The weekend that gives the minnows their 15 minutes of fame and the Premiership big boys nightmares is the most eagerly anticipated in the football calendar.

With the Third Round just days away, TheFA.com clicked back through 12 months' worth of stories and stumbled across some of last year's memorable games and names, in particular Alex Inglethorpe.

His was the name on everybody's lips at the start of 2005 after he helped produce one of the FA Cup's great fairytale stories, so we decided to give him a ring to look back on his day in the spotlight and see what he has been up to since.

The Exeter manager took his Conference side to Manchester United in the FA Cup Third Round and against all odds held Sir Alex Ferguson's men to a goalless draw in front of 67,000 spectators at Old Trafford.

The Grecians, roared on by 9,000 Exeter fans, even had their chances to win the game, but took the Premiership giants back to St James' Park for a replay.

Once again they were unlucky and eventually lost 2-0. For Inglethorpe, who is a United fan, it was a day he will never forget.

"That day was fantastic and the cup run was a springboard for our season," said Inglethorpe, who used to manage Surrey village side Horsley.

"When I took over we were 15th - but we ended up just one point off the play-offs," added the Grecians boss, who drew praise from Sir Alex Ferguson after the tie.

"We played really well against United. It was a great start to the year for all of us.

"It gave everyone at the club a real boost at the time and of course it provided some relief as it helped repay the club’s debts.

"It allowed us to grow as a team and that was one of the most positive things to come out of our FA Cup run."

The tie certainly put Exeter back on the football map and the club have not looked back since.

They are flying high in the Conference and Inglethorpe hopes 2006 holds even greater times for his team.

"We had a great start to this season and won our first six games, it really gave us something to build on. We need to ensure we stay up there now in the new year.

"It has been a good year for me and the football club, but we are still looking to make things even better and we have to focus on getting 2006 off to a positive start."

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