Brighton & Hove Albion v Newcastle United
The FA Cup with Budweiser
Third Round Proper
12.30pm, Saturday 5 January 2013
The Amex Stadium, Brighton & Hove Albion
Live on ITV1
Winning clubs receive £67,500 from The FA's prize fund
Click here for fixtures
By Alex Shaw

Alan Pardew has been there, seen it and done it in The FA Cup.

Twice a finalist - first as a player and then as a manager, he has his fair share of heartbreak to reflect on, too.

Most recently, his Newcastle United side have been shocked in The Cup by the likes of Stevenage and Brighton - and Pardew's side will be up for revenge when they take on Gus Poyet's men on Saturday.

Pardew scored a Semi-Final winner against Liverpool in 1990 and played in The Final against Manchester United that year, while he also took West Ham to The Final against the Merseysiders in 2006.

But The FA Cup is not all about the big boys. Pardew has seen it all in this competition, as his days in the early rounds with the likes of Dulwich Hamlet, Yeovil and Whyteleafe show.

And as he gets set for another crack at Brighton - his Newcastle side were stunned by the Seagulls in the Fourth Round last season - Pardew wants his luck to change.

He said: "Only when you get to the really late stages do you really understand it as a football club.

"They certainly understand it in the club shop when shirt sales go through the roof and everybody wants to follow your team.

"You gain fans - I remember at Crystal Palace, when we got to The Final we must have gained 4000 fans for the next year. You take that forward and it's massive for a football club.

"For every club in the country, whatever level - and I played at all the levels and know all the levels - it is a fantastic competition for those players to get the opportunity to play the likes of us, Man United and Arsenal.

"It's a glamorous, fantastic competition. You've only got to look at my history with The FA Cup to know how I feel about it.

"I was brought up on it so it's very much part of the fabric of the football person that I am. Unfortunately I've had bad luck in this competition so far and I want that to change at Brighton."

Poyet won The FA Cup with Chelsea in 2000 and will be plotting Pardew's downfall again at the Amex.

And the Newcastle manager believes the Sussex club are on the cusp of emulating their south coast rivals Southampton.

Pardew added: "I thought it was a good game last year, a tactical game, but we just got caught on a breakaway.

"Perhaps we should have scored with the possession that we had but they've got some good players, they're having a terrific season and they're a club that, if they break into the Premiership would be like Southampton.

"They've got a great ground, great fans and it's an up-and-coming club and a difficult game."

Watch Pardew talking about The FA Cup in our exclusive FATV video in the Media Gallery above.