LONDON -- While the English Football Association would never utter a public word on such a matter, the power brokers at Soho Square are praying that the climax to the domestic season is not an F.A. Cup final between Burnley and Sheffield United.

Christopher Davies

It would be a lively build-up between managers Stan Ternent and Neil Earnock, as will be explained later, but an all-First Division clash of northern clubs at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on May 17 is not what the F.A. Cup final is all about, wherever it is played.