“DO you want know why I think we’ll win today?” asked one Evertonian on the walk up to Wembley.

He’d not heard Manchester United’s line-up at that point; nor had he secretly watched the Blues in training, smashing home penalty kicks. No, his reasoning was far more scientific than that.

“There’s always a league match in the run in that all the pundits and commentators describe as a dress rehearsal for the FA Cup final, and we play Chelsea on Wednesday. Therefore we’re going to do it today.” And so it came to pass, despite the shakes of the head and the rolling of eyes, his theory was proven to be absolutely spot on.

At Wembley the supporters roared the team into the final. They were simply incredible, and it’s hard to recall another game when the players were so visibly lifted by the encouragement from the stands.

It was simply a very special day. The only shame was that more genuine fans couldn’t get tickets and that some who did make it, and played their part in the victory, seem set to be denied by the FA’s eternally frustrating allocation policy.

Every year they talk of how the FA Cup final is for the ‘wider football family’, but everyone knows that a big proportion get sold on anyway – they will eventually end up with Everton and Chelsea fans, but they will have to pay an added premium. If the FA want to reward their members, why not give them tickets to England games instead? And what about that wider football family? Maybe they should tell the FA that they don’t want tickets at the expense of people for whom the final means absolutely everything, not just a bit of an afternoon out.

Don’t hold your breath though.