The man in the street has never forgotten...

It was the day Saints went marching out with the FA Cup and apart from the odd promotion over the years, it is the only major trophy the club has won.

It still overshadows subsequent triumphs such as our best season in 1983-84 when we finished runners-up in the top flight, only three points behind Liverpool.

Such is the magic of the Cup.

It was not only the day itself all those years ago but the build up from the semi-final which created great excitement and anticipation all around the area.

And having won, the welcome home was magnificent and the street parties and celebrations seemed to go on right through the following summer.

Since that day, and no matter what the club's league form, Saints have become a good cup team.

I have been reminded that in my period as manager we won 100 cup ties alone, ranging from the old Anglo Scottish Cup through to the League Cup - which we got to the final of in 1979 - the UEFA and European Cup-Winners Cup plus, of course, the FA Cup itself.

What made our FA Cup win even more special was that it was against today's opponents, the mighty Manchester United.

Amongst my memories is when Mick Channon rang my room on the morning of the game to tell me that we were 5-1 to win. Which in his racing parlance meant we were complete outsiders.

I still wonder how many people were cheering even more loudly when they went along to the bookmakers the following Monday to collect their winnings.

It was certainly a tool to use in my pre-match talk that we were not given much chance to win.

Clubs like United, Arsenal and Liverpool etc expect to get to the final every year or two, but even their supporters still treat it as excitedly as if it was their first ever final.

So therefore it is that much more special when it happens to club like Coventry, Sunderland, Ipswich, Wimbledon and ourselves.

Surprisingly, and I think sadly, the club has never officially organised any official celebration to commemorate the achievement.

There is also apparently very little, if anything, within St Mary's remembering the great day.

There have been only two reunions that I can remember, after 20 and 25 years, but both organised by the players themselves.

The present hierarchy, of course, have only recently got involved in football, but there are still enough non-executive directors around who were excited supporters themselves in 1976 when they were as thrilled as all the others to get a Wembley ticket.

But the man in the street has never forgotten.

I'm constantly reminded of it when I'm out and about in the city. Even grannies, who had never been to a football match, remember where they were standing the day we brought the Cup home to Southampton.

As far as tonight's game is concerned, one club is second in the Premiership chasing yet another championship and coming out of a huge Champions League game with the other one fighting, I think, a successful battle against relegation.

But there's no doubt that when the whistle blows, while the bookies might not give such generous odds for a Saints win as they did 29 years ago, Sir Alex will certainly be warning his team that this will be one of their hardest games.

And the experienced Harry Redknapp will probably give a similar team talk as mine in 1976, and let's hope the result is the same so that a new generation of supporters can experience the excitement all over again.

In some ways, it's a pity that United lost in Milan on Tuesday because while most clubs would have been happy to get as far as United have this year, at Old Trafford it is looked on as a bad season if they don't win any silverware.

The FA Cup looms even larger in importance for them now and if the players are a bit down after the Milan result, you can bet that Alex will be able to lift and motivate them in a way that other managers wouldn't be able to.

I can see today's winners going all the way to the final, where I've a feeling they will be playing Newcastle.