I Was There: 2007 FA Cup Final, Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United

Here is the third and final instalment of my "I Was There" series. In this edition I recap my experience at the 2007 FA Cup Final which Chelsea won 1-0, and was the first to be held at the new Wembley stadium.

Previously in the series, I have reminisced about the 2005 and 2007 Carling Cup Finals against Liverpool and Arsenal.

Whether there is another edition of this series depends on the success of Chelsea this season.

So after seven years, Chelsea were back at Wembley. Dennis Wise was the last captain to lift the trophy at the old stadium, could John Terry become the first captain to lift the famous trophy at the new Wembley? The answer was of course yes, and here is my experience of that memorable day.

As the game was much closer to home, the worry of a long and tiring journey wasn’t present. Me, my brother and my dad set off for Wembley at around 9-10am. As we got closer to Wembley you could see hordes of Man U and Chelsea fans getting onto tubes all making their way to the game early.

Eventually we arrived at Wembley park station at around 11am and made our way to the exit. The first thing that I saw was the massive Wembley arch and seas of blue and red shirts milling out before me.

There were stalls selling flags, scarves, t-shirts, the lot. People were also handing out inflatable FA Cup’s, which I would be displaying proudly later.

We were meeting my aunt and her friend (both mad Chelsea) so we went over and sat down and waited. I perched myself up on a wall and took in the atmosphere that was already in the area, despite there being four hours until kick off.

Songs could be heard from various corners and every few minutes more supporters would pour out of the stations exit. After a while my aunt and her friend showed up and it was off to a community centre round the corner. My aunts friend knew some of the people that had rented out the centre and he was able to get us some tickets, so off we went.

On our way we passed a pub that had been completely taken over by United fans, not the best place to go for a drink if you were wearing a blue shirt!

At the centre we had some food and of course some beer, and just generally relaxed and chatted about the game. At around 1:30pm my dad, my brother and me headed to the stadium. Walking up Wembley way and seeing the stadium and the arch in full view was an awe-inspiring site.

The Cockney Reds were in good voice, taunting passing Chelsea fans on their league title win. Then the two fans went to their separate ends of the stadium.

We got in and then queued up for programmes, and I ended up buying a "Return of the Blues" T-shirt as well.

Our seats were in the lower tier and near the corner flag. The inside of the stadium was as impressive as the outside. With the pre-match formalities out of the way, the game began. The game was labelled by some as very boring etc. etc.

Well I can tell you that was the last thing running through my mind during the game. The whole game was a nerve-wracking experience. The first half passed with a few chances been had by either sides, including shots from Drogba and Lampard.

The second half would pass with a few chances as well, Drogba hit the post and Rooney had a few opportunities. Of course there was Giggs’ foul on Cech, which United somehow thought afterwards was a goal.

Notice how I’ve not mentioned the greatest player in the world (according to Man United fans) Cristiano Ronaldo? Well that’s because he didn’t do anything. He was in Bridge’s and Ferreira’s pocket for the whole game. I’d wager I could have done a better job in my Budweiser induced state.

Extra-time it was to be, for the third FA Cup final in a row. The last two had been decided on penalties, and I was praying that it wouldn’t be the case today. The last penalty shoot-out I’d seen Chelsea take part in was not a happy experience.

My fears were unfounded when, in the best move of the game, Drogba played a classy one two with Lampard before knocking the ball past the on-rushing Van der Sar. There was absolute pandemonium in the Chelsea end. Me, my brother and dad went wild with joy, jumping around basically going crazy.

United kicked off in search of an equaliser, but you could tell they were mentally and physically exhausted. The ref blew his whistle and that was it. FA Cup Winners 2007!

What a feeling. Man United were first up those steps, collecting their losers medals, each step must have been very painful, eh lads?

Then the winners walked up, and captain John Terry collected the trophy and lifted it above his head, history had been made. The last team to win the FA Cup at the old Wembley, and the first team to win the FA Cup at the new Wembley.

The players then went onto the pitch and paraded the trophy to the Chelsea fans, spraying champagne everywhere, accompanied by chin-up gestures.

Then it was off to celebrate! We made our way out of the stadium and back down Wembley Way, but were held up for some apparent reason. No bother, everybody was still on a high after the afternoons events. "Didier Drogba La La La" "Where’s your double gone?" And "Didier Drogba F***ed your double up" filled the air.

The first hold up subsided and it was off down the wide path that we had walked up a couple of hours before. Police horses held up everyone for a bit, probably to give the Man United fans the chance to make a quick getaway to Surrey.

Everyone back at the centre was in a joyous mode, and I got a celebratory hug from my aunts friend as I entered. There was only one thing to do, drink! And drink I did, chatting about the events of the afternoon and having a brief flick through my programme.

Around eightish we decided to head back home, freshen up and head back out again. We got home around nine and headed to our local, the landlord is a Chelsea fan. I brought my inflatable FA Cup with me, but disappointingly there were no United fans in the bar.

I mean this is London, surely there would be some Man United fans about? But no there wasn’t, not that it greatly bothered me. There were Arsenal and Liverpool fans who did congratulate us on our win though.

After a while we headed back home and I caught the highlights on MOTD. After surfing the net for a bit, reading reports and reaction to our win and talking to people on MSN, I went to bed at around 1am extremely happy.

In just over two years I have been to three cup finals and seen Chelsea win the league twice. The 2007/2008 season saw this winning sequence come to end as I witnessed Chelsea lose two cup finals within the space of three months.

I didn't write anything about the 2008 Carling Cup Final at the time (the less said about that game the better), but I did jot down my feelings on the Champions League Final in one of my very first articles here on B/R.