Graphic: FA Cup shocks around the clock

Three years ago, at a public cost of £10million, a website was set up to identify 12 national treasures that would provide the starting point of a project entitled “Icons: A Portrait of England”. It was a strange selection, one that included Punch and Judy, a cup of tea, Alice in Wonderland, the SS Empire Windrush, the Routemaster bus, Holbein's portrait of Henry VIII and, doubtless to the chagrin of village cricketers everywhere, the FA Cup.

That list of 12 has since been extended to include such items as the stiff upper lip and, intriguingly, the V-sign, but the FA Cup, while it has been given a V-sign by Premier League managers in recent years, sits more naturally alongside another national treasure, chicken tikka masala. It has to be hot and spicy, with a taste of the unexpected, but if the recipe is not followed to the letter - a sprinkling of upsets here, a generous dash of glamour there - it becomes unpalatable.

Our relationship with the FA Cup is an unusual one. We love the romance and the idea of a mighty team brought to their knees by unfancied lower-league opposition, as when Barnsley humbled Liverpool and Chelsea in successive rounds last season, but when it came to the semi-final stage and four relatively unglamorous clubs - Barnsley, Cardiff City, Portsmouth and West Bromwich Albion - were left,we turned off. Only five million people tuned in for the final between Portsmouth and Cardiff, compared with 12.9million when Chelsea beat Manchester United in an equally forgettable encounter 12 months earlier.

The competition's appeal lies in the romance that comes from a meeting of the haves and the have-nots - and in the idea that anything can happen, particularly on third-round day in January, on pitches that resemble paddy fields. Three years ago Manchester United were fortunate to escape with a goalless draw away to Burton Albion on an afternoon that will live long in the memory: the mist rolling in off the River Trent; the overpowering smell of yeast and hops from the nearby Marston's brewery; the sight of Nigel Clough, the Burton manager, joined in the dugout by his young son, William, complete with school sandwich box; the unfamiliar sound of United's supporters imploring: “Fergie, sort it out”; and, above all, the emotion that filled the ground at the final whistle.

It seems trite to mention that Sir Alex Ferguson fielded a reserve team that day or that the non-League team were beaten 5-0 in the replay at Old Trafford. This was the greatest hour and a half in Burton's history.

There are no ties quite so evocative in this season's third-round draw, but of the Premier League's top six, Liverpool, United, Aston Villa and Everton face awkward assignments away to Preston North End, Southampton, Gillingham and Macclesfield Town respectively. Plymouth Argyle and Southend United will take a little optimism, as well as a boisterous away support, to Arsenal and Chelsea respectively. Much has been made of Histon and Forest Green Rovers, two village teams eager to put themselves on the map by overcoming Swansea City and Derby County respectively, but there are also Blyth Spartans, who will go in front of the television cameras on Monday evening to try to defeat Blackburn Rovers and become the first non-League team to eliminate top-flight opposition since Sutton United beat Coventry City 20 years ago. Unless, of course, Barrow have beaten them to it by defeating Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium this afternoon.

The FA Cup is a competition of endless possibilities. The problem is in retaining its relevance, excitement and glamour in an era when the Premier League and the Champions League dwarf even the international game. The FA has increased the prize pot this season, with the winners earning £3.7million as well as spin-offs in broadcast revenue and ticket sales, but these sums do not come close to those on offer in the Premier League and the Champions League, which is one reason why Harry Redknapp, last season's winning manager with Portsmouth, has suggested that the FA Cup is something he could do without at his new club, Tottenham Hotspur.

Many supporters feel the same in these straitened times, and empty seats are likely at many of this weekend's matches, particularly at Premier League grounds. The thing with the FA Cup is that you have to overlook the downsides - the weakened teams fielded by some clubs, the commercialism that takes hold at certain non-League clubs - and recall the evocative images that made you love it in the first place: the White Horse Final, Abide With Me, the Matthews Final, Ricky Villa, Keith Houchen, Sutton United, Havant & Waterlooville leading at Anfield. Now you're talking.