When former Plymouth Argyle starlet Joe Mason left the Pilgrims to join Cardiff City last summer, few would have entertained the possibility that he could possibly feature in one of this season's major domestic cup finals.
However, tomorrow afternoon, he is set to line-up against Liverpool, in the 2012 Carling Cup final, as Malky McKay's Bluebirds, who are aiming to pull off what would be one of the biggest shocks in an English cup final since Wimbledon beat Liverpool in the 1988 FA Cup Final.
Cardiff paid £250,000 for Joe's services during the close season, which provided a major boost to the then financially stricken Pilgrims' finances, after he had finished the 2010-11 campaign as Argyle's joint second top goal scorer.
His displays for the Pilgrims provided a bright spot in what was ultimately a season to forget for everyone associated with Argyle. From January 2011 onwards, Joe and his teammates were forced to defer their wages as Argyle slid into Administration and received a subsequent ten-point deduction, which saw them relegated from League One.
If Joe was able to help the Bluebirds upset the form book and defeat Kenny Dalglish's Reds, he could attract the attentions of Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trappatoni ahead of this summer's Euroepan Championship.
After representing the Republic, who he qualifies to play for through his mother, at Under-17, Under-19 and Under-21 level, a senior call-up might not be beyond the realm of possibility in the coming years.
In the meantime, should he play any part in tomorrow's final at Wembley, he will become the first former Pilgrim to appear in a major Wembley final since Dan Gosling made a cameo appearance for Everton in the 2009 FA Cup final.
At the very least, he will be hoping for a better outcome than the one two of his former Pilgrims' colleagues, Ashley Barnes and Craig Noone, experienced when their Brighton and Hove Albion side were beaten 6-1 by the Reds in the FA Cup fifth round.
