You can always try throwing your party in a room at your local pub. But you would have more flexibility — and much more fun — at home.

You require both a big room and an enormous television set. It's vital to provide adequate seating. So grab loads of chairs, cushions and bean bags. In an emergency, a large pet dog can double up as a reasonably comfortable chair. And, if required, six men can always squeeze onto a two-man sofa.

Put down lots of drinks coasters to protect the carpet. You will need loads of space in your fridge for beer so clear out all surplus food. Decorate the room with balloons in the colours of both teams in the final. Get hold of inflatable FA Cups, rattles, klaxons and drums. Be warned — the popular Italian tradition of lighting flares is not a good idea.

Team colours are essential on FA Cup Final day. Make sure all your guests arrive fully kitted out, and ensure both teams are equally represented. If one of the teams is more heavily supported, any neutrals should be allocated a team to cheer for. This will help to balance things out.

Guests can wear team shirts, tracksuits and shorts as well as scarves, hats and badges.

Painted faces are a great idea, especially for the kids. Avoid using the old cans of emulsion leftover from when you decorated the spare room. Safe face paints can be bought from most children’s toy shops, so don't just raid the garden shed.

The three hours of build-up television coverage prior to kick off is guaranteed to get one and all in the mood for the big game. This usually shows footage from past finals and has the goal of the season competition and plants camera crews on the team buses as they journey to Wembley Stadium.

Make things really interesting with a sweepstake on the final score, first goal scorer and the first player to get booked.

Guests must stand and — with tears in their eyes — sing loudly through both 'Abide With Me' and the national anthem, regardless of whether they know the words or not.

Throughout the match, there must be serious, rancorous partisan support with particular venom aimed at the partially sighted referee. If kids are watching, then mind the language. If not, give it plenty of verbal.

After the game head outside to either garden or street for a rematch kick-about.

Under FIFA regulations, crisps must be the centrepiece of your footie-watching fuel. Britain may no longer rule the waves, but name any other nation that can rival it in the field of potato crisp manufacture. These days we even do posh ones made with fancy ingredients such as chilli, parsley, Emmental cheese and extra virgin olive oil. Getting the right balance in your selection of crisps is paramount.

But if you really want to push the boat out you can also serve your guests frozen pizzas and garlic bread.

There is only one style of drink that goes with 'the beautiful game,' so think BEER — anybody who asks for a glass of chilled white wine should be treated with deep suspicion. There are millions of lovely beers to choose from — from delicately flavoured organic bitters to the no-holds-barred, let’s-be-having-you lagers. And don't be forgetting that Guinness neither. Bearing in mind domestic football’s current vogue for signing glamorous foreign talent, give your beers a truly international flavour. Let Belgian, German and Dutch beer bottles chill alongside Nigerian, South African and Brazilian ones. Have the odd bottle of cheap fizz for spraying purposes at the end of the match to taunt the losing supporters. The non-alcoholic option must at least look like beer — ginger beer should tick the box.

1.	Traditional Hymn / Abide with Me
2.	The Sex Pistols / God Save the Queen
3.	The Lightning Seeds / Three Lions
4.	Liverpool FC / Anfield Rap
5.	Tottenham Hotspur FC with Chas & Dave / Ossie’s Dream
6.	Queen / We Are the Champions
7.	New Order / World in Motion
8.	Pet Shop Boys / Go West
9.	Pigbag / Papa’s Got a Brand New Pigbag
10.	U2 / Beautiful Day

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