When people speak of the FA Cup, you'll often hear them talk about its "magic."
Typically when that phrase is used, it's referring to a lower league team pulling off an extraordinary and knocking out a team from the English Premier League, which happens on an almost yearly basis.
But the "magic" of the oldest national football competition in the world extends far beyond producing amazing underdog stories.
It is also known for its unique history; its ability to captivate fans from every corner of the world; its highlight reel moments on-and-off the pitch; and lastly, the truly glorious spectacle that is cup final day at London's Wembley Stadium.
Sadly the latter has been a distant memory for the past three years, with the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in the 2019/20 final being played behind closed doors and the 2020/21 final being limited to a capacity of just 20,000.
While those two finals were still thrilling in their own right, it just wasn't the same without the stands full, flags flying, and fans chanting.
Fortunately, however, this year saw the FA Cup final return to its former glory as 85,000 people packed into Wembley to see Liverpool take on Chelsea in a repeat of February's Carabao Cup final.
Even more fortunately, I was there to see the magic of the FA Cup return.