This weekend sees the entrance of the Premiership and Championship clubs in to the F.A. Cup as the worlds oldest domestic cup competition continues in its 128th year. It’s one of those weekends that gets football fans excited, throwing up all kinds of memories for fans of every club from every level of the domestic game. For fans of all clubs, the F.A. Cup offers us all the chance to dream that this could be our year.

This weekend the fans of Barrow, York City Luton Town and Forest Green Rovers will be bursting with pride as the take on league opposition. Disappointingly for the fan in me, only four non-league sides have made it through to the third round this season but there are still some tasty ties for this years game.

Stoke City, Sunderland, Southampton and Notts County will be the clubs trying to avoid the ignominy of a defeat to a non-league side, but with all three of the bigger clubs at home, I don’t think we’ll see any shocks in those particular ties. There are several ties that are eye opening for several reasons though and of those, Manchester United entertaining Leeds on Sunday is the pick of round. Leeds’ fall down the leagues has been spectacular, but they currently sit on top of Division One, looking certainties to return to the Championship.

It’ll be interesting to see how this resumption of the cross pennine rivalry will be played out, with no love love lost between either side. Of the top four sides in the Premiership, Arsenal certainly have the most difficult tie, with a London derby trip to West Ham United on Sunday as well. Chelsea and Liverpool should make light work of Watford and Reading respectively whilst Tottenham should win easily against Peterborough United.

Overall though, the chances of any Premiership clubs getting knocked out by lower league opponents look slim to be honest but there are a couple of tricky ties. Portsmouth will be hoping Coventry City won’t bring their recent good form to Fratton Park, whilst Birmingham City face a dangerous trip to Nottingham Forest. Manchester City visit Middlesbrough who have been bang out of form since they sacked Gareth Southgate but should be too strong.

Of the other recently promoted sides, Burnley and Wolves both face potential banana skin games at Milton Keynes Dons and Tranmere Rovers and may view the match as a chance to give secondary players a run out. Bolton Wanderers fans will probably be viewing the clash with Lincoln City, now managed by Blackburn Rovers old boy Chris Sutton, with renewed optimism following Gary Megson’s sacking earlier today.

What ever happens, 3 Premiership clubs will be out of the competition no matter what with three all Premiership ties in the third round. Aston Villa welcome Blackburn Rovers, whilst Wigan will be trying to put tonight’s thrashing at Old Trafford out of their minds as Hull City visit the D.W. Stadium and Arsenal travelling to West Ham United.

Overall though, this isn’t really a weekend for shocks, but the F.A.Cup has a reputation for shocking you when you least expect it and that’s why it’s still the best cup competition in the world. Here’s to a great weekend of cup football before we get back to the Premiership.

On Monday, expect several of the talking heads on English football podcasts and radio to whinge and joke about the FA Cup. How the top football clubs don’t treat it seriously anymore. How the FA Cup has lost its glamor. And how there are literally very few upsets compared to how many there used to be (cue memories of Hereford beating Newcastle in 1972).

While the respect and interest in the FA Cup is mostly lost on those in England, the tournament still has a lot of appeal elsewhere in the world especially in the United States where the FA Cup is seen as a novelty item. Outside of the U.S. Open Cup, the concept of having an amateur side compete against a professional club is completely unheard of in the States especially to non-soccer sports fans.

Despite the charm of watching amateurs battle it out against professionals, the experience of watching FA Cup on television feels like a time warp back to the late 1970s and early 1980s. For example, watching Forest Green Rovers against Derby County and Everton versus Macclesfield, it seemed so unlike the Premier League. Both grounds, understandly so, featured ramshackle stadiums. Watching the Forest Green Rovers match on TV, large shadows cast over the pitch making it difficult to watch periods of the game (this began from the opening kickoff when the Derby County defender fluffed the ball and the Forest Green Rovers striker shot at goal into what seemed like darkness).

And lastly, there was the football. While the Forest Green Rovers match was entertaining, thanks to some shoddy defending, that match and the one at Macclesfield featured the classic up and under English football of yesteryear where the ball is up in the air more than it is being played on the ground. The Everton against Macclesfield match was dire with the Toffeemen looking very ordinary against a weak but determined Macclesfield side.

So while those of us outside England warm to the charm of the FA Cup, I believe we also warm to how different the FA Cup feels. The primitive and antiquated stadiums. The route one football that gives mediocre clubs a chance to beat the Premier League opposition. The different football commentators we hear that we don’t often get when watching Premier League matches, and the sometimes different camera angles that seem so un-ordinary after watching globs of Premier League football. Plus, of course, the novelty of seeing football fans standing on the terraces.

To me, the FA Cup is the perfect diversion from the Premier League that we all love. For a few weekends through the year, it gives us a chance to experience our football in a different way. To learn about lower league and non-league clubs from the far corners of England. To watch dried up footballers play out their dying moments in their twilight of their career. And lastly, since the other 16 clubs in the Premier League seem incapable of doing so, to root and hope for the Big Four to lose against the underdogs. That’s why I love the FA Cup. Long let it continue.