"She wore, she wore / She wore a scarlet ribbon / She wore a scarlet ribbon in the merry month of May / And when I asked, Oh why she wore that ribbon / She said it's for United and we're going to Wembley / Wembley, Wembley, we're the famous Man United / And we're going to Wembley!"
You'll hear that song time and again before and during Saturday's FA Cup final between Manchester United and Crystal Palace. I sang it walking down Wembley Way with my father before the 1990 final, a day tempered only by the abysmal facilities at the old stadium. Don't believe any sickly sentimentalism; it was an awful place to watch football. The rake of the seats was too shallow, urine flowed through concourses, and the food on sale to fans was priced so high that I wondered whether it was an elaborate scam. The Twin Towers of Wembley? I've seen bigger ones made of Lego.
In 1990, it was still a big deal for United to reach the cup final, their first in five years. In 1985, I begged my father to take me to the FA Cup final. He said he'd see what he could do, but deep down I knew he preferred to play rather than watch, so we watched the game at home on television. To this day, and throughout thousands of matches seen in person since, the '90 final remains the only time I've cried watching football. Norman Whiteside's curled winner around Everton's Neville Southall was the reason why. I turned 11 the next day, in awe of a 13-year-old neighbour who'd actually been to Wembley.
In later years, I met and interviewed almost all the members of that '85 team. Their enthusiasm is undiminished when talking about it. I also spoke to Liverpool's Jamie Carragher, a childhood Everton fan. He was there that day.
"My dad got locked up before the game," he said. "A ticket tout showed a load of tickets and my dad grabbed them. He turned around and saw a policeman. Dad was arrested. My brother and I were hysterical, but we were in a bigger group. The police actually sat us on the Everton coach to calm us down, the driver pointing out who sat where. We then got in the ground with my dad's mate and my dad somehow found us with about half an hour to go. For some reason he was carrying a big hooter, like a vuvuzela.
"We were standing behind the goal in a crowd of 100,000," Carragher continued. "Then Whiteside scored! I could hardly see it because it was at the opposite end. That ruined the day. We went back to Liverpool that night and Liverpool fans were waiting for us. They were delighted because Man United had stopped Everton doing the double. We stayed in the pub until 3 a.m., singing and dancing because, while Everton had lost, we'd just won the league."
After beating Everton in this season's semifinal, Saturday will be United's first FA Cup final in seven years. The last one, against Chelsea, was a dreadful game on a dreadful day. I sat behind one fan who'd drunk so much that he slept for most of the game. What a waste of a ticket. Nearby, another drunk United fan thought it wise to abuse Didier Drogba.
You remember the negatives when your team is defeated because there's nothing to take your mind off them. United lost in May 2007 and haven't troubled a final since. Arsenal have surpassed United's 11 FA Cup wins (the last against Millwall in 2004) but Louis van Gaal's side are there at the end of a run that has provided highlights for a mediocre season.
The FA Cup is a big deal. It was the first major trophy the club won in 1909. It was the first trophy United won after World War II, when my uncle Charlie starred in the side that beat Blackpool 4-2. His medal is still in the family, commemorating the first trophy after the Munich air crash and a harbinger of league titles and a European Cup within five years. The FA Cup was the only trophy United won in the '70s and '80s. It mattered and it still does. That's why United fans are desperately asking around for tickets for Saturday: The 30,000 allocation was nowhere near enough to sate demand.
Van Gaal told his players after Tuesday's rescheduled game against Bournemouth that the team would remain the same for the final. He was irritated that his preparation was disrupted, yet pragmatic that it was a problem to deal with. He's had many problems and he'll have many more if he stays around. Meanwhile, his opposite number, Alan Pardew, has been preparing for weeks. Sources told us that Pardew is supremely confident of victory on Saturday and thinks his Palace team rise to the occasion in big games.
One United player who isn't confident of his own future at the club is Michael Carrick. After a decade at Old Trafford, the Geordie midfielder has yet to be offered a new contract and thinks that Saturday will be his last game if Van Gaal stays. An exit by Carrick would be unpopular with the majority of fans, for in the words of one teammate, "He can't thread the killer pass like he could, [but] he's still a very good midfielder and it's not like he relies on pace." He's also a respected character in a dressing room that has lost too many such players as United have gone from good to bad to boring.
Further, it is unsure who'll be in charge next season. Van Gaal's departure (and that of his coaching staff) would not be mourned by the majority of players, no matter what they might say in public. His tenure hasn't helped their own circumstances, with Juan Mata, Victor Valdes, Carrick and Morgan Schneiderlin all missing out on a place in their countries' provisional squads for Euro 2016.
The United players have read the speculation; they've put questions to those who might know the answers. None have been forthcoming. The evidence for change remains circumstantial and is based on the balance of probability, and changes daily. On Tuesday, several of Van Gaal's staff said goodbye to many of the United employees with a matter of fact "See you in August." But they don't even know their future other than that they have a year's contract left.
A cup win would mean Van Gaal lifts a first trophy in England and finishes the season with a smile. If it's to be his last game in charge of United, he deserves to go out with dignity. The offseason might not be so merry.