Few at White Hart Lane this evening will remember when Tottenham against Burnley was the most eagerly anticipated match on the footballing calendar, when Jimmy Greaves and Dave Mackay donned lilywhite and Jimmy Mcllroy and Jimmy Robson wore the claret and blue during the 1962 FA Cup final.
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By that time, the mid 1980s, Burnley's hay day had long gone and ours was quickly evaporating into a sepia-toned haze. Yes the Claret's fall from grace was more dramatic and further than ours but few would argue that we have come markedly closer than our old foes to regaining the title of biggest club in the land.
Not that winning the Carling Cup, even in successive years, will bring us any closer to achieving that goal. When Greaves, Danny Blanchflower and Bobby Smith helped us to a 3-1 back in 1962, Bill Nicholson's great Spurs side were in the middle of a sequence of four successive top-three finishes, and had just became the first post-war double winners just a year earlier. Fast forward half a century and the current side can't make into the top half of the table, let alone win the league.
At least we have retained our top flight status. Not since 1976 have Burnley graced the top tier of English football, underachievement that is hard to fathom given the club's illustrious history; In 1960 Burnley were were league champions and a year later they reached the quarter finals of the European Cup.
From Princes to paupers. From 1985 they endured a seven year spell in Division Four during which period the club came moments away from oblivion. In 1987 Burnley went into the last match of the season needing a win against Leyton Orient to stay in the football league. They got it - 2-1 the final score - but it was the lowest point of a dramatic decline.
However, things are looking up for the boys from Turf Moor. Under the likes of Stan Ternant, then Steve Cotterill and now Owen Coyle, the wily Scot, Burnley have gradually risen up the divisions and to establish itself as one of the Championships most stable clubs. Better still, promotion may be a genuine possibility for a side that have threatened to win a place in the play-offs on more than one occasion over the past five years.
Never have their prospects been as exciting in recent years as they are now. Under Coyle, who was a complete unknown in English football before his he crossed the border from St. Johnstone, the club have seen an influx of young talent joining on the leagues smallest clubs (at times in the past few years coaches have had to be named on the bench due to the paucity in numbers). Coyle has persuaded Manchester United's precociously talented youngster Chris Eagles to swap Old Trafford for Turf Moor, and captured the signings of Scunthorpe striker Martin Paterson - a revelation in a struggling side last year - and Dundee midfielder Kevin McDonald.
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As a result, Harry Redknapp is under no illusion of the task facing his depleted side. In the injured Darren Bent's absence, Roman Pavlyuchenko will lead the line and Tom Huddlestone or Jamie O'Hara, impressive over recent weeks, will fill in for the suspended Jermain Jenas. Oh how Harry would love to be able to call on new signing Jermain Defoe, who will be presented to rapturous applause before kick off.
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One suspects, however, a much closer affair than that. But why not? What would be more fitting than for two clubs, steeped in history and a Corinthian rivalry, to enjoy a traditional, hard fought cup tie?
As I finger through pictures of the 61 final, a contest nicknamed "The Chessboard Final" due to it tactical and slow paced nature, my phone buzzes on the desk. I've told my Dad I've just got tickets for this evening's game and, sure enough, the banter restarts.
Enjoy "Captial Punishment 4", he says. You know what? I think I will.