It’s 24 years since the only previous FA Cup semi-final meeting of Manchester United and Chelsea.
Back in the good old days when England’s premier knock-out competition staged it’s semi-finals at club grounds, not Wembley, I set off from Bangor in Northern Ireland the night before the game. Destination Villa Park.
I was working for Bombardier in Belfast and a Chelsea-supporting colleague and I managed to siphon a couple of tickets from a supplier in Wigan. Or so we thought!
Last minute method of transport in those days was the 2-hour hovercraft jaunt from Belfast to Stranraer in Scotland, then a drive down the picturesque, but horrible, A79 through Scotland and on to England’s M6, stretching from Gretna, which took us all the way to Birmingham.