The first time Antoine Semenyo saw an FA Cup pitch was on a rainy Saturday evening in November 2018. Named as a sub for Newport County vs Metropolitan Police FC in a first-round tie, he came on for seven minutes and did nothing of note.
Seven (and some) years later, Semenyo produced a piece of magic to help Manchester City win their eighth FA Cup trophy. In that journey from the mushy mess of Imber Court to the pristine grass of Wembley, lies the true magic of the sport we all so adore.
The goal itself was a work of art -- Semenyo running behind and then cutting in. Bernardo Silva slipping it wide to find a clever inside-to-out Erling Haaland run, the big Norwegian cutting it back just behind his fellow forward, Semenyo taking it mid 360-degree spin, flicking the ball off the back of his heel and into the far corner.
It was a stunning piece of improvisation that lit up a dour game, an un-defendable goal like interim Chelsea boss Callum McFarlane explained post-match: "We held the line really well. Semenyo goes into an offside position, Bernardo is trying to slide Semenyo in, Haaland reads it, and gets onto the ball. We make him play an awkward, right-footed cross under pressure, and he finishes from outside the line of the front post under pressure. So, for me, it's a one-in-a-hundred goal, a really low-xG goal, so there's nothing more we could do in that moment."
It's Semenyo's journey, though, that makes it so special.
His arrival at City was peak Abu Dhabi-era City business: identifying a need, finding a solution and using that intoxicating mix of big money and Pep Guardiola to convince club (Bournemouth) and player to agree to the transfer mid-season.
But nothing else about his tale is straightforward. As a young aspiring footballer in London, he was rejected by multiple clubs at trials (four times by just Millwall, for instance) before moving out of the city and into the quieter environs of Swindon at age 16, where he studied sport science and played for Wiltshire Sports Academy and then South Gloucestershire and Stroud College in Bristol. That set him up to join Bristol City's academy - from where he went on three loans: at sixth tier Bath City, fourth tier Newport (where he made that FA Cup debut) and third tier Sunderland.
From that to proving himself in the Championship with Bristol and then to firing in goals for Bournemouth in the Premier League to being Man City's FA Cup hero has been a truly extraordinary journey. Now he's become the first Bath City player to score in an FA Cup final since Stan Mortensen in 1953.
He's not your typical Guardiola signing, but he was never meant to be. The Catalan had enough of the technical, possession-obsessed footballers on his team, what he wanted was someone direct, someone who could introduce chaos (in a good way) ... and that's what he got. The FA Cup winning goal epitomised it.
Just like it epitomised the hopes and dreams of everyone kicking a football about in schools and local grounds and non-league pitches. With one backheel, Semenyo immortalised himself in FA Cup folklore, proving yet again that anything is possible. Isn't that the magic of the FA Cup?