TIME to roll out the cliches once more... it's FA Cup Third Round day!
Last season, in this post 'The magic of the Cup...', I wrote about the hackneyed phrases which commentators fall back upon on this particular weekend.
Yet, amazingly as a Newcastle United supporter, I failed to mention what has perhaps become the biggest cliche of the FA Cup Third Round - Ronnie f*cking Radford.
Radford, of course, was the man who scored this absolute screamer to level the replay for Hereford United at Edgar Street before Ricky George fired in an extra time winner.
Newcastle became only the second top division club since the war to lose to non-league opponents after north-east neighbours Sunderland had lost to Yeovil Town in 1949.
But the BBC has never allowed Newcastle to forget their nightmare on Edgar Street in 1972.
It did not help that John Motson was on one of his first assignments and basically made his name from it, going on to be one of the BBC's top commentators for over 30 years.
Perhaps, last season, I had somehow managed successfully to block the whole episode from memory but this year seems more appropriate than any to bring the whole thing back up.
For, in their wisdom, the FA have now decided to immortalise Radford by creating a new award named after him which recognises the most impressive giant-killing act of the campaign.
Meanwhile, Newcastle have been drawn against another current occupant of League Two which caused them a shock as a non-league outfit - Stevenage.
In their previous tie in 1998, Newcastle eventually prevailed against the then-named Stevenage Borough on their way to the FA Cup Final but only after a replay and an unsavoury build-up.
The pre-match spat centred on where to stage the tie with Stevenage originally poised to move it to St James Park over safety concerns about a big crowd at Broadhall Way.
But then SkySports stepped in and offered the Boro money and exposure if they played the match at home.
The then-Newcastle manager Kenny Dalglish, perhaps over-sensitised by the Hillsborough disaster less than a decade earlier, questioned the morality of Stevenage's decision.
However, as the dispute even hit the BBC's Newsnight programme, Dalglish bizarrely commented: "We'll play you anywhere, Hackney Marshes, anywhere."
Eventually, relations between the two clubs became so frosty that the FA stepped in and ruled in Stevenage's favour and the then-Conference club duly erected a rickety temporary stand outside the ground to house the away fans.
Alan Shearer, in his comeback match after a long layoff, opened the scoring after just two minutes with a header but Stevenage showed no signs of lying down.
Giuliano Grazioli wrote his name in FA Cup folklore with the equaliser as Newcastle, in a roundabout way, got their wish as the tie moved to St James Park.
The Premier League club found it no easier there with only an Alan Shearer brace including a disputed goal sparing the blushes of Dalglish's men in a 2-1 win.
Thankfully, the run-up to this year's match has not seen any barbs exchanged between the two sides.
Stevenage are now in the Football League with a vastly improved ground which Newcastle should have no problem visiting.
But Dalglish is back on centre-stage elsewhere as he takes charge of Liverpool for the first time in 20 years - at Old Trafford against Manchester United.
This morning, the limp reign of Roy Hodgson at Anfield finally came to an end by mutual consent after just six months.
The former Fulham boss had overseen home defeats to Northampton Town, Blackpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers, and had recorded just one away league win out of 10.
When Dalglish was last in charge of the Reds, they were the undisputed top club in England with 18 League Championships to Manchester United's seven.
But, since then, the Red Devils have evened up the score with 11 titles since the inauguration of the Premier League in 1992-93.
In the FA Cup, Liverpool won the last tie between the two sides in the Fifth Round in 2006 when Peter Crouch netted the only goal at Anfield while Alan Smith was carried off with a horrific leg injury.
However, Manchester United have held the upper-hand otherwise with victory in the seven previous ties before that, including the 1977 and 1996 Finals.
There is another grudge match with Leeds United taking on Arsenal, a repeat of the 1972 Final which the Yorkshire club won 1-0 through an Allan Clarke diving header.
A classic top division tie in days of yore, Leeds have fallen on hard times recently, of course, but Simon Grayson's men stunned Manchester United at Old Trafford last season with a 1-0 win.
That win came as a League One club - now Leeds are in the stronger position of being a Championship team - who knows what they will achieve at the Emirates this time around?
In the other ties selected for television coverage, Manchester City will have their work cut out against a Leicester City side that has only lost once at home since former City boss Sven Goran Eriksson took charge in October.
And Leicester's fellow East Midlanders Derby County will have to be watchful on their visit to Blue Square Premier high-flyers Crawley Town on Monday night.
FA Cup Third Round 2011
Televised ties:
Arsenal 1-1 Leeds United (12:45, ITV)
Stevenage 3-1 Newcastle United (5:30, ESPN)
Manchester United 1-0 Liverpool (1:30 Sunday, ITV)
Leicester City 2-2 Manchester City (4:00 Sunday, ESPN)
Crawley Town 2-1 Derby County (8:00 Monday, ESPN)
Other matches (3:00 Saturday unless stated)
Blackburn Rovers 1-0 Queens Park Rangers
Bolton Wanderers 2-0 York City
Brighton & Hove Albion 3-1 Portsmouth
Bristol City 0-3 Sheffield Wednesday
Burnley 4-2 Port Vale
Burton Albion 2-1 Middlesbrough
Chelsea 7-0 Ipswich Town (3:00 Sunday)
Coventry City 2-1 Crystal Palace
Doncaster Rovers 2-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Fulham 6-2 Peterborough United
Huddersfield Town 2-0 Dover Athletic
Hull City 2-3 Wigan Athletic
Millwall 1-4 Birmingham City (1:00 Saturday)
Norwich City 0-1 Leyton Orient
Preston North End 1-2 Nottingham Forest
Reading 1-0 West Bromwich Albion
Scunthorpe United 1-5 Everton
Sheffield United 1-3 Aston Villa
Southampton 2-0 Blackpool
Stoke City 1-1 Cardiff City
Sunderland 1-2 Notts County
Swansea City 4-0 Colchester United
Torquay United 1-0 Carlisle United
Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 Charlton Athletic (1:30 Sunday)
Watford 4-1 Hartlepool United
West Ham United 2-0 Barnsley
Wycombe Wanderers 0-1 Hereford United (7:45 Tuesday)
Replays: (7.45 Tuesday 18 January unless stated)
Cardiff City 0-2 Stoke City [after extra time]
Leeds United 1-3 Arsenal (8.00 Wednesday 19 January, ITV)
Manchester City 4-2 Leicester City (ESPN)
Wolverhampton Wanderers 5-0 Doncaster Rovers
FA Cup Fourth Round
Saturday 29 January:
Aston Villa 3-1 Blackburn Rovers (1:00)
Birmingham City 3-2 Coventry City
Bolton Wanderers 0-0 Wigan Athletic
Burnley 3-1 Burton Albion
Everton 1-1 Chelsea (12:30, ESPN)
Sheffield Wednesday 4-1 Hereford United
Southampton 1-2 Manchester United (17:15, ITV1)
Stevenage 1-2 Reading
Swansea City 1-2 Leyton Orient (12:50)
Torquay United 0-1 Crawley Town (3:15)
Watford 0-1 Brighton & Hove Albion
Sunday 30 January:
Arsenal 2-1 Huddersfield Town (12:00, ESPN)
Fulham 4-0 Tottenham Hotspur (16:30, ESPN)
Notts County 1-1 Manchester City (14:00, ITV1)
West Ham United 3-2 Nottingham Forest (14:00)
Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-1 Stoke City (13:00)
Replays:
Chelsea 1-1 Everton (Sat 19 Feb, 12:30). Everton won 4-3 on penalties.
Manchester City v Notts County (Sun 20 Feb, 14:00)
Wigan Athletic 0-1 Bolton Wanderers (Wed 16 Feb, 19:45)
FA Cup Fifth Round Draw
West Ham United v Burnley
Notts County/Manchester City v Aston Villa
Stoke City v Brighton & Hove Albion
Birmingham City v Sheffield Wednesday
Leyton Orient v Arsenal
Everton v Reading
Manchester United v Crawley Town
Fulham v Bolton Wanderers
Ties to be played on 19-20 February (except Notts County/Manchester City v Aston Villa and Everton v Reading, due to delayed Fourth Round replays)
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