Saturday's final had already been elevated by the tribute to Ray Wilkins that was organised for the trophy-awarding ceremony, but the FA added another special touch to the game by creating a one-off ball to be used at Wembley.
The names of all 137 goalscorers from this season's FA Cup (so far) feature on the ball, which was created by Nike. Amongst these names are Liam Pullen, who scored the first goal in Chipping Sodbury's FA Cup history in the preliminary rounds; Will Grigg, who scored in Wigan's famous victory over Manchester City in the fifth round, and Willian and Alexis Sanchez, who scored big goals for the two finalists respectively.
The ball will be presented ahead of kick-off by Pullen, and he said it was an "honour" to be given this role.
Andy Ambler, the FA’s director of professional game relations, underlined the importance of the smaller teams in the FA Cup, despite the blockbuster finale.
“One of the most special things about the Emirates FA Cup is that a goalscorer in the extra preliminary round shares the same accolade as some of football’s most famous names," he said.
“Over 3,000 goals have been scored in this season’s competition, from all levels of the football pyramid, and the 137 goalscorers from across the country are representative of all who have contributed to this season’s competition.”
May 15, 2018