Whenever Manchester United and Aston Villa meet, my mind invariably goes back to the very first FA Cup Final that I have a clear memory of. United were the newly crowned League Champions and just 90 minutes away from completing the first League – Cup double of the century, a double deemed by most pundits at the time as no longer being possible to achieve. But it was not meant to be.

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History was made at Wembley by the Frenchman who seems to do nothing else. Eric Cantona, newly crowned as Footballer Of  The Year scored the goal that defeated Liverpool in the FA Cup final for Manchester United to become the first club to complete the coveted Double twice.

With just five minutes remaining David James punched a corner clear. The ball landed just outside the area at the feet of Cantona who had scored against Liverpool in his comeback game after a seven month suspension earlier that season.  Cantona hit his shot goalwards, through the crowded penalty area and the ball nestled in the back of the net winning the game for United. True to his form all season, Cantona popped up with yet another magical moment.

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Former Manchester United defender Kevin Moran will be watching Saturdays clash at Goodison Park with special interest – and not because it will be Wayne Rooney’s first appearance for United since his ‘troubles’ erupted. Moran had his own troubles a quarter of a century ago when he set an unwanted record by going  into the history books as  the first player to be sent off in an FA Cup Final during Manchester United’s 1-0 extra time defeat of Everton in 1985.

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Football can offer many rewards both financial and otherwise for those who are successful yet the good days can come to an end at a relatively young age. One such player was Norman Whiteside whose career was certainly not so much a fairy tale as a roller coaster ride of wonderful highs and devastating lows because of chronic injuries.

He will always be remembered for being the youngest at everything. At 17 he was the youngest United player to play for the first team since Duncan Edwards, the youngest to score in an FA Cup Final and the youngest to appear in the 1982 World Cup Finals for Northern Ireland. Those same finals saw him break the previous record set by Pele as the youngest player ever to appear in a World Cup aged 17 years and 41 days old.

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