Social media can be a beautiful place.

Course, there's loads of bad news, cranks and Kopites crying to deal with... but when you walk with the past alongside you, your algorithm can often deliver some magical memories. 

April... semi-final month, isn't it. Big games. And, for us Blues, semi-finals have always been our business.

Twenty six FA Cup semi-finals we have been in. Not many have been in more. We hold the record for the biggest FA Cup semi-final attendance, too: 88,141 for the Toffs' win over Manchester United on 19 April 2009. What a day. Shit game, yes... but a glorious end. For many young Blues, that was the pinnacle. I remember looking around that day and seeing young lads and lasses getting their first taste of a feeling I took for granted in the 80s.

Big games. There's no better feeling for a football supporter than winning a big game. And, seeing as it's the hope that thrills you, winning a semi is often better than anything else. Highbury '84, Villa Park '85 and '86, Elland Road '95.

Glorious times. What are your memories?

This week on socials I've seen Sharpy's volley v Sheff Wed '86 loads (what a cross from Brace' by the way) and all those famous clips of Amo gegging on the pitch in 1995 to send Spurs (and the media's dream final) packing. Magic.

Big games... they're where football really lives. And starting today, we've got two big games that feel like semi-finals coming up.

Beat Brentford and Liverpool and young Blues might have another new big game feeling to experience... 

Words | Alan O’ Hare