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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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      Newcastle takeover failure sees 19,000 fuming fans sign petition urging Boris Johnson to launch a probe

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      MIKE ASHLEY is still desperate to sell Newcastle to the Saudi Arabian-led consortium.
      Angry fans have demanded answers from Premier League boss Richard Masters.

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      Mike Ashley is still desperate to sell Newcastle to the Saudi Arabian-led consortiumCredit: Getty – Contributor
      Some 19,000 — and counting — signed a petition urging PM Boris Johnson to order a probe into the failed takeover.
      Premier League chiefs are yet to comment after 17 weeks of their owners’ and director’s test.
      But club MD Lee Charnley said: “Never say never, but to be clear Mike Ashley is 100 per cent committed to this deal.”
      After 13 unhappy years owner Ashley wants to sell and still believes the sale could be resurrected, with no other offer on the table.

      On Thursday, Amanda Staveley, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and the Reuben brothers withdrew their £300million bid.

      They were so confident of getting the green light they had transferred funds to a London bank.
      But Staveley’s husband, Mehrdad Ghodoussi, said all three sides of the consortium would still “do this deal tomorrow.”
      It emerged that Saudi businessmen tried to solve the contentious TV piracy issue by offering huge sums to the Prem for the rights to screen matches in the kingdom.

      It is understood CEO Masters dismissed the offer out of hand.
      And Magpies legend Alan Shearer yesterday expressed his sympathy for the Toon Army.

      He said: “There’s a lot of anger, understandably so, and a massive amount of disappointment.
      “We can only hope and pray new owners come in at some stage and take the club back to where it belongs.”
      But MP John Nicolson, a member of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, said he was “disturbed” at how many fans were prepared to ignore Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses.

      Micky Quinn questions why Newcastle Saudi Arabian bidders were put under such scrutiny compared to other club’s owners 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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      Ex-England footie star Kieron Dyer quits golf club ‘after being racially abused’

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      FORMER England footballer Kieron Dyer has quit his golf club over alleged racial abuse.
      Dyer, 41, claims a member used the slurs “monkey” and “banana” behind his back.

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      Kieron Dyer has quit his golf club ‘after being racially abused’Credit: Rex Features
      The ex-Newcastle and Ipswich midfielder said: “It was brought to my attention that a member verbally abused me in the bar area at Hintlesham Golf Club last Friday.
      “That abuse was of a racial nature. And while I did not hear it myself as I had left, I was left shocked when told.
      “I immediately resigned via email. I have always found it a nice club with good people.
      “But this is a deeply upsetting incident. I just hope the matter is dealt with appropriately by the club.

      “There is no place for this type of racism in our society.”
      Dyer, who played 33 times for England, had been a member of the club near Ipswich for several years.
      He splashed out on a lavish christening party for his son at the 16th century Hintesham Hall hotel next door to the golf club in 2006.

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      The former midfielder said the incident was ‘deeply upsetting’ and he hopes it will be dealt with appropriately by the clubCredit: Getty

      Footballer Kieron Dyer opens about childhood abuse he suffered during This Morning appearance
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      Ex-England keeper David Seaman goes from saving goals to saving pennies with his new bargains guide

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      FORMER Arsenal and England goalie David Seaman has gone from saving goals to saving pennies with a guide to bagging bargains.
      The millionaire’s tips include being friendly to negotiate better deals and using discount stores.

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      ‘Safe Hands’ David Seaman is putting his saving skills to good use againCredit: Professional Sport

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      The goalkeeping legend has written his own guide to bagging bargainsCredit: Rex Features
      He also suggests borrowing bigger items such as lawnmowers and hedge trimmers from neighbours as “something borrowed is something saved”.
      Seaman, 56 — nicknamed Safe Hands for his exploits between the sticks — said: “Don’t worry about hitting the discount stores.
      “I bought some shorts from a discount store. My mates really took the pee out of me. Didn’t bother me a jot.
      “Being friendly is always going to give you a better chance of getting a better deal. You won’t get anything by being miserable.

      “And if you don’t ask for a deal, you won’t get a deal. Every ‘no’ is a step further towards a ‘yes’.”

      The guide, Save It Like Safe Hands, puts his sensible attitude down to his upbringing in Rotherham.
      He writes: “We had no money, so saving and being savvy have always been in my blood.
      “Being a Yorkshire lad, it’s something you never lose.”

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      Seaman puts his sensible attitude down to his upbringing in RotherhamCredit: Rex Features

      How old is David Seaman and who is his sexy Dancing on Ice star wife Frankie Poultney?
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      England boss Gareth Southgate gives team penalty tips to help them reach final — despite Euro ’96 semi-final miss

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      ENGLAND boss Gareth Southgate gave his local side penalty tips to help them reach a play-off final — despite once fluffing a vital spot-kick himself.
      Southgate, 49, missed a sudden-death penalty for England in the Euro ’96 semi-final against Germany, who went on to win the tournament.

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      Gareth Southgate missed a sudden-death penalty for England in the Euro ’96 semi-final against GermanyCredit: Getty Images – Getty

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      Despite missing the vital penalty against Germany, the England boss successfully helped his local team reach a play-off final that could see Harrogate promoted to the Football League for the first time Credit: EPA
      But he passed on the benefit of his experience to help Harrogate Town prepare for their National League play-off semi-final against Boreham Wood.
      His tips helped Town to a 1-0 win on Saturday and they now face Notts County in Sunday’s Wembley final.
      Harrogate keeper James Belshaw said: “The stuff he told us about preparing for penalties was really good. We’d obviously been working on them in training ahead of the game and it was great to get his perspective.
      “He also gave us some tips on set-pieces, and we scored the goal that won the game from a corner.”

      Southgate, who lives near Harrogate, laid his penalty demons to rest in 2018 when England beat Colombia in a shootout on their way to the semi-finals.
      James added: “What Gareth said to us definitely helped in terms of our preparation. He reminded us that nobody was asking us to go out and do anything we’d not done before. We just had to go out and play football, play our own game.”
      Victory on Sunday will see Harrogate promoted to the Football League for the first time in their 106-year history.

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      Harrogate Town players were helped in their bid for promotion by England boss SouthgateCredit: Represented by ZUMA Press, Inc.

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      Southgate’s missed penalty that saw England lose the Euro ’96 shootout with GermanyCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd

      Infamous Pizza Hut advert featuring Gareth Southgate
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      England footie ace Alex Scott reveals she turned to booze after being harassed by internet trolls

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      FOOTY pundit Alex Scott has revealed she turned to booze after being harassed by trolls when she finished playing.
      The England women’s football star won 140 caps and played in the London 2012 Olympics.

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      Alex Scott revealed she turned to booze after being harassed by trolls when she finished playingCredit: Dan Charity – The Sun
      Alex, 35, was speaking out about mental health as part of Prince William’s Heads Up campaign.
      She spoke to Watford’s Troy Deeney as part of the Duke of Cambridge’s #SoundOfSupport series.
      Alex, who retired three years ago, said “I was that footballer where, when I retired [and was] getting trolled, I found that I was turning to drink to try and hide what I was feeling.
      “I didn’t tell anyone – I didn’t tell my mum because I didn’t want her to worry.

      “I’m very much that person – I can look after myself, I can deal with stuff – but then obviously sometimes that’s the wrong way.

      When I retired and was getting trolled, I found that I was turning to drink to try and hide what I was feeling.
      Alex Scott

      “I got to a dark place and it was over Christmas that’s when I was like ‘I can’t carry on like this’ – this is not me – I need to seek help.
      “Now when I talk about mental health, straight away I’m smiling. Because I know what it’s done for me to leave that place.

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      Speaking to Troy Deeney as part of Prince William’s #SoundOfSupport series, Alex said she realised she needed help after going to a ‘dark place’Credit: PA:Press Association

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      Deeney also opened up about his experiences with mental health, revealing that he had been in therapyCredit: PA:Press Association
      “I’m content. I’m happy. And I feel like I want to give that to everyone else.”

      Ex-England skipper Rio Ferdinand also told how the England shirt “weighed heavy” while Deeney revealed he had been in therapy.
      Rio, speaking to rugby ace Owen Farrell in a #SoundOfSupport chat, said: “As a captain, as an England player, the shirt was a heavy shirt when I played for England.
      “More so than Man United… In my generation, [we’d] never like, go into a room on our own, sit there and go ‘Guys listen, Cup Final tomorrow, I’m so nervous’.
      “Because everyone would sit there and go ‘What?’.
      “And almost you’d look him to say ‘He’s a weak link, he’s going to be a nightmare tomorrow for us’.
      “Now looking back, I think ‘maybe I could have helped a few people through’.”
      Deeney revealed he spent time in therapy. The striker said: “From the age of like 18, I was a proper loose cannon.

      “I was just in a bad place, but then when I went to jail, I had to do a therapy course.
      “It was only really when I came out that I’ve realised that I don’t talk. So when I have an opportunity to talk and have a conversation now, I grasp it. It’s kind of my own therapy and I feel lighter for it.”
      The videos posted on YouTube are ahead of this Saturday’s Heads Up FA Cup Final.

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      Deeney said he was a ‘loose cannon’ at 18 but attending therapy in prison helped himCredit: ZUMA Press, Inc.

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      Rio Ferdinand admits England shirt felt ‘heavier’ than Man Utd’s and he NEVER believed Three Lions would win a trophy

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      RIO FERDINAND has confessed his England shirt always felt ‘heavier,’ than his Manchester United shirt.
      And he never really believed England’s Golden Generation would deliver the success they were tipped for – even when he captained the Three Lions.

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      Rio Ferdinand confessed his England shirt always felt ‘heavier,’ than his Manchester United shirt

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      Ferdinand expressed his candid thoughts during an interview with England rugby union captain Owen Farrell
      Ferdinand says being able to call on global superstars such as David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney and Sol Campbell should have made England one of the most feared and formidable football nations on the planet.
      Instead, the Three Lions turned out to be paper-tigers, with Ferdinand, who earned 81 caps and was a veteran of three world cups, revealing their tactics were fatally flawed under a succession of managers.
      Ferdinand, the youngest ever defender to play for England when he made his international debut against Cameroon, aged 19 years and eight days in 1997, said: “As a captain, as an England player, the shirt was a heavy shirt when I played for England.
      “More so than Man United, for different reasons. The expectation. The years of disappointment which had gone before us.

      “And our year was called the Golden Generation which heaped a bit more pressure on us at the time.
      “The big difference between wearing an England shirt and a Man United shirt is that I felt very comfortable and confident at Man United that we were on the right lines, the tight pathway to success.
      “Whereas with England I didn’t necessarily believe in it.

      As a captain, as an England player, the shirt was a heavy shirt when I played for England.
      Rio Ferdinand

      “When I look back now – at the time I thought I did – but I look back now with hindsight and just think that I didn’t believe in the tactics.

      “With that comes doubt and when doubt creeps into any sportsman’s mind, you know you are on a losing run then.”
      Ferdinand was selected by caretaker England boss Peter Taylor and went on to star for Sven-Goran Eriksson, Fabio Capello and Roy Hodgson.
      But the baggage and the pressure of knowing England expects weighed the golden generation down and says the current squad, under Gareth Southgate, has conquered those demands due to some shrewd man-management and the innocence of youth.
      He said: “I think that’s all changed now under Gareth. The way he approaches it and the way he’s got these young players coming through, moulding them together.”
      Ferdinand expressed his candid thoughts during an interview with England rugby union captain Owen Farrell as part of the six-part #SoundOfSupport series for the Heads Up campaign.
      Mental health is a hugely important issue for Ferdinand, who suffered personal tragedy when his wife Rebecca died of breast cancer in May 2015, aged 34.

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      Ferdinand’s wife Rebecca sadly died of breast cancer in May 2015, aged 34Credit: Getty – Contributor
      Ferdinand’s memoir of his wife’s illness and subsequent bereavement, Thinking Out Loud, was published in October 2017.
      He married for the second time, in 2019, when he wed Kate Wright, who he can share his worries and anxieties with.
      However he admits that kind of emotional intimacy was something he shied away from in his playing days, and says it took a visit to England’s rugby squad to realise even the toughest guys in sport have to share their fears and anxieties sometimes.
      In the video, Ferdinand told Farrell: “I’ve been in a dressing room with you guys after a game and I remember coming out with Michael Carrick and going …. Phew!
      “You guys seemed able to breathe and talk and communicate – that was a massive, massive difference to what it was with our generation. 
      “In my generation, [we’d] never, go into a room on our own, sit there and go ‘Guys listen, Cup Final tomorrow, I’m so nervous’. Because everyone would sit there and go ‘What?”.
      “You’d look at him as if to say ‘He’s a weak link, he’s going to be a nightmare tomorrow for us’. Whereas you guys seem like you’re a bit more forward-thinking, in that we can rally round.
      Now looking back, I think ‘maybe I could have helped a few people through who maybe would have helped us in the long run if I had put an arm around the shoulder or been a little bit more softer around those issues’.”

      Farrell led England to the Rugby Union world cup final in Japan last November and said: The build-up to a test week can be a long week and you know everyone has got their own thoughts. The main thing for us is to speak what we are thinking.
      “If that’s something that makes you a bit more vulnerable then that’s good. Because if you’re thinking it, I’d probably think a few more are as well.
      “So to put it out there and come up with a solution together is a stronger way of doing it.”

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      Centre-back Ferdinand during his Old Trafford days Credit: Getty Images – Getty

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