FA Cup

VICTOR MOSES had just 24 hours to get over being sent-off in the 2017 FA Cup final – as he was getting married the next day.The Nigerian endured a nightmare at Wembley as he was shown a second yellow card for diving in the 2-1 defeat against Arsenal.
Victor Moses had to get over his FA Cup nightmare in just 24 hoursCredit: Getty Images
And the sour note must have remained fresh in the memory when he walked down the aisle a day later in London to wed his long-term girlfriend.
It was a low key affair with just close family members, friends and colleagues attending the service.
Moses had been outcast under previous Chelsea managers but enjoyed a resurrection under boss Antonio Conte.
The wing-back started 29 Premier League matches that season as he played a crucial part in guiding the club to the title.
And the Italian boss defended Moses after the FA Cup defeat by claiming ‘tiredness’ may have forced him to take a tumble.
Conte – who led Inter Milan to their first Serie A title in 11 years last week – said: “I don’t know for sure but there is a lot of attention in this moment.
“Sometimes I think it could be tiredness and I don’t think – and I repeat – if my player dived he did it with the real intention to do this.
“We are at the end of the season and a lot of players are tired and then there is a lot of pressure.”
The Nigerian was sent off for diving in the defeat against ArsenalCredit: AP:Associated Press

A year later, in 2018, Moses looked back at the day as the ‘worst moment’ in his career.
The Chelsea ace – currently on loan at Spartak Moscow – revealed: “It was the worst feeling ever that I’ve experienced in my career.
“I wanted to be on the pitch to help my team-mates.
“It has played on my mind a little bit, but there’s nothing I can do about it. I can’t rewind it back.”
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NIGEL CALLAGHAN’S arms are outstretched, hands curved around the waist of soul singer Kiki Dee.It is late in the evening on May 19, 1984 and Callaghan is drowning his sorrows with his Watford team-mates at an FA Cup party thrown by chairman Elton John.
Former Watford winger Nigel Callaghan recalled Elton John’s FA Cup final partyCredit: Rex Features
Callaghan remembered cheekily asking soul singer Kiki Dee for a danceCredit: Dave Pinegar – The Sun
“There were marquees and a big band, hundreds of people. Rod Stewart was there and Kiki Dee. If we’d won, it would have been the party to end all parties,” Callaghan says in his cockney accent.
“This song came on and I said to Kiki Dee, ‘Can I dance wiv ya?’ It was just a laugh, it didn’t last long.”
Don’t Go Breaking My Heart? It was too late for that. Hours earlier, Watford had been beaten 2-0 by Everton in the final at Wembley to end Callaghan’s FA Cup dream.
In 2019, at the age of 56 and rather paunchy, the former winger sat in the corner of a Stafford hotel reeling off stories as the Hornets prepared to face Man City in their first cup final since ’84 – which they would go on to lose 6-0.
From a missing front tooth to the 15-inch scar across his stomach, Elton’s hat to Graham Taylor’s vein, Callaghan has plenty of tales to tell.
Callaghan lacked pace in his playing days but his delivery was Watford’s lethal weapon. He sees a similarity between Taylor’s team and Pep Guardiola’s newly-crowed Premier League champions, City.
“We got labelled a kick-and-run side at the time,” he recalls.
“Man City squeeze — that’s why they win games. We used to play balls into areas we knew we could close. We pressed teams, we weren’t a direct side.”
Callaghan believes his Hornets’ team were unfairly labelled a kick-and-run sideCredit: Dave Pinegar – The Sun
Callaghan and his Watford team-mates do a lap of honour at Wembley after losing the FA Cup final to EvertonCredit: Rex Features

Softly-spoken Javi Gracia galvanised Watford in 2019 in the same way Taylor did back in the ‘80s. But that’s where the similarities end.
“Alex Ferguson’s hairdryer had nothing on Taylor,” Callaghan says.
“We used to laugh because he had this jugular vein that would come out when he was giving you a b*****king. I got quite a few.
“He treated me a bit like the son he never had and was more harsh on me than others. We were all young lads in that team. Taylor wanted us married off so we’d settle down a bit.”
Callaghan remembers a mid-season vacation. “Taylor says to us, ‘I’ve got a surprise for you boys, you’ll be pleased to know we’re going away for a few days so make sure you’ve got your passports and sun tan lotion’. He wouldn’t say where.”
On the day, the coach zipped passed Heathrow and then Gatwick, heading towards the south coast.
“We get to this roundabout and there’s two turn offs: one to the Isle of Wight ferry and one to France. The coach went quiet until we went passed the Isle of Wight turning and all the lads started cheering.
“The bloody coach then goes all the way round the roundabout and back to the Isle of Wight ferry. It chucked it down for the whole four days. That’s what Taylor was like.”
Callaghan told hilarious tales of Graham Taylor’s reign at Vicarage RoadCredit: Dave Pinegar – The Sun
Callaghan explained how Taylor would be exasperated when Elton John brought ‘toys’ to the training groundCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
Callaghan’s throaty laugh exposes a missing front tooth. During his time at Vicarage Road, he grew close with a family whose daughter was an ice-skater.
“We’d go for a skate in Richmond. I fell one Sunday and chipped my tooth. I couldn’t tell the club I’d done it ice-skating because you weren’t allowed to do stuff like that, you’d get fined.”
If Taylor was the authoritative dad, Elton was the fun uncle. The superstar would turn up at the training ground in Stanmore with his brand-new Ferrari or Bentley and chuck the keys to the players.
“Taylor would say, ‘I’m trying to win the league and the chairman keeps bringing in toys,” Callaghan recalls.
Elton would visit the home dressing room before a game to wish them luck.
“When he was having his hair transplant he would wear this hat and wouldn’t go anywhere without it. Les Taylor hid the hat once. We came back in the changing room at half-time and he was still sat there because he couldn’t find it.”
Callaghan believes the community element has been eradicated from clubs in recent years.
“When I played at Watford, Elton would have a garden party virtually every season. It was everybody from the manager and directors to the tea and laundry ladies,” he says.
“Football is such a big business now you don’t get that. There’s people who work at clubs who aren’t interested in football but it’s a job because they’re so big.”
Callaghan has fought cancer twice and fears it coming backCredit: Dave Pinegar – The Sun
Callaghan changed as well. Life has never been the same since he went for a colonoscopy back in 2009.
“The camera stopped at this thing,” he winces. “You didn’t have to be a doctor to know it wasn’t right. Straight away I’ve gone, ‘Oh my god!’ It was colon cancer.”
An operation was followed by six months of chemotherapy. “A few weeks after, they called me in and said it had spread to my liver. They said I had to go to Birmingham for a big operation.
“I believe that when your time is up it’s up, and I’m thinking I’m going to die on the table. They took 70 percent of my liver out. The hardest part is going back for check-ups though.”
Callaghan, who lives with his 85-year-old mum Delores, was given the all-clear in 2014, but dark clouds still linger.
“These don’t hurt,” he says, pointing to the scars, “there’s a bit of pain but it’s more mental. You don’t know if they’re going to say, ‘Mr Callaghan, really sorry but it’s come back’. That’s the bullet in the gun.
“You go through five years of that, every six months and it’s the worst thing ever. Even now I keep thinking it’s going to come back and I’m not sure I’d even want to know because it changes you.
“I’m not the same person I was before I went in that operation.”
But as Callaghan rises from his seat, he explains how the gash provides a little mischievous fun during his summers in Corfu.
Any prying party-goers get the same answer. “I tell them it’s a shark bite,” he says, flashing one final toothy grin.
Callaghan has worked as a DJ ever since his football career and still does seasons in CorfuCredit: Getty – Contributor
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DENNIS WISE considers Mason Mount the complete footballer already.Yet to be the complete Chelsea player there is still one thing missing – a band for his left arm.
Chelsea legend Dennis Wise believes Mason Mount should be the club’s next captainCredit: Rex
Wise was a massive part of Chelsea’s rebirth in the 1990sCredit: PA
Chelsea fans still sing about their legendary former captain who was in at the rebirth of the club back in the 1990s.
Wise, now 54, has thrown his weight behind Mount being anointed as the next skipper.
He reckons Mount lacks for nothing in terms of talent and commitment, having been slowly polished from boyhood into the cavalier all-rounder now regarded as the brightest young star at Stamford Bridge.
Wise handed over the Chelsea captaincy to John Terry, who in turn passed it to Gary Cahill and on to current skipper Cesar Azpilicueta.
Azpilicueta will lead Mount and the rest of the team onto the Wembley pitch tomorrow looking to make the FA Cup the first major trophy of a new era under boss Thomas Tuchel.
Wise hopes to see Mount win the old trophy and then in future years watch him be the first in line to lift it again and again as part of his captain’s duties on Cup final day.
Wise said: “He should be the next captain. He is a Chelsea boy, he has been there from a young age.
“He knows the club inside out, the personnel and he loves it – a bit like John Terry. Mason would be perfect.
ALL GROWN UPDENNIS WISE sweeping up his baby boy Henry after winning the 2000 FA Cup is part of tournament folklore.
The Chelsea legend reckons it changed him on the inside – and from the outside.
Wise said: “It was a big moment. It was funny because everybody saw me as this horrible little midfield player going round and kicking people and all of a sudden it changed and people thought ‘oh, isn’t he nice?’
“Henry was six months old then. He is 21 now and cringes a little bit at the photo but it is what it is.
“It wasn’t just Henry, all the players’ kids came up. It was a family affair, a loving moment in a successful period.
“The FA Cup is up there with my moments really in allowing me to take steps forward as a footballer.”
Wise Jnr is now a midfielder with Championship side Watford.
His dad first won the Cup in 1988 when Wimbledon’s ‘Crazy Gang’ caused a massive shock by beating Liverpool.
Wise Snr said: “It means a lot, it took us off in 1988 with Wimbledon.
An opportunity for myself, for Vinnie Jones and a lot of us really.
“People looked at us in a serious way and all of a sudden we all went our separate ways. I went to Chelsea in 1990 and winning the Cup in 1997 really broke the ice for them as the club had waited a long time for a trophy.”
By Andrew Dillon

Wise’s son, Henry, plays at WatfordCredit: Reuters
“It will make him a lot more mature as a person. He is the type that will like that and added responsibility will take him to the next level.
“And I have to say the next level for him will be very, very high.
“He enjoys himself and people respect the way he plays. I have met him. You can tell where he has grown up.
“You see the character in the ones that care. A deepness within. They know the canteen lady over the other side of the training ground. The kit man at the other building, the receptionist. It’s that kind of a scenario.
“I can imagine him going back to the academy and sitting with the boys there.
“All he needs now is experience. The players alongside him have won World Cups so you will only gain from them every day. He is gathering information every day.
“As a player he is good with his left, good with his right, he has pace, he knows when to run in behind. Pass it, dribble, can head it.
“Now it’s about what level is he going to go to? He is in the England squad so ‘can you win us the European Championship?’
Mount is expected to play a big role for Gareth Southgate’s England this summerCredit: Getty
“For Chelsea can he win them the FA Cup, the Champions League? You’re at the place where they will compete for them. Can he go to the next level? Yes he can but that takes time.”
Nice guy Mount looks like he can barely maintain the attempt at a goatee beard clinging to his boyish chin at just 22.
Back in the days of hair-curling tackles, Wise was a combative sergeant major who led Chelsea to two FA Cup wins and the European Cup Winners Cup.
Wise said: “I tried to play with a smile. Well, sometimes a smile and sometimes a growl.
“People would say they wouldn’t like to play against me, Patrick Vieira, Roy Keane, Vinny Jones. They say we’re horrible.
“But players like Mason hurt you in a different way. People say they would love to play against Gianfranco Zola because he is a lovely guy.
“Trust me you wouldn’t because he would run the backside out of you and you’d hate it.
“I hated playing against Paul Scholes. Not because he was aggressive, I just couldn’t get near him. He was frustrating to play against because was so clever.
Wise played 445 games for Chelsea – the seventh-most ever – and won four major trophiesCredit: Reuters

“Likewise, Mount is horrible because he puts you on the back foot, runs this way, that way, drops short. He would have annoyed me.
“You look one way and ‘boom!’ He has gone and you think ‘s***’.
“Everyone has known since he was 15 that Mason would make it and he has taken his opportunity.
“He is very aggressive with running with the ball at you. He is a real talent. But he also pops up at the right time.
“Sometimes you don’t have a great game but you’re the one who pops up to create something. That tells you something about that person. He keeps going and has a real passion and desire.
“There’s an inner strength from him to play like that and still enjoy it. He thrives on it.”
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JAMIE VARDY fell on his back to take it all in when the full-time whistle confirmed Leicester City’s place in a first FA Cup final for 52 years.The Hollywood script just got an extra scene added.
Jamie Vardy collapsed to the hallowed Wembley turf when Leicester booked their FA Cup final placeCredit: Guardian News & Media
The former non-League hero will play in his 13th different round of the FA Cup when Leicester take on ChelseaCredit: Bradley Ormesher – The Times
On Saturday, non-League’s first £1million footballer will complete every football-loving kid’s dream.
Vardy, 34, won’t be the first to play in all eight rounds, Troy Deeney the latest of 13 since 2007-08 alone.
But very few, if any, have also featured in the preliminary round as well as qualifying rounds one, two, three and four like Vardy. The only one missing is the extra preliminary.
Matt Piper was at Wembley for Leicester’s semi-final win over Southampton.
The ex-Leicester winger told SunSport: “All the emotion came out at the end.
“Vardy was laying on his back, he couldn’t believe it. He’s had such a wonderful career and now he’s got the chance to play in the FA Cup final.
“If they don’t make a Hollywood film, it would be criminal. His is one of the best sports stories of all time.”
The story started at his beloved Sheffield Wednesday before his release at 15.

Dean Sidebottom was also let go by the Owls but the pair reunited when Vardy joined Stocksbridge Park Steels.
They formed a formidable partnership, Sidebottom wide right, ‘Reg’ Vardy left.
Sidebottom once set up a three-minute Vardy hat-trick… then got subbed two minutes later.
The 35-year-old site manager said: “He was a dream to play with, it was almost telepathic. Even now watching Leicester, I can spot the runs he’ll make.
“He got the break because he scored more!”
The duo were as effective finding cameras or opposition fans to rile as the net and share countless memories off the pitch, including each others’ weddings.
Sidebottom added: “The butterfly celebration was against Trafford in the FA Cup. I scored then Vards got the winner.
“We copied some pros. Anything to wind up the fans! Now he’s doing it on a bigger stage.
Vardy was released by Sheffield Wednesday at 15 but signed for Stocksbridge Park Steels a year later
He had a brilliant partnership with Dean Sidebottom on and off the pitchCredit: Stocksbridge Park Steels
‘Reg’ and Sidebottom pull out their favourite celebration against Trafford in the FA CupCredit: Stocksbridge Park Steels
The best mates did the butterfly at Sidebottom’s wedding after Nigel Pearson gave the green lightCredit: Dean Sidebottom
Vardy scored the winner at Middlesbrough earlier in the day before the weddingCredit: Getty Images – Getty
“He came to my wedding straight from scoring the winner against Middlesbrough in August 2013. Nigel Pearson called me beforehand to check he wasn’t pulling a fast one.
“At his, he introduced me to the players and the great tragic Khun Vichai.
“Everyone else at his wedding was rich and famous: Louis Tomlinson, Serge from Kasabian, football friends. I’m just a normal lad from Barnsley.”
Sidebottom’s two sons will watch the final with dad in their ‘Vardy 9’ kits cheering on ‘Uncle Jamie’.
Vardy’s best pal is backing him to do the business: “It’s a boyhood dream to play in the FA Cup.
“At Stocksbridge, we never thought we would reach Wembley. I’m proud of him.
“I really think Leicester will win. He’ll come good with four or five in the final!”
Watch Vardy carefully as he steps out onto the Wembley turf and hops over the white line.
It’s a superstition he invented mucking around with Sidebottom.
Watch Jamie Vardy score after slaloming run from own half for non-league side Stocksbridge Park Steels versus FC United of Manchester
Although the Skittles vodka and pre-match port may be gone, chances are he will have just necked a Red Bull and packet of Tangfastics, as in his Northern Premier League days.
Stocksbridge’s former supporters’ club chairman Richard Hayes holds fond memories of ‘golden boy’.
Hayes, 39, said: “Jamie was cocky but backed it up with his skills.
“Fans travelled on the team coach so mingled with players. Jamie had banter and chatted for ages.
“His tag curfew meant he jumped the hoardings into a fan’s car to drive back to Sheffield.
“One New Year’s Day, he was absolutely tanked out his head and still the best player by a million miles.
“Stocksbridge made headlines in 2002 when someone scored ten goals in an FA Cup game. That was five minutes of fame, Jamie put us on the map for eternity.”
Hayes won’t watch but added: “I hope he wins. If he does, he’ll have one more FA Cup medal than Alan Shearer!”
Vardy scored four goals in eight FA Cup appearances for Stocksbridge between 2007 and 2009, losing in the second qualifying round in three successive years.
He went two better in his one Halifax season, still playing wide left.
Vardy is one of Leicester’s greatest players and among the best signings ever – he will be talked about in the top ten Premier League strikersMatt Piper
Matt Piper reckons his £1m switch from Fleetwood to Leicester is one of the greatest transfers everCredit: The Sun
Neil Aspin’s side beat Whitby, Ashton United and Harrogate before Conference Mansfield scraped past them in qualifying stage four.
Defender Mark Bower captained the Shaymen to the 2010-11 NPL Premier Division by 19 points with a +72 goal difference.
Bradford PA manager Bower, 41, said: “It was easy for him. We faced North Ferriby away with a 17-year-old at right-back who had never played before.
“I’ve never seen such a massacre of one player on a football field, he absolutely destroyed the poor kid. If he smelt blood, he destroyed opposition.
“Vards was an absolute diamond in the dressing room and always at the forefront of nights out. He had a reputation because his clothing wasn’t the best!
“It’s pretty special to say I played with Jamie Vardy in the seventh tier.”
At Fleetwood, Vardy’s FA Cup goals shocked third-tier Wycombe and Yeovil in rounds one and two.
Then came the famous Leicester transfer in 2012.
Vardy was on fire in his one season at Halifax as they cruised to the league title and reached the fourth qualifying roundCredit: Halifax Courier
Mark Bower captained the Shaymen that year and witnessed his team-mate terrorise defenders
Vardy scored against Wycombe on his debut in the first round properCredit: PA:Press Association
His goals for the Cod Army earned them promotion in League Two and his big-money move to LeicesterCredit: Getty
After a rough debut season scoring just five goals, Vardy genuinely considered quitting to become an Ibiza rep.
Eight years on, he has 145 Foxes goals, a Premier League medal, the Golden Boot and 100 Club membership.
Ironically, only two of those 145 are FA Cup goals, while he managed seven in 26 England caps, appearing at two major tournaments.
Piper, 39, added: “I was excited when we signed Vards.
“His biggest quality is adapting at every level. Making the jump is the most difficult thing.
“He’s one of Leicester’s greatest players and among the best signings ever. He will be talked about in the top ten Premier League strikers.
“I love him, honestly!
“He will definitely score. The worst thing you can do is wind him up. I hope Chelsea fans make that mistake because he’ll score a hat-trick.
“He’s come a long way from wanting to quit to be an Ibiza rep and drinking bottles of vodka with Skittles in.”
Vardy loves it when opposition fans give him stick and is not afraid to dish it outCredit: PA:Press Association
Just two of his 145 Leicester goals have come in the FA Cup so farCredit: Getty Images – Getty
The Foxes talisman picked up the Golden Boot last season to add to his growing collection of awardsCredit: Getty
Vardy’s journey epitomised Leicester City’s incredible 5,000-1 underdog title triumphCredit: EPA
Jamie Vardy’s FA Cup journey
STOCKSBRIDGE PARK STEELS
2007/08

01/09/2007 Preliminary round Curzon Ashton 2-3 Stocksbridge (1) 
15/09/2007 1st Qualifying Round Frickley Athletic 1-2 Stocksbridge 
29/09/2007 2nd Qualifying Round Gainsborough Trinity 6-1 Stocksbridge

2008/09

30/08/2008 Preliminary Round Trafford 2-4 Stocksbridge (1)
13/09/2008 1st Qualifying Round Brigg Town 1-4 Stocksbridge
27/08/2008 2nd Qualifying Round Stocksbridge 1-2 Curzon Ashton 

2009/10

10/09/2009 1st Qualifying Round Clitheroe 0-2 Stocksbridge
26/09/2009 2nd Qualifying Round Stocksbridge 2-7 Stalybridge Celtic (2)

HALIFAX
2010/11

11/09/2010 1st Qualifying Round Halifax 2-0 Whitby Town 
25/09/2010 2nd Qualifying Round Ashton United 1-2 Halifax
09/10/2010 3rd Qualifying Round Halifax 4-0 Harrogate Town
23/10/2010 4th Qualifying Round Halifax 0-1 Mansfield Town 

FLEETWOOD
2011/12

29/10/2011 4th Qualifying Round Mansfield 1-1 Fleetwood
01/11/2011 4th Qualifying Round Replay Fleetwood 5-0 Mansfield
12/11/2011 1st Round Fleetwood 2-0 Wycombe (1)
02/12/2011 2nd Round Fleetwood 2-2 Yeovil
13/12/2011 2nd Round Replay Yeovil 0-2 Fleetwood (1)
07/01/2012 3rd Round Fleetwood 1-5 Blackpool (1)

LEICESTER
2012/13

26/01/2013 4th Round Huddersfield 1-1 Leicester
12/02/2013 4th Round Replay Leicester 1-2 Huddersfield

2013/14

04/01/2014 3rd Round Stoke 2-1 Leicester

2014/15

03/01/2015 3rd Round Leicester 1-0 Newcastle 
24/01/2015 4th Round Tottenham 1-2 Leicester

2015/16

20/01/2016 3rd Round Replay Leicester 0-2 Tottenham

2016/17

27/01/2017 4th Round Derby 2-2 Leicester
18/02/2017 5th Round Millwall 1-0 Leicester

2017/18

16/01/2018 3rd Round Replay Leicester 2-0 Fleetwood
16/02/2018 5th Round Leicester 1-0 Sheff Utd (1)
18/03/2018 Quarter-finals Leicester 1-2 Chelsea (1)

2018/19
2019/20

28/06/2020 Quarter-finals Leicester 0-1 Chelsea

2020/21

10/02/2021 5th Round Leicester 1-0 Brighton
21/03/2021 Quarter-finals Leicester 3-1 Man Utd
18/04/2021 Semi-finals Leicester 1-0 Southampton More