Opportunity beckons, and dreams are being dreamt. The FA Cup third round is upon us and – for the first time in what feels like decades – there are few clubs who should not be going all out to win the 138th edition of the world’s oldest football tournament.

There are the usual irritations. The round is horribly stretched over four days, starting with Tottenham Hotspur’s thrashing of League Two Tranmere Rovers on Friday night and ending on Monday with Wolverhampton Wanderers’ tie against Liverpool; only 10 of the 32 ties have a 3pm Saturday kick-off; and it is beginning within hours of the Premier League’s biggest game of the season ending.

Even after a doubling of the prize money, the competition’s financial reward still feels paltry – the winners will earn just £3.6 million, which is less than Alexis Sánchez earns in two months at Manchester United, and less than the difference in prize money between finishing 15th and 16th in the Premier League.

But, right now, none of that matters. The FA Cup has never been about the cash. It is about the glory, about lifting a trophy and there are enough clubs out there who need one, led by enough managers who have not won anything for a long time. Or ever.