THERE are times when past achievements can mask the importance of a more recent one, when history skews perspective of the present day and a significant feat is downplayed simply because of what has gone before.

Liverpool reaching a major Cup Final is one such occasion. Their phenomenal haul of eighteen league championships, five European Cups, seven FA Cups, seven League Cups and three UEFA Cups means there is a temptation for winning through to yet another Wembley showpiece is treated by some as nature taking its course with one of Europe’s most decorated and illustrious clubs being on the kind of stage that befits them.

That may well be true. Liverpool are back where they belong, contesting silverware and hoping to demonstrate that the old mantra about the club existing for nothing else but to win trophies still rings as true as it did in the past. But there is also another element to reaching the Carling Cup Final that is in danger of being over looked and it is one that has seen the club go from the depths of despair to the heights of hope.

It was only sixteen short months ago that the words Liverpool and administration were being used in the same sentence. The kind of problems, embarrassment and fall from grace that Glasgow Rangers, another of Britain’s super clubs, are mired in today were a very real prospect at Anfield as recently as October 2010 as debts piled up under the ownership regime of Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

“The bank had the power to call in the debt and at the time there wasn't anyone ready to take on that debt, so the club could have gone into administration,” Ian Ayre recalled on the first anniversary of the takeover by Fenway Sports Group which prevented Liverpool from heading into an abyss. "Based on where we were and based on the circumstances at the time that was a very real threat. It's not what anyone wanted.”

That Liverpool have gone from being on the brink to looking to the future with belief renewed in such a short space of time is a fairytale in itself. It won’t be billed in such terms simply because of their history but that is exactly what it is and a reunion with Wembley, Anfield South as it is hoped the national stadium will become known again, is a symbol of a renaissance that has been as rapid as it is reassuring.

To those on the outside who did not realise the full extent of Liverpool’s desperate plight under Hicks and Gillett it is easy to fail to appreciate how far the club has come under new ownership and new management. That means FSG and Kenny Dalglish are unlikely to receive the credit they deserve for lifting them out of the doldrums, putting them back on an even keel and then pushing on from the platform that they established.

It may not have been a perfect recovery – in the circumstances that would have been impossible given the phalanx of problems they inherited in both boardroom and boot room – and there have been times when the rate of progress has not been in keeping with the patience levels of supporters who are desperate for success again following a period of relative famine. But Liverpool’s status and their health has always been best measured by their achievements on the pitch and as a sign of improvement there aren’t too many better indications than making it to the first Wembley final of the season.

Stability and unity have been the key factors underpinning their revival. The disharmony that was the main characteristic of the club less than two years ago has been replaced by a togetherness that makes success not just possible, it makes it absolutely achievable.

The change in mood has been captured perfectly by Steven Gerrard, always one of the more reliable gauges of Liverpool’s disposition, in the build up to tomorrow’s final. “There were days when you wondered will I ever get to a major cup final or will I experience more success as a Liverpool player,” the Liverpool captain admitted.

“Going back to the time under George Gillett and Tom Hicks, you suffer a defeat at Anfield and then go out to do a warm down, and there are thousands singing and shouting to get the owners out. Not good. Now the atmosphere is completely different.”

That the disillusionment and despair that permeated every corner of Anfield has been dispelled already is a remarkable feat and it is testament to the restorative work undertaken by FSG and Dalglish in the short time that they have worked together. The damage done to the club by Hicks and Gillett was never irreparable but it was extensive enough to demand a major reconstruction on and off the pitch just to make Liverpool competitive again. With the famous Twin Towers now in sight for the first time in far too long it is safe to say at the very least that owners, manager and club are headed in the right direction even if it is still accepted that there is a great distance more still to travel before a return to the glory days of the past can be confidently predicted.

It may not be widely viewed as such but this is modern day football fairytale and all that remains is for those who made it possible – on and off the pitch, in the stands and in the manager’s office – to enjoy the happy ending that they deserve. That won’t happen at Wembley tomorrow though, no matter what the result. As Dalglish himself has stressed, should Liverpool win against Cardiff City it has to be the start of a new era of success, not a one off.

But for once it may be that there is something at stake that is of even greater significance than the mere act of winning a trophy – it is a chance for Liverpool to show how far they have come and to draw a glorious line under a period in their history when major finals seemed as distant a prospect as stability and harmony. The good old days may not be back just yet but they are closer than they have been for quite some time.