Que Sera Sera…Rochdale Online went to Wembley

Rochdale Online staff took part in a piece of history by attending the first FA Cup Final at the new Wembley. They soaked up the atmosphere and occasion and then endured the football as Chelsea lifted the cup for the first time in seven years to deny Manchester United a league and cup double, thanks to a Didier Drogba goal three minutes from the end of extra time.

Firstly, let it be said that Wembley is a more impressive stadium inside than out. As we ascended the steps from Wembley Station we could not help but feel slightly underwhelmed at our first view of the stadium. You notice three things; an impressive arch, a brand new arena whose finishing touches appear not yet to be applied and latterly the large waste ground and heaps of rubble that surround it. The outside of the ground will undoubtedly improve with time but for now it appears too fresh out of the packaging.

First impressions are one thing, lasting impressions are quite another and once we had flanked the stadium and reached Wembley Way it became clear that we had entered the arena via the backdoor; the view up Wembley Way, or Olympic Way as it has been renamed, to the stadium was what fans were clearly supposed to see first and many of them would as they attacked the ground from Wembley Park Station. From here you can see the stadium in all its glory with the incline of Olympic Way leading to the front of the stadium, with the magnificent arch surrounding it and finished off neatly with a statue of Wembley’s prodigal son, World Cup winning captain Bobby Moore; this what the new stadium and this day was all about, the future of English football with a sense of the past, and the old stadium that helped to create it.

Personally this is a very retrospective viewpoint; I felt precisely none of the above at the time I was on Olympic Way as I was taking part in what will be my own lasting memory of the afternoon; not the stadium, the history, the atmosphere and certainly not the game, but the fact that, after a distinct and probably comical double-take I saw one of my own terrace heroes of the mid to late nineties, the current Rochdale manager Keith Hill, the man that has Dale fans daring to dream next season following the team’s more than impressive run since he took over in December. A photo opportunity in front of the new Wembley beckoned and Mr. Hill obliged before confirming that he was not in fact here to scout for future Dale players.

With my own afternoon already complete, it was time to enter the ground and in doing so we took part in what was a footballing first for all of us; the use of escalators to get to the third tier of the stadium where our seats were located. This was beginning to feel more like a Harrods shopping trip than a football match and I began to conjure up mental images of an escalator system being employed at my usual home of football, Rochdale’s Spotland stadium, with perhaps an airport-style moving walkway for fans in the more vertically challenged Sandy Lane end.

Indeed, comparisons with Harrods did not end there as our escalator trip ended in front of food kiosks and souvenir stalls and our eyes were drawn to what have already become the infamous Wembley prices - pound;4.50 for a pie anyone? We swiftly moved out of the concourse and into our seats. For the first time in the day, meeting Keith Hill aside, I was impressed. From inside, the stadium is an imposing prospect, from the slightly inclining hundred or so rows that make up the front tier, to the much smaller middle tier (which was of course empty at this stage as the corporate guests enjoyed their corporate hospitality in their corporate boxes), to the steep third tier which rises to the sky. And if none of that impresses you? Well you can always have another look at the arch.

The true fan of our party, Manchester United season ticket holder, Brad Journeaux, steered carefully away from reflecting on the football and agreed that the stadium was well worth seeing. He said: quot;I'd been to the old Wembley on several occasions, and while the age old issue of the lack of surrounding facilities for the supporters remains, the stadium itself is a magnificent improvement - having backs to our seats for a start! The sheer scale of the stadium is mind blowing, it's absolutely massive."

The highlight of the pre-match entertainment was one I had been looking forward to; the parade of former FA Cup legends onto the pitch, from those I had watched in FA Cup finals on television as a child to those I had heard and read about from before I was born and I began to appreciate what the Cup Final was all about. For many of these players it was the defining moment in their careers. Who would remember Keith Houchen had it not been for his diving header to help Coventry win the cup in 1987, or Jim Montgomery, the Sunderland goalkeeper who pulled off a miracle save in helping his team to a shock win over Leeds in 1973?

And so to the football and the chance for one of the twenty-two players to add their own name to the list of Wembley legends. Actually, no, scratch that sentence, so to half-time having watched a first half between two fatigued teams that went a long way to proving what has long since been known about cup finals; the priority is not to lose them, with the idea of winning them being very much second on the agenda. I reflected that devoting a career path to covering such teams in action might be well worth a re-think; I bet Keith Hill was glad he wasn’t on a scouting mission, nothing to see here!

The fans split themselves into two groups at half time. The first would attempt to break world records at spending the highest amount of money in the least amount of time available; not a difficult task at the food kiosks. The second group, partly through necessity and partly because the small amount of cash I had was not burning a hole in my pocket, was the group I joined; people who needed the toilet. Going to the toilet at large-scale football matches is a one-man military operation and Wembley proved to be no exception despite bragging by the stadium along the lines that it had the largest urinating areas in the country north of Glastonbury.

No sooner had the ordeal finished, than the second half had begun and finally the game became a true spectacle for the fans. Although Christiano Ronaldo, the player that everyone not associated with the King’s Road was most looking forward to seeing, continued to go on a Wembley walkabout, others stepped up to the plate, most notably in the form of Wayne Rooney who took to the task of taking the game to Chelsea almost single-handedly with the audacity that only he can portray. Fans were dreaming of the greatest cup final goal of all time when he embarked on a goal bound run from inside his own half, only to be denied at the last by the impressive Michael Essien.

Chelsea enjoyed the possession, with Mikel showing why the two clubs had fought long and hard over his signature by dictating things from midfield, but it was United who were creating the chances, the best of which fell to Ryan Giggs who blazed over on the volley at the far post.

No cup final would be complete without a moment of controversy and it arrived during the first half of extra time. From my vantage point I unprofessionally donned my Arsene Wenger-esque specs and did not see the possible foul by Essien on Giggs in the penalty area and nor could I decide whether Giggs had fouled Cech in the Chelsea goal as he carried the ball across the line; instead I will offer that Giggs should have scored what was the simplest of chances in the first place.

The cup final needed something special if penalties were going to be avoided and if it was going to come down to what one of the two team’s most special players could do about it, then there was only going to be one winner. Drogba’s performance had been bettered only by Rooney’s, whilst Ronaldo might as well have been sat next to me; not an impractical possibility given that the two seats next to mine were vacant - clearly some corporate or football family guests had forgotten to turn up. And so it proved that a moment of magic by Drogba and a moment of hesitation by United goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Saar decided the cup final. An excellent one-two with Frank Lampard had the United defence beaten and a goal bound prod by Drogba saw Chelsea win the cup deep into extra time.

Following the formalities of losers medals and the presentation of the cup to Chelsea captain John Terry by Prince William, it was time to join the herds attempting to get back onto the trains outside the ground. Here the Wembley stadium staff more than made up for the poor stewarding of the toilet situation with ruthless efficiency. Every twenty yards a steward was placed to direct fans this way and that into the correct queue for their train, whilst the trains themselves were running every ten minutes in all directions.

This meant we could relax and listen to the banter between the two sets of supporters. This centred around Chelsea fans asking their counterparts the whereabouts of their double, whilst United fans countered by asking the whereabouts of Jose Mourinho’s dog. The Manchester contingent were quick to point out that they were the champions whilst the Chelsea supporters seemed somewhat sheepish in celebrating their FA Cup win. These days the importance of the title is much greater than that of the cup, although if events on Wednesday night go Liverpool’s way then both sets of fans might end the season with a touch of envy. Me? I don’t care, I met Keith Hill on Wembley Way.