A left turn off Wincham’s Chapel Street and all is quiet. It is just past seven on a Tuesday evening, the rain has passed, and a double rainbow illuminates the neighbouring Lostock Sustainable Energy Plant.
It is hardly Wembley Way in the May sunshine and, given it is mid-August, the FA Cup will not even be a passing ship in the thought waves of most football fans. The majority don’t tap in until under January’s darkness, surrounded by the narrative of how a once illustrious competition is now more muggle than wizard.
