Wembley ready for FA Cup Final

Football legends from past FA Cup finals at Wembley will take part in the opening ceremony of the new stadium ahead of Chelsea's clash with Manchester United.

The likes of Ricky Villa, scorer of one of the best-ever goals in a final for Tottenham Hotspur in 1981, and Mark Hughes, the only man to have won four FA Cups at Wembley, will be introduced to the crowd.

HRH Prince William, the president of the Football Association, will be principal guest for the first showpiece at the new-look Wembley Stadium.

The build-up will also feature a Red Arrows fly-over as well as the traditional FA Cup final hymn Abide With Me.

Other highlights include: the marching band Corps of the Royal Engineers (who won the cup in 1875); big-screen footage of both clubs' roads to Wembley; Sir Bob Geldof, Sir Henry Cooper and Sir Geoff Hurst relating their Wembley experiences.

Players from both Cup Final teams will go for the traditional walk around the pitch before local Brent schoolchildren parade the colours of the 72 teams who have won the cup between 1923 and 2000.

The FA, meanwhile, is urging the 90,000 fans expected at Wembley to turn up in good time and to use public transport.

A spokesman said: "The turnstiles open at noon and the entertainment kicks off at 1.30pm. Our advice to fans is to urge them to arrive much earlier than they would for a normal match."

The list of legends is;

Peter McParland, scorer of both Aston Villa's goals in 1957.

Roy Hartle, right-back for Bolton, 1958.

Chic Thomson, keeper of Nottingham Forest in 1959.

Bill Slater, Wolves captain, 1960.

Bobby Smith, Tottenham scorer in 1961.

Cliff Jones, Tottenham's Welsh winger, 1962.

Denis Law, opening goalscorer for Manchester United, 1963.

Sir Geoff Hurst, scored for West Ham 1964.

Ian St John, Liverpool's winner in 1965.

Derek Temple, scored for Everton in 1966.

Dave Mackay, Spurs captain in the first all-London final, 1967.

Graham Williams, lifted the cup for West Brom, 1968.

Mike Summerbee, Manchester City, 1969.

Ron 'Chopper' Harris, Chelsea captain, 1970.

Frank McLintock, double-winning for Arsenal, 1971.

Peter Lorimer, Leeds' hot-shot, 1972.

Jim Montgomery, Sunderland's keeper, 1973.

Ray Clemence, Liverpool's keeper, 1974.

Alan Taylor, scored both goals for West Ham, 1975.

Lawrie McMenemy, managed giantkillers Southampton, 1976.

Lou Macari, Manchester United and Scotland, 1977.

Kevin Beattie, Ipswich defender, 1978.

Frank Stapleton, scored for Arsenal, 1979.

Sir Trevor Brooking, rare headed winning goal for West Ham, 1980.

Ricky Villa, one of Tottenham's Argentinian duo, 1981.

Glenn Hoddle, Tottenham's scorer in both games against QPR, 1982.

Arthur Albiston, defender from Manchester United, 1983.

Trevor Steven, Everton midfielder, 1984.

Norman Whiteside, only goalscorer for Manchester United, 1985.

Ian Rush, Liverpool's record goalscorer in FA Cup Finals, 1986.

Keith Houchen, Coventry City hero, 1987.

Lawrie Sanchez, scored for Wimbledon's Crazy Gang, 1988.

John Barnes, winner with Liverpool, 1989.

Lee Martin, Manchester United's replay hero, 1990.

Terry Venables and Gary Mabbutt, manager and captain of Tottenham, 1991.

Michael Thomas, scorer of opening goal for Liverpool, 1992.

Ian Wright, scored in both games for Arsenal, 1993.

Mark Hughes, only man to win FA Cup four times at Wembley, 1994.

Neville Southall, Everton's keeper, 1995.

Gary Pallister, three times an FA Cup winner with Manchester United, 1996.

Dennis Wise, Chelsea skipper, 1997.

David Seaman, four winners medals for Arsenal, 1998.

Peter Schmeichel, three FA Cup wins for Manchester United, 1999.

Marcel Desailly, French World Cup winner who won the last Wembley final for Chelsea in 2000.

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