With less to play for in the Premier League than we’d have hoped for in these last few weeks, attention has been firmly set on this date: Saturday 25 May.
It’s one of those moments in the schedule you keep free when the season begins. Plans for work, holidays, birthdays or whatever else are discussed and you can spot the football fan with ease — or at least the optimistic, switched-on ones. They pipe up quickly, before anything can be pencilled in, let alone set in stone, to point out, ‘that’s FA Cup final day, keep that free’.
And, in most years, there comes a point in the season when you can safely, with some disappointment, organise an event for that date, knowing you won’t be a part of that special day this time around. And that fate felt inevitable when this season began, simply because teams rarely reach consecutive cup finals. Surely United wouldn’t? Well, we have, via some remarkable moments. So, apologies Mum, first of all, for interrupting your 60th birthday weekend, but we did warn you…
