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      Arsenal’s FA Cup final clash with Chelsea feels eerily unreal compared to raucous Cardiff in 2002

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      DON’T get me wrong, I grew up dreaming of playing at Wembley — and whether it was the old or new stadium it was always special.
      But the thing I remember about this 2002 FA Cup final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff was the decibel levels pitchside.

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      Sol Campbell celebrates winning the FA Cup alongside Tony Adams in 2002
      The way the stadium has been built, it retains the atmospherics in the middle.
      So the noise of the fans made it virtually impossible to talk or shout to team-mates during the game. It was quite incredible.
      And that was with the retractable roof open!
      To try to convey a message to my left-back or right-back, a distance away, I had to adapt and use body language and watch more intently than I would do normally to cover the lack of anyone hearing me.

      It was completely alien to my normal game.
      It’s amazing to think more than 18 years after that ferocious, deafening, cacophony in the Welsh capital, tonight the same two clubs will walk out to a wall of silence at Wembley.
      The whole thing feels eerily unreal.

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      Arsenal celebrate beating Man City in the semi-final

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      Chelsea beat Manchester United to get into the final
      This was my first FA Cup final and, like so many other youngsters, the magic of the FA Cup was imprinted in me growing up.

      When I started playing and competing at the highest level, I hoped I would get the chance to get to the final and experience what I had watched in awe as an impressionable lad.
      I was lucky enough to win the FA Cup four times and all three of them are very special in so many ways.
      But this first one stands out because everything was new to me.
      And we won the game with two of the most wonderful goals, in the way you would want to win an FA Cup final.
      I look back with such fondness on this match.
      It was a great pleasure to be part of that Arsenal side with so many players who had the ability to produce that bit of skill and a moment that would win you a game.

      It’s amazing to think more than 18 years after that ferocious, deafening, cacophony in the Welsh capital, tonight the same two clubs will walk out to a wall of silence at Wembley.
      Sol Campbell

      How would I describe our first scorer Ray Parlour? In a word — committed.
      The guy had a lung capacity that never ceased to amaze me.
      But beyond that effort, he had a consistency, game after game, that was infectious.
      This was a real nip and tuck match against a quality Chelsea side who went close a couple of times.
      Then with 20 minutes remaining it was Ray’s typical tenacity that got him upfield.
      Picking up the ball from Sylvain Wiltord inside Chelsea’s half in a central position, he had the confidence to hold on to it.
      Then as other team-mates got forward to take defenders away, he got himself into a position where he finished with the most beautifully struck curling shot from over 25 yards out that gave keeper Carlo Cudicini no chance.

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      Campbell in an aerial battle with Chelsea’s Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
      Ten minutes later — and not to be outdone — Freddie Ljungberg picked the ball up just inside the Chelsea half.
      He forced his way past John Terry, before unleashing another fantastic arc of a shot on the edge of the area that curled around Cudicini again.
      Moments of sublime magic that just turned the game into our favour.
      I can remember feeling all sorts of emotion at the end.
      Beyond elation, I was relieved that we had won the game.
      But then, three days later, we knew we still had to go to Old Trafford and try to seal the Premier League title.

      Of course, happily we won at Old Trafford 1-0 with a goal from Wiltord to clinch the Double before our final match of the season against Everton.
      There was plenty of champagne at the Millennium Stadium, but I think I ended up getting sprayed with more of it than I actually swigged!
      It was a boyhood ambition realised and to be surrounded by such a wonderful side and fans, everything just felt right.

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      Campbell pictured while managing Southend Credit: Rex Features

      Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta says the Gunners must win the FA Cup if they are to keep Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang More

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      Frank Lampard Sr upset at watching Chelsea’s final showdown with Arsenal ‘like a miserable b******’ at home

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      AN FA Cup final at Wembley is usually a joyous occasion for the Lampard family.
      Between them, the Chelsea manager and his father have a record of played six, won six.

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      Frank Lampard Sr will watch the FA Cup final at home in Romford

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      Lampard Jr has guided Chelsea to the FA Cup final in his first season in charge of the Blues
      Yet today will be different.
      When his son’s side take on Arsenal, Frank Lampard Sr — who rarely missed a match his son had been involved in prior to lockdown — will be sitting alone ‘like a miserable b*d’ at his Romford house.
      Lampard Sr, 71, runs The Nightingale pub in Wanstead, where he has ensured drinkers can watch the big match on a screen outside in the sunshine.
      But following his boy’s progress has become a solitary experience for Lampard Sr, since the death of his wife, Pat, 12 years ago.

      He said: “The punters in the pub are ringing up asking ‘have you got the game on?’
      “There will be a screen outside but I won’t be there. I get nervous.
      “My daughter lives round the corner but they’ll watch it at theirs and I’ll sit here on my own like a miserable b*****d.

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      Frank Sr, left, won the FA Cup twice with West Ham, in 1975 and 1980

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      Lampard Jr, pictured with John Terry, won the FA Cup on four occasions
      “Even if I watched with them, I wouldn’t be comfortable. Even if Chelsea could get me in at Wembley, it wouldn’t feel right.

      “It’s the supporters I feel sorry for — football is their lives and they are missing it badly.
      “I watched Frank play home and away and always went on my own. Pals would say ‘we’ll come for the ride with you’ but it never happened, I didn’t want it.
      “I’m just thinking about the game all the way there and back. When he was playing I got far more nervous than when I played.
      “I went to virtually every match he played for Chelsea, Manchester City and when he started off managing at Derby.
      “Even when Frank played in the States (for New York City FC), I’d fly over, stay one night then fly home.”
      Lampard Sr won two FA Cups as a West Ham left-back.
      He scored the 1980 semi-final replay winner against Everton at Leeds with a rare header, and celebrating by dancing around the corner flag.

      My daughter lives round the corner but they’ll watch it at theirs and I’ll sit here on my own like a miserable b*****d.
      Frank Lampard Sr

      For years, that goal was celebrated at Upton Park, to the tune of White Christmas.
      Fans sang: ‘I’m dreaming of a Frank Lampard, just like the one at Elland Road, when the ball came over, and Frank fell over, and scored the f*g winning goal.’
      Lampard aped his father’s corner-flag celebration when he scored the winner against the same opposition in the 2009 Cup final.
      “It was a year after his mum died and it was still very fresh in the mind,” said Lampard Sr, “So I felt very emotional when he did that celebration.”
      Lampard Jr started out at West Ham in 1995, with his dad as assistant manager and his uncle Harry Redknapp as boss.
      Yet far from welcoming ‘one of their own’, many Hammers fans believed the younger Lampard only played because of nepotism.
      Four years after he left for Chelsea in 2001, Lampard was a title winner and Ballon d’Or runner-up.

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      Lampard Sr, a left-back, played nearly 700 games for West Ham from 1967 to 1985
      Yet before his £11million switch to Stamford Bridge, where he would become Chelsea’s all-time record scorer, came a sliding-doors moment in his dad’s back garden.
      Lampard Sr added: “The West Ham thing is a shame. I was born round the corner from the ground and played there for all those (18) years.
      “Punters are punters but it went too far with Frank.
      “We were sitting in this garden when he got a phone call saying Chelsea wanted him.

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      SunSport’s Dave Kidd spoke with Frank Sr ahead of the FA Cup final
      “Leeds were in for him and they might have been a better team. Rio Ferdinand had moved there and that was a pull for him.
      “If there’d been no interest from Chelsea, he’d have gone to Leeds. He could have gone round that corner flag a few times!
      “Chelsea was a step up and a dream move, although we couldn’t have known the big man (Roman Abramovich) would come in two years later.
      “And Jose Mourinho really pushed him up a level.
      “He used great kidology. Kept telling him ‘you’re the best, you’re the best’.
      “Frank wasn’t the best. But if you tell someone often enough and they believe it and they have dedication, it’s amazing what they can achieve.”
      Lampard Sr admits he was often tough on his son.

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      Lampard Sr rarely missed a match his son had been involved in prior to lockdown
      He said: “I think he didn’t like me a lot of the time. I could be a bit of a taskmaster. I would have got on his nerves.
      “We went to a game for his Sunday side, Romford Royals, he wasn’t happy, and all of a sudden, we were nearly home and he started crying.
      “I thought ‘f*g hell’ I can’t go home with him like that, his mum will go mad’.
      “So we drove around for another half-hour, to get the eyes sorted out.
      “In the end, as soon as his mum looked at him she said ‘what’s gone on?’ She knew.
      “Even when he played for Chelsea, I was critical.
      “I’d go to every game and on the way back he’d ring and say ‘OK what are you going to pick up on now.’”
      Lampard was propelled into the Chelsea job after just one year as Derby boss.
      But, despite a transfer ban, he has guided the club to a top-four finish as well as the Cup final.

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      Lampard led Chelsea to a top-four finish and cup final finish in his first season in charge at Stamford Bridge
      And his father added: “I always thought Frank was managerial material. He’s bright, he can talk to the media and directors.
      “I didn’t think the Chelsea job would happen so quickly but, when it did, I knew he’d give the kids a crack.
      “Chelsea always had good youth teams, but players went on loan and then on the missing list.
      “The punters always appreciate youth products getting a chance.”
      Yet Lampard hauled off three of his younger players — Mason Mount, Billy Gilmour and Reece James — at half-time in the 1-0 quarter-final win at Leicester.
      Lampard Sr said: “When he made three subs I thought ‘f*g hell’ — but it worked.

      “He can make tough decisions. He can be ruthless. He knows you cannot be everybody’s friend.”
      Then there was the recent touchline spat with Jurgen Klopp during Chelsea’s 5-3 defeat at Anfield — when he told the Liverpool boss to ‘f*** off and sit down’.
      “Oh yeah,” smiles Lampard Sr, “You can take the boy out of Romford . . . ”

      Frank Lampard says Willian will give his all for Chelsea in the FA Cup final, despite Arsenal transfer links More

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      Arsenal fans mock ‘William Shakespeare’ font on FA Cup final shirts ahead of Chelsea clash

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      ARSENAL fans were convinced they had gone back in time when the club shared a snap of their kit for the FA Cup final.
      The Gunners have decided to change the font on the back of their kit for Saturday’s must-win clash against rivals Chelsea.

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      Arsenal shared this snap to their Twitter page ahead of the FA Cup finalCredit: Getty Images – Getty
      But Arsenal fans have claimed it looks so bad that Chelsea have an early advantage.
      The images shared to the club’s Twitter page show Kieran Tierney’s shirt complete with the retro font.
      Arsenal shared the snap to show the ‘Heads Together’ logo had been added to the bottom.
      But one fan responded: “Who designed that font, William Shakespeare? Absolute disgrace. No chance we win on Saturday.”

      Another added: “That font bothers me deeply.
      And one Twitter user said: “I just don’t know why you’ve gone all Age of Empires owith this font.”
      One fan joked: “WTF is that font? This is Arsenal FC not FC Death Metal Music.”
      The font is said to be inspired by the old Arsenal FC crest that was used from 1949 until 2002.

      Even though they do not approve of the kit, Mikel Arteta has insisted the fans deserve to experience the “joy” that comes with winning the FA Cup.

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      Emiliano Martinez will wear this shirt against ChelseaCredit: Getty Images – Getty

      He said: “Everyone’s worked so hard since I joined here to try to bring this club back to winning titles so if we can achieve that, I will be delighted.
      “But not for myself, for the players and the club that has been through some very difficult moments in the last few seasons.
      “And as well for our fans because they really deserve for us to give them some joy and nice moments.”

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      FA refuse to confirm if Premier League champs Liverpool will take part in Community Shield

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      LIVERPOOL’S participation in the Community Shield is surrounded in mystery.
      The FA refused to say if the Premier League champions have committed to the annual curtain-raiser to the new season, telling SunSport the competitors will be announced next week.

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      Liverpool’s participation in the Community Shield is surrounded in mystery
      An initial draft press release confirming the game on August 29 was  changed to remove Liverpool’s name.
      SunSport learned last week there were questions over whether Jurgen Klopp’s side would be involved, something Liverpool and the FA denied at the time.
      But their name did not appear on the official announcement of the game, while Arsenal and Chelsea, Saturday’s FA Cup finalists, were both named.
      When questioned directly about Liverpool’s involvement, the FA refused to confirm who will be playing.

      The statement only made reference to “the winners of the Premier League”  but named both FA Cup finalists.
      And Liverpool themselves failed to make an announcement or carry news of the Community Shield date on their  website, despite posting several other stories.

      There has been some concern  over whether staging the showpiece gives  clubs involved enough of a break between the end of last season and the start of the next campaign.
      It is understood Prem clubs have reached a consensus that each side would have a minimum gap of 30 days.

      That informal agreement means there is a chance  of a staggered start with sides involved in Europe kicking off  as much as three weeks late.

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      The FA refused to confirm who will be playing in this year’s annual curtain-raiser to the new season

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      Arsenal vs Chelsea FA Cup final kick-off time CONFIRMED for August 1 on BBC and BT Sport with Anthony Taylor as referee

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      THE FA Cup final between Arsenal and Chelsea will take place on August 1 on BBC and BT Sport with Anthony Taylor as referee.
      The Blues booked their spot in the Wembley showdown by thumping Manchester United after Arsenal battled past Man City.

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      Chelsea take on Arsenal in the FA Cup final at 5.30pm on August 1Credit: AP:Associated Press

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      The FA Cup final will take place on August 1 at 5.30pm, live on BBC One and BT Sport 1Credit: PA:Press Association
      Now it has been confirmed the Londoners will go head-to-head on August 1 at 5.30pm.
      The game will be shown live on BBC One and BT Sport 1.
      Taylor has been named as referee for the game after previously overseeing the 2017 showdown between the same teams, which Arsenal won 2-1.
      Gary Beswick and Adam Nunn will be Taylor’s two assistants.

      The fourth official for the game will be Chris Kavanagh and reserve assistant referee has been named as Lee Betts.
      Stuart Attwell will take on the role of video assistant referee, alongside assistant VAR Steve Child.
      The game, of course, will be played behind closed doors, rather than in front of the usual packed house of 90,000.

      Regardless, the game will be particularly special for Olivier Giroud – who scored in the semi-final against United – as he goes up against his former team.

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      Arsenal beat Man City to book their spot in the FA Cup finalCredit: Reuters

      Ahead of the game, Giroud revealed: “I said to the boys I would love to win another one.
      “It would be my fifth FA Cup and we are in another final.
      “A big game against Arsenal which will be so special for me personally.”

      Olivier Giroud says FA Cup final versus old club Arsenal will be ‘so special’ after he opens the scoring to knock Man United out of the competition More

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      What time is FA Cup final? Date, kick-off CONFIRMED, TV channel and live stream for Arsenal vs Chelsea

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      THE FA CUP is just around the corner, and the full details of it have now been announced.
      Here is how to watch the finale of the world’s oldest national football competition, between Arsenal and Chelsea.

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      Arsenal will take on Chelsea in the FA Cup finalCredit: Reuters
      When is the FA Cup final?
      The FA Cup final will take place on Saturday, August 1.
      The 139th final will kick off at 5.30pm BST, it has been confirmed.
      You’ve got to go back to 2011 for the last time it kicked off at 3pm.
      The final will be played between Arsenal and Chelsea.
      Wembley Stadium- albeit with no fans in attendance – will play host.
      What TV channel is the FA Cup final on
      Arsenal vs Chelsea will be televised on both BT Sport and BBC 1.
      Full daily schedule for the match and build up has yet to be announced.

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      Heads Up
      This year the FA Cup will be known as the Heads Up FA Cup Final, with sponsor Emirates donating their title.
      FA president Prince William said of the naming: “We’re going to really use the Final as a moment to promote good, positive mental health for everyone.
      “It’s quite timely bearing in mind what we’ve all been through with this pandemic. I think there’s going to be, sadly, a lot of repercussions from this in society, not just in football, in terms of people’s mental health. Hopefully the FA Cup can be a bit of a pivot that people can rally around.”
      Most FA Cup triumphs
      Arsenal – 13

      Man Utd – 12
      Chelsea – 8
      Tottenham – 8
      Liverpool – 7

      Aston Villa – 7
      Newcastle – 6
      Man City – 6
      Blackburn – 6 More

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      Inside Wembley tunnel as Man Utd star Mata reunites with old Chelsea pals bringing tears to fans’ eyes

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      CHELSEA fans have been reduced to tears after Juan Mata was seen chatting to his old Blues team-mates after Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final.
      The Spaniard was an unused substitute for Manchester United as they suffered a 3-1 defeat to Frank Lampard’s side.

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      Juan Mata embraced Spanish compatriots Pedro and Cesar Azpilicueta after Manchester United’s FA Cup defeat to ChelseaCredit: YouTube

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      The midfielder gave his shirt to former Barcelona ace Pedro in the Wembley tunnelCredit: YouTube
      Chelsea set up a cup-final date with Arsenal after Olivier Giroud and Mason Mount found the back of the net either side of the break.
      Harry Maguire netted an own goal before Bruno Fernandes scored a late consolation from the penalty spot.
      Following Sunday’s match, the official FA Cup YouTube channel released tunnel footage of the players returning to the dressing rooms.
      And one moment showing Spanish compatriots Cezar Azpilicueta, Pedro and Mata catching up made Chelsea fans very emotional.

      In the short clip former Blues ace Mata, 32, took off his United shirt to give to the Chelsea captain only for ‘Dave’ to pass it on to Pedro.
      One commented: “Seeing mata with the boys brought a tear to my eyes.”
      Another said: “Honestly the moment between Azpi, Pedro and Mata was way cooler.”
      A third claimed: “Mata once a blue always a blue.”

      Meanwhile, both Chelsea and United remain fierce-rivals in the race for Champions League football this season.
      The Blues sit third, just one point above the Red Devils and Leicester with two matches remaining.
      Chelsea are set for a daunting run-in against Champions Liverpool before facing Wolves on the final day while United must get past West Ham ahead of a shootout with the Foxes.

      Solskjaer says De Gea ‘should have saved’ Mount goal after keeper makes two unfortunate mistakes versus Chelsea in FA Cup semi-final More

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      When is FA Cup final? Date, kick-off time, TV channel and live stream as Arsenal make Wembley showpiece

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      THE FA CUP semi-finals have been and gone.
      Which means the big final is just around the corner! Here is how to watch the climax of the world’s oldest national football competition.

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      Arsenal will take on Chelsea in the FA Cup finalCredit: Reuters
      When is the FA Cup final?
      The FA Cup final will take place on Saturday, August 1.
      A kick-off time has not yet been confirmed, though last season the final kicked off at 5pm.
      You’ve got to go back to 2011 for the last time it kicked off at 3pm.
      The final will be played between Arsenal and Chelsea.
      Wembley Stadium- albeit with no fans in attendance – will play host.
      It is expected to be broadcast on both BBC One and BT Sport, as it was originally intended.

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      Heads Up
      This year the FA Cup will be known as the Heads Up FA Cup Final, with sponsor Emirates donating their title.
      FA president Prince William said of the naming: “We’re going to really use the Final as a moment to promote good, positive mental health for everyone.
      “It’s quite timely bearing in mind what we’ve all been through with this pandemic. I think there’s going to be, sadly, a lot of repercussions from this in society, not just in football, in terms of people’s mental health. Hopefully the FA Cup can be a bit of a pivot that people can rally around.”
      Most FA Cup triumphs
      Arsenal – 13

      Man Utd – 12
      Chelsea – 8
      Tottenham – 8
      Liverpool – 7

      Aston Villa – 7
      Newcastle – 6
      Man City – 6
      Blackburn – 6 More