Manchester United captain Maya Le Tissier will lead out the Reds at Wembley on Sunday
Manchester United captain Maya Le Tissier is preparing to lead her team into a third successive Adobe Women’s FA Cup Final on Sunday.
The Reds are defending the Cup this year following their victory over Tottenham Hotspur last season, but the England defender has also had her hands on the famous trophy prior to that.
She was at Wembley for the 2016 Cup Final and helped to hand over the Cup to winners Arsenal thanks to a scheme with previous partners SSE, as she takes up the story.
“I needed funding to be able to come over to England [from her home in Jersey] to play football with the girls and SSE who were the sponsor at the time of the FA Cup back in 2016 were sponsoring me to come over and help with funding,” she explained.
“They offered me the opportunity to do that and I was like, ‘wow’.
“It was funny because Guernsey v Jersey was going on at the same time in the Muratti Vase and back where I’m from, it’s such a massive game.
“I remember thinking, ‘I’m going to miss the Muratti but I’m going to get to hand out the FA Cup’ and it was an easy choice in the end.
“I got to hand it over to Kelly Smith and Alex Scott. That was a dream come true and I remember thinking, ‘I hope I can do that one day’. It was a special full circle moment for me.”
This season's Adobe Women's FA Cup Final sees Chelsea take on Manchester United
United will come up against an impressive Chelsea side, hot on the heels of winning the BWSL title this season without suffering a defeat all term.
And Le Tissier believes the two different experiences they’ve had in the last two Finals will help them going into the match against Sonia Bompastor’s team.
“I personally love the FA Cup and I think all the girls do as well,” she said. “I’ve had a couple of experiences in the FA Cup now, winning one and losing one.
“It works in two ways. We can definitely use the experience that we have previously of winning and the hunger of everyone – every single player is going to want to lift that trophy.
“It’s very exciting to be back at Wembley. It’s what dreams are made of, playing at Wembley with United with all your friends and family in the crowd. It’s going to be really special. Hopefully we can lift it again.”
Find out how you can tune in to watch the Final around the globe by clicking here.
