Nice write-up, Patrick... I feel sure something momentous is about to happen come the end of the season!

I'm no doubt being obtuse, but what was the connection between Shrewsbury Town and Southampton?

There wasn't any particular link between Southampton and Shrewsbury Town aside that the games were both FA Cup ties and to be honest it had been part of an over-long Southampton piece but helped to put an interesting piece into this article which was a little short due to the lack of games between Everton and Shrewsbury.

I remember going to that Shrewsbury game on a Sunday in 1983. It poured with rain so we went in the Paddock rather than the half uncovered Street End. We witnessed the first ever Sheedy free kick goal as well, the goal that broke the deadlock, just before half time.

It was a very good crowd for those days, at just over 35,000. The week after we got 14,500 for a Home League game against Notts Co. to give you some perspective.

I remember the train journey back to London being memorable for meeting Andy King’s Dad! A very interesting fella as I recall, he gave us a few surprising insights into life as an Everton player, a lot of which can’t be repeated!

The days when crowds at Cup matches were bigger than League games..because the Cup games were more important (in that you could still win the League if you lost a game).

Still shocked by the attendance at the Stadium of Light at the weekend - 16,000 for a cup tie. Half of what Sunderland would normally get.