The latter will be like a re-run of a Surrey Senior Cup Final which I was privileged to see at Tooting & Mitcham United’s old Sandy Lane ground a mere 39 years ago.

Sutton, crack Isthmians and overwhelming favourites on a hot afternoon, were quickly 2-0 ahead. But Redhill, the Athenians whom I supported with a passion in those days, won 4-3 after extra time in one of my top ten best games ever. The word "epic" still comes to mind, with players of both sides suffering horribly from cramp near the end. It’s why 1966 was such a great year for English football.

Last Tuesday’s game at Paddington Rec finished Eastern Promise 2 Old Magdalenians 1 and it took "Promise" through to the last four of the London Football League’s Spring Cup. The crowd at one point reached 24 but had dwindled to two by the latter stages. Those two, in order of height, were "The Barber" and Hany Ishak, the enterprising and charismatic Egyptian who runs the League on his own. I thanked him warmly for arranging fixtures at this "unseasonal" time.

Another grim weekend without football has just passed. Down in Eastbourne again, where the temperature was considerably lower than it had been in town during the week, I dawdled along to The Saffrons on Sunday afternoon and saw the Namibian flag billowing in the breeze on a pole close to the clubhouse. As my regular reader will know, this sporting venue is home to Eastbourne Town FC – but it’s actually better known for cricket.

The Namibian national team were playing Warwickshire Pilgrims in a friendly, watched by 36 senior citizens on deckchairs and one fidgety bloke who walked round the boundary line a couple of times while trying to remember not to stand in front of the sight screens, threw the ball back once after a colossal "six" and then vanished into the night – or, rather, the afternoon.

Thanks to the heroic Hany there is more Cup football at the Rec this week. Yesterday (Monday) I saw John Brown draw 2-2 with BBC Post Production in one of the semi-finals of the "Spring Plate", which I’m counting as my fourth game of the 2005-06 season and 4,896th all told. The penalty shootout to decide who went through to next week’s Final had to be concluded fairly swiftly, with the park gates about to be closed for the night. The BBC lads scraped through 5-4.

Tonight’s action features Audit Commission and Warner Bros in a Spring Cup semi-final at 7.30. Seats available at all prices.