And the head coach is hoping to enjoy a few more special days this season when Albion begin their campaign against the Owls on Saturday.
He said, “My favourite day of the year was the FA Cup Final when it kicked off at 3pm, and you had the whole build-up before the game. I would watch Grandstand and that would be my day sorted – the best day of the year.
“I like the fact you can play teams from outside your league. I like the knockout aspect of it and that anything can happen in the game itself. I like the history and feel of the FA Cup, as it’s a wonderful competition and the best in the world.”
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Potter has a more recent special memory of the competition too. He guided Swansea City to the quarter-finals last season before they lost 3-2 to Manchester City, who went on to beat Albion 1-0 in the semi-final at Wembley and go on to lift the trophy.
“We used the quarter-final against Manchester City as a way of seeing if we could play the way wanted to against one of the top teams,” added Potter. “The first half was the best 45 minutes we had there. We were 2-0 up, but Manchester City were just too good for us on the day. We got a lot from it though.
“The top clubs like City have the resources to rotate and still field a strong side, but anything can happen in a one-off game. You have to have that dream and belief. We’d like to go as far as last year and maybe improve, but you don’t get there by looking too far ahead. We will focus on Saturday’s match against Sheffield Wednesday, which is going to be a hard one for us.”
Wednesday may have lost their last three games in the Championship, but Potter has a high regard for the job being done by their manager Garry Monk, who was an apprentice when Potter played for Southampton between 1996 and 1997.
“I know Garry well and his teams are always hard to play against,” said Potter. “They are always clear on how they play and they have got some good players. They have had a couple of bad results recently, but they are having a good season. Garry has always been a fantastic leader and he’s had a lot of managerial experience.”
Albion played their third game in six days on New Year’s Day when they drew 1-1 against Chelsea and, bearing the hectic schedule in mind, Potter may change his personnel against the Owls. He has confirmed that fit-again Solly March and Leon Balogun could both be involved on Saturday.
He added, “There is a chance we will rotate. It is asking a lot of the same players a lot to recover and play again because of the intensity of the games they have been involved in.
“The worst thing that could happen to us is to lose three or four players to injury, as that can have an effect over weeks and months. We have a good group who are all fighting to play and the priority is to get a team on the pitch which can win us the game.”