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Following on from last week's World Cup qualifying draw this weekend saw two more take place - _ one for the European Championships and the other for the FA Cup in England.
The strangest part from the first one was the seedings that Uefa had decided upon whereby Austria - possibly the worst side ever to take part in the finals - were placed in the first group while France, World Cup runners up, were in the last.
In the end, Holland, Italy and France were all picked together in Group C along with the luckless Romania to form the infamous 'group of death'. It will, however, provide the most exciting football of the group stages and whichever two come through it will be well placed to go on and do well in the tournament.
England and the rest of the Home Nations can only look on in envy as not one of them have qualified and this is the first time since the 1994 World Cup this has happened.
Meanwhile, domestically it was the second round of the FA Cup last weekend which is the round before the entire Premiership and Championship sides join the fray. Apart from this breakdown there is no other seeding that takes place so once a team makes the third round then they can be drawn against anyone. This is why the "Romance of the Cup" is a well used phrase; it is the chance for non-league sides to play at places like the Emirates or Old Trafford.
Of the non-league sides playing it was Havant who caused the biggest upset by beating Notts County away but unfortunately when the draw was made, rather than picking up one of the big boys, they now play Horsham or Swansea.
The biggest game will be Manchester United who will travel to Villa Park to play Aston Villa - a repeat of the same game last year which ended up in a 2-1 win for United. Of the other Premiership match-ups Man City will go to West Ham, Reading will be at Spurs and Sunderland will play host to Wigan.
Liverpool and Arsenal have tricky away games at Luton or Nottingham Forest and Burnley respectively but should both go through while holders Chelsea have a straightforward game at home to neighbours Queens Park Rangers.
Probably the most worried manager of all will be Sam Alladyce whose Newcastle have been drawn away at Stoke but even this might not be a problem for him if results don't pick up soon - as it is highly likely he will not be in the post should the club's current form continue.
There is even a suggestion in some quarters that should they lose to Arsenal tonight then that might be enough for the Board and he will be sacked sooner rather than later.
However, when all is said and done, it is usually one of the big four that win the trophy in the end. Gone are the days when teams such as Fulham, Wimbledon or Sunderland can make it to Wembley and cause an upset and the closet thing to one was when West Ham took Liverpool to penalties two years ago.
Since the inception of the Premiership only Everton have won the Cup apart from Man United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea which is another indication of the growing gulf between the top four and the rest of the Premiership and there is no reason to believe this season will be any different.
The size and quality of these squads is such now that a second team can be put out by Wenger and Ferguson which is comfortably good enough to beat even the first choice of eleven from most other clubs.
Arsenal though should be an inspiration to the likes of Villa, Blackburn and Manchester City as Wenger has not spent a fortune in building his squad but is still able to have strength in depth. Sometimes the other managers are quick to site the money issue as a reason for lack of success but the real problem may lie closer to home.
Of the outsiders it might be Blackburn who have a home tie against Coventry who may be one to have a good cup run but as ever it is usually those teams that are lucky enough to get home fixtures that often come up on the rails to get to the semi-finals.
Whatever happens the 5th and 6th of January is always an exciting weekend when dreams will start and hopes will end but it is impossible to say which until the final whistles start blowing around the country at five o'clock.
It really is a special part of the English football calendar and one that should be cherished by all concerned.
