Magic of the Cup is back in earnest

PETER CROUCH began the season being booed onto the pitch by England supporters.

He hopes to end it with an FA Cup final medal today before flying off for the chance of even greater glory as an established member of Sven-Goran Eriksson’s World Cup squad.

If anyone epitomised the fluctuating and fickle nature of the world’s most popular game then it is the 6ft 7ins Liverpool striker If anything epitomised its enduring appeal, however, it is the FA Cup final.

True, the competition has experienced testing times in recent years with falling attendances and the relentless march of the Champions League. None more so than the year Man United withdrew altogether for a tin-pot tournament in Brazil.

But the FA Cup is back in vogue. Thanks in part to the romance lent to it by sides such as Burton Albion, Tamworth and Nuneaton, who this season all threatened giant-killing acts.

Thanks also to the big clubs once more taking it seriously, the collision of Chelsea and Liverpool in the semi-final being a classic example of English football at its exciting best.

Thanks mostly, however, to a club such as West Ham who have shown how swift renaissance can be in football when a board backs a manager and ignores the mob at the door.

The West Ham fans who not much more than 12 months ago hurled vile insults at manager Alan Pardew and his family as he negotiated a tricky patch in attempting to return the club to the Premiership should hang their heads in shame.To his great credit Pardew ignored the abuse and simply got on with the job to the best of his ability.

The result? Ninth place in the Premiership, a guaranteed spot in the UEFA Cup next season and a day out at the Millennium stadium.

Pardew played in the first round for non-league Whyteleafe in front of a handful of supporters. It was his goal for Crystal Palace which knocked out Liverpool in the 1990 semi-finals.

He also played in the 1990 final and resulting replay when Palace lost to Manchester United.

Can Pardew carry off the big prize?

In truth it is difficult to see how. Liverpool are stronger in every department. Sami Hyypia and Jamie Carragher are positively mean at the back while Liverpool’s midfield is as strong as any in the country.

And they have Steven Gerrard, a midfielder who has scored 21 goals this season and is an all-round inspiration.

West Ham’s hope is Liverpool’s problem of scoring.

However, it promises to be a good day for the neutrals.

In terms of quality the sides are light years apart. After all, Liverpool were European champions last season, West Ham were in the championship.

But one-off football matches do not always come down to the best players.

They sometimes come down to heart and passion and preparation, as Liverpool know to their cost having succumbed to one of the game’s biggest shocks when they lost to Wimbledon at Wembley in 1988.

It might happen again but I doubt it. Instead I expect Crouch to be cheered on and off the pitch and the FA Cup to be bedecked in the famous red of Liverpool.