1973 FA Cup third place play-off: Arsenal v Wolves

This article orignally appeared in edition 273 of The Gooner.

Those of us of a certain vintage will forever bang on about how great the FA Cup used to be, and with some justification. The competition was rightfully viewed with pride as worldwide audiences were left enthralled at the magic of the cup. Sadly, the riches of the Premier League and Champions League has left the FA Cup looking like a slightly poor relation in comparison. Well done, everyone involved.

Many of the great traditions have been lost – marathon replays, neutral club grounds used for semi-finals, the wacky 3pm kick-off time for the final – but fortunately one experiment has long since disappeared. I yearn for the days of old, but you can keep your FA Cup third-fourth play-off match.

Sport hurts: Adelaide (2006)

My new series where I take a look back at a time sport left me broken.

As me and my friends discussed England's fantastic Test match win at Adelaide in December 2010, one of the group stated that at least we could bury the bad memories at the same venue four years earlier. "Too soon," I replied, as all the joy left my eyes. 

I was partly joking. But there are some sporting defeats that leave a scar so deep that they should never be mentioned again. Rather than having an open discussion that will hopefully heal the wounds, it's best to bury these experiences, deep down, preferably at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. So writing this blog is going to be a lot of fun for me.

Sport hurts: Bernhard Langer (1991)

My new series where I take a look back at a time sport left me broken.

There is nothing quite like the final day of a Ryder Cup in terms of gut-wrenching tension. For hours on end you study the scoreboard meticulously, allowing yourself brief moments of hope when a blob of blue is added, and descending into despondency when red starts to dominate. As the 12 singles matches develop you board a rollercoaster of emotions, thrown up and down as hole by hole the picture changes. By the end of the day you feel like you've been to hell and back.

Sometimes I think this is just me being far too invested in sport. But it is reassuring to discover that you are not alone. And when you find out that the players involved are also suffering then it helps to know that maybe all of this does matter after all. To hear Sir Nick Faldo comment that every part of his body was shaking during his pivotal singles match against Curtis Strange in 1995 is confirmation that the Sunday of the Ryder Cup is unique.