Frank Lampard has won the FA Cup four times as a player and now, at the end of his first season as manager of Chelsea, he wants to deliver it again for the club ‘in his bones’.

In an interview with The FA, organizers of the world’s oldest club competition,  Lampard remarked thus:

“I’m really excited to be involved an FA Cup final at the end of my first year as Chelsea manager.

“We’ve beaten some really good teams to get here, including Liverpool, Leicester City and an in-form Manchester United in the semi-final, so it’s been a tough road and I’m really proud to have made it.

“Overall, I’ve really enjoyed my first season as Chelsea manager. I knew there would be some tough moments, but I wanted to try and stay in and around the top four, and win a trophy, and we now have the opportunity to do that.

“Not many people remember the losers on these occasions, though, and so it’s up to us to finish the job and go on and win it. We have a very tough match against another in-form club, and so while I’m proud to be here, I want to make sure we’re on the winning side.

“We face a tough opponent and I’m expecting to see in Arsenal a continuation of the improvement they’ve enjoyed under Mikel Arteta. They’re a team of many talents, particularly in the attacking areas, and they have some really exciting young players.

“You can see they’re really organised defensively under Mikel and he has them playing well; their semi-final win against Manchester City was a great example of the uplift in performances.

“I’ve played in a few of these Finals before but Chelsea is a club that is lucky to be involved in many big games. A final always has an extra edge to it, but I try and stay as consistent as possible on these occasions both with the players and what I say to them. It’s important that they realise that they only get one chance to win this game.

“The biggest thing I always felt going into finals as a player was that you don’t want to have any regrets, and I want the players to play individually and collectively without any regrets afterwards. I want them simply to give everything for Chelsea. Today is a big deal for everyone involved at the club.

“I have some very fond memories of winning this competition. I scored the winning goal against Everton in 2010, which was always a dream of mine as a young boy.

“Scoring that goal was a great moment, but every time you win the Cup and what that means collectively to your teammates, the coaching staff and the fans is always huge. This stage really holds that element of magic for me.

“The fact that today’s Final is a derby only adds to the sense of occasion. Getting your name on that cup forever is a big incentive, but to know that there’s a rivalry and what that means to the supporters, that adds to the spice.

“Winning the FA Cup as a player was amazing, but when you’re a manager you take on more responsibility, so to bring success gives you a more rounded feeling of responsibility.

“I want to bring success to this club, my club, and I’d love to win this for everyone, particularly the fans as I know exactly what this competition means to them.”

Arsenal, Chelsea and the FA have told fans not to go to Wembley on Saturday. The two London rivals will face each other in a bid to win the FA Cup 

There are fears that supporters may go to the stadium if their team wins. Social distancing guidelines remain in place in England amid the coronavirus.

Liverpoolfans marked their first title win for 30 years by gathering outside Anfield and crowds thronged Elland Road to celebrate Leeds’ promotion to the Premier League this month.

The FA are optimistic that fans will stay away, given that both semi-finals took place at Wembley without crowds gathering.

They have been liaising with both finalists to send ‘stay at home’ messages to supporters as a reminder. The FA will also issue warnings on their own channels.

Social distancing guidelines remain in place in England, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson having warned that there are signs of a second wave of coronavirus cases in Europe.

Another outbreak could lead to the suspension of sport for a second time. The Premier League’s 2020-21 season is currently scheduled to start on September 12. 

BY KUNLE SOLAJA.

The winner of the FA Cup on Saturday will get £3,600,000, The FA has announced. Chelsea will take on Arsenal in an all-London final and the first final match in 139 editions to be played without crowd attendance.

It is also a repeat of the 2017 final match. The two finalist teams eliminated great Manchester clubs. While Chelsea beat Manchester United, Arsenal eliminated Manchester City in the semifinals.

The losing finalists on Saturday will get £1,800,000, half of what the winners will get. The FA also released what the other participants in the competition will get.

As losers in the semi-finals, each of the Manchester clubs will get £900,000. Below is the table of payments to be made to the clubs.Payments listed round-by-round for 2019-20. Amounts are per club in each round. Numbers in brackets represent the number of winning clubs per round.