On the H&V forum there’s the sort of either/or poll that often gets started at this stage of the season. Usually they’ve been about accepting relegation in return for a trophy but now things are different and it asks whether we’d prefer to win a trophy or get into the Champions League. 92.7% went for the trophy option, mostly based on finally winning the FA Cup before we all die.

That’s not surprising. What is surprising is that I’m one of the 7.3%. I see playing in the Champions League as more important than running round Wembley with the cup. My name is David, and I’m a new footy fan.

I do, though, think that rather than being pitied or castigated into some footballing wilderness where everyone wears full kits topped off with half & half scarves and spends all day tweeting bants, that I should be allowed to explain myself.

This is a one-off. The rush of blood to my head is based on long-term thinking rather than a lifetime obsession and it has its roots in what we’ve witnessed this season. Walking up the steps and towards my seat against Bayern, laid out before me was one of the most memorable sights I’ve ever witnessed at Villa Park.

The big circle in the middle of the pitch, the Champion League branding, the anthem. This was proof that we’ve returned to the big stage. The attention we got after the match was equally incredible, and it’s continued. Juventus, Celtic, Brugge. All great occasions when the football world was taking notice of us.

Then there’s what it brings in. The late Terry Wills, star of WM, used to call the Premier the Greed League. The Champions League is that on steroids. It’s reckoned that so far this season we’ve earned the best part of £90 million from the tournament and that’s without the hidden extras such as increased sponsor payments and advertising. In a world where turnover is fast becoming the most important thing in football you can’t ignore those sort of figures.

And that leads to the unpalatable truth. Winning the FA Cup this season would be one of the great achievements; a dream, for many of us the culmination of a life’s ambition. But if we miss out on the Champions League some world-class members of the team that wins the cup will be leaving. Whether it’s because of loan players not wanting to sign permanently, or players who can bring in top money having to be sold, the squad will be weaker. Getting into the Champions League increases the chances of them staying and of more elite players arriving.

We’ve been waiting 68 years for the FA Cup to return home, and it’s been almost that long since we had as good a chance as we have now; we’re second-favourites to win it. But if we continue to improve at the same rate as we have since Unai took over, we’ll soon be as strongly fancied to win every tournament we enter. I never thought I’d say it, but perhaps it would be better not to win a trophy this season so long as we improve our chances of winning more of them in the future.