Listening to the radio this morning I couldn’t help but realise that it was the FA Cup Final this weekend. A final we could’ve and probably should have been playing in. As I listened to the commentary clips from the semi final declaring “a magical day in Portsmouth’s history” and “David have slain Goliath” a wave of sadness and disappointment washed over me. Shouldn’t it be me sitting at Wembley cheering on the mighty lilywhites?
However, as quickly as that feeling came, it had gone. As much as that fateful day in April had hurt me and everyone associated with Spurs what followed surely couldn’t be surpassed even with a triumphant cup run could it?
Don’t get me wrong, the greedy side of me see’s no reason why we couldn’t have secured 4th place and the FA Cup, but the realist in me thinks if we’d played at Wembley as we had done for the majority of the season and won that semi final I don’t think we would’ve seen the same determination, togetherness and out right stubbornness to get into the Champions League.
What followed that horrendous Sunday at Wembley were 2 of the greatest league performances Spurs have produced in arguably 2 decades. In the North London Derby there was a passion in the eyes of the players that I hadn’t seen in a long, long time. Against Chelsea they outplayed the current English champions and the possible double winners to prove the Wembley performance was a fluke and not the win over the Wanderers. 12 points from a possible 15 immediately after the most disappointing game of our season showed the players, staff and fans didn’t want this to be another promising season, but the first of many successful seasons (hopefully).
The night at The City of Manchester stadium has already gone down as one of the great spurs nights from those who were lucky enough to attend. For the rest of us who had to watch at home, in pubs, bars or on the internet we were all there in spirit and will remember the tension building up to it, the nerves during it and the glory after it.
There’s nothing quite like a cup win, and when we had the choice I sided on the cup win over getting to border control of the Champions League, but when it actually happened and we reached the promised land for the first time there’s no way I would’ve swapped it. It gave us so much more than a cup win would. Already, it’s unlikely we’ll lose any of our star players unless we accept silly amounts of money that we could use to bolster the squad. We might be able to attract world class players now, instead of taking a gamble on players that might turn into that before we sell them to United. The financial gains will help not only finance the team and Redknapp’s bonuses but also the build of the new stadium. If we get into the league format, and that’s still the big IF, we’ll be seeded 3rd I think which means 2 of Europe’s powerhouses will make the trip to N17. Barcelona anyone? 
An FA Cup win is great. It’s what this club has been built on, but it doesn’t offer the potential to build the club. 4th place gives us the opportunity to develop the club from also rans into challengers. Obviously, there’s a long road ahead and God forbid after everything we’ve been through this season, we don’t make it to the league format, but if we do the benefits will far outweigh the possibility of winning the FA Cup.
So when you settle down in front of your TV to watch Chelsea v Portsmouth and you think to yourselves that should be us, ask yourself what would you prefer, the glory of 1 day or the glory of a lifetime?
COYS
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