conditions to snap up the final few tickets.
Their optimism could prove key to the hosts’ chances, according to Cambridge boss Richard Money.
“I hope they come to the game with some belief that Friday can be the one in one-hundred days that we can cause an upset,” he said on the FA website (thefa.com).
“I hope they come to the game full of optimism.”
The lower league side are certainly not treating it as a lost cause.
Unbeaten in 2015, they go into the game full of confidence and boast a former Manchester United player among their ranks.
Luke Chadwick may not be among Old Trafford’s greatest servants, but he forced his way to the periphery of one of United’s greatest teams and claimed a Premier League winners’ medal in 2001.
After an itinerant career, he returned to the less salubrious surroundings of his boyhood club last year and had more than a passing interest in the fourth round draw.
“I was at my mum’s getting my hair cut and there were only two numbers on my mind... Cambridge and Manchester United,” said Chadwick. “It was utter bedlam in the house when the draw came out.”
The two sides have met twice previously, in a two-legged League Cup tie in 1991 – Cambridge drew the first leg at home before being undone 3-0 at Old Trafford.
FA Cup fixtures
Today: 20.55 Cambridge vs Man. United.
Tomorrow: 13.45 Blackburn vs Swansea. 16.00 Birmingham vs West Brom; Cardiff vs Reading; Chelsea vs Bradford; Derby vs Chesterfield; Man. City vs Middlesbrough; Preston NE vs Sheffield United; Southampton vs Crystal Palace; Sunderland vs Fulham; Tottenham vs Leicester. 18.30 Liverpool vs Bolton Wanderers.
Sunday: 15.00 Bristol City vs West Ham United. 16.00 Aston Villa vs Bournemouth. 17.00 Brighton vs Arsenal.
Monday: 21.00 Rochdale vs Stoke City.