When the defining image of an FA Cup campaign is a rogue television advertisement for tic-tacs, you know that the much cherished competition has problems. No great feats of giant killing, no vintage net-busters. Just some strangely humanoid minty breath fresheners suddenly appearing on our screens where the Everton v Liverpool fourth-round replay should have been. Who will ever remember the name of the Everton teenager whose moment of glory — the only goal of the game after 118 minutes of prime-time tedium — was erased by “operator error” at ITV? (It was Dan Gosling, by the way.)

Salvation may be at hand for the Cup though. By an unusual quirk of the football calendar this year’s final takes place on May 30, three days after the Champions League reaches its conclusion in Rome. Wembley could, therefore, witness the crowning moment of a unique footballing achievement if Manchester United can complete the quintuple of Club World Cup, Carling Cup, Barclays Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup. It is this quest that is likely to dominate the sporting agenda for the next couple of months.

Sport constantly defies those who claim that some record or other will never be broken, but it is hard to believe that such a clean sweep would ever be repeated. Sir Alex Ferguson would hope that with the first two baubles already under lock and key at Old Trafford his players will have steadied themselves after their recent wobble and ensured that the Premier League trophy was nestling alongside them before the final round of league matches on May 24. If not, then that Sunday could be the start of the most frenetic seven days in English football history. Assuming, of course, that United get past Porto in the Champions League quarter-finals this month and then either Arsenal or Villarreal in the semis. And Everton in their FA Cup semi-final on April 19. Fabio Capello’s main focus is on just one trophy — the World Cup — but the England manager will have more than passing interest in another in June. The European Under-21 Championship in Sweden could provide a genuine feel-good factor for the senior team one year away from the big one in South Africa, and maybe launch one or two players into the forefront of Capello’s squad. The big boys have a date in Kazakhstan for a qualifier in June that could make Borats of the lot of them.

England’s cricketers will be in the hunt for two pieces of silverware in the next three months but their endeavours will inevitably be seen in the context of their quest for the summer’s ultimate prize: a little terracotta urn. The Ashes series starts on July 8, by when England will have hoped to reclaim the Wisden Trophy from West Indies in their two-match series in May, and to have confounded the doubters who see the chances of a home victory in the World Twenty20 in June as about as likely as Kevin Pietersen having Peter Moores round for a cuppa and a slice of cake.

Even if England follow the form book and fail to rouse the home support at Lord’s, the Oval and Trent Bridge, the tournament has the makings of a great success. A sensibily priced ticketing policy should ensure that the grounds are brimming and boisterous, though the shadow cast by the attack on the Sri Lanka team in Lahore last month, and the consequent security concerns, may dull the overall impact. It is hard to see the second season of the Indian Premier League, relocated to South Africa and running from April 18 to May 24, having the same impact as its trail-blazing debut last year even with the addition of Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff and five other Englishmen. Seven Englishmen in the IPL in South Africa, but how many in South

Africa with the Lions? Ian McGeechan names his squad on April 21, with the first tour match on May 30 and the first of three internationals on June 20. England’s belated improvement towards the end of the Six Nations tournament may sway the Scotsman a little, but the bulk — in every sense — of the party will come from Ireland and Wales.

The weekend of June 20-21 will be a mighty one, with that first Lions international the World Twenty20 final, the conclusion of the US Open golf and — two weeks earlier than usual — the British Grand Prix, probably the last at stuck-in-the-mud Silverstone. With Lewis Hamilton battling to retain his world title against a resurgent Jenson Button, the script demands a podium peopled by Englishmen.

There will, for sure, be no Englishmen in Paris when the French Open tennis tournament gets under way on May 24. But there will be a Scotsman. Andy Murray will arrive with hope in his heart but the thought of Rafael Nadal, the undisputed king of clay, lodged in his head. The Spaniard has never lost at Roland Garros and will be seeking his fifth win in succession. Victory to the power of five — it’s all the rage this year.