This weekend marks one of the most important weekends in the football calendar.

By Sunday evening, two clubs will be gearing up for Wembley. And for some players, they will know they will be given the chance to fulfil a boyhood ambition on May 19.

As a kid, you dream about playing in and even scoring the winning goal in the FA Cup Final at Wembley, as you watch it on TV. But, of course, for the vast majority, even the majority of footballers plying their trade up and down the country, that dream will never actually ever become a reality.

Yet for the players at Chesterfield, ten years ago, that 'dream' was only half an hour from becoming very real indeed.

If only.

So Andy, ten years on, have you replayed the semi-final over in your head time and time again? If only Jon Howard's 'goal' had stood? Do you remember the incident?

Oh yes - a million times and it will always be an 'If only'. I remember it like it was yesterday. The linesman gave it, he went to the half way line, I saw the ball go over the line, but the referee didn't blow - so I was thinking to myself - what shall I do? Catch it? Put my hands up like they did in 1966? Or just put it in on the rebound just to make sure?

(Gianluca) Festa then jumped on my back which was a penalty in my view, and after all that, to my amasement, the referee has given a free-kick their way. It would have been 3-1 had that stood, and goals change games. Middlesbrough were not playing well at 2-0 down, getting back to 2-1 changed it for them, they began to get the rub of the green, after we had that legitimate goal chalked out, they got their tails up and suddenly they were on top. But that's football.

Do you remember how you felt in the dressing room after the game?

I think looking back on it, we were just elated that we had managed to hold them off and after all the euphoria of Jamie's (Hewitt) equaliser, made it sort of feel like a win. But when it had all settled down, we began to realise how close we actually were to getting in the final, and it certainly left a bitter taste in the mouth, still does, even to this day, especially when there is a bill that needs paying!

Ben Roberts bringing down Bruno

Do you think a few of the lads' minds were already at Wembley when Sean Dyche stuck in the penalty?

Yes, I think so. I've got to be honest with you and admit I thought we were there. I remember thinking: if we can just keep it tight for another ten minutes, we've got them. But (Fabrizio) Ravanelli scored pretty much straight away, and they got their tails up a little bit, and the quality that they had, as a Premiership side, full of internationals, it began to tell. It was always going to be hard.

Of course the side went onto lose the replay 3-0 at Hillsborough. Did you ever suspect that you had a chance, or were the lads resigned to losing the chance at Old Trafford?

It was one chance, ill be honest and say I certainly knew our chance had gone at Old Trafford. As professionals, we owed it to ourselves, the club and the supporters who followed us, to give of our best in the reply, but yes realistically, it was over before we got onto the pitch. And you know that 99 times out of 100 you don't get second chances against the Premiership teams, and that's how it turned out.

You hear a lot of people talking about how the FA Cup has lowered in stature through the years with the big clubs taking it lightly. I don't think that the case at all. If one of the big Premiership clubs decide they want to win it, then that's it. I mean its no coincidence that only twice in the past 20 years have a club outside 'the big four' of Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea or Liverpool won it.

Despite what criticism is thrown at the competition, for me, it is still the best domestic cup competition in the world, and always will be.

 Do you rate the 97' cup run as the highlight of your career?

Oh absolutely - no question about that. The experience of that FA Cup semi final was unparralled. I can't even put into words what going back to the twin towers in the final would have meant to me personally, as well as the players, supporters and staff at the club - not to mention the town in general. And even though we lost, it was one of those unique occasions that I don't think will ever be repeated at Chesterfield, and luckily I was involved in that. It was a great occasion and the town was buzzing really for the whole year afterwards.

Even now people still talk about it and its one of those things you will always be able to dine out on around the town. Every year when it gets to this stage of the competition, you do look back with fond memories.

Do you miss it? You must miss running out and playing in front of a home crowd, not to mention scoring goals - they say all strikers miss that?

I do in some respects, but to be quite honest with you, I think overall I'm going to say no. I certainly don't miss waking up on a Sunday morning in agony!

The game has changed now from when I was a player, it has turned into a right tarts game to quite honest with you and its taken tackling right out of the game. You can't even touch anybody with a challenge nowadays where as a few years ago, it was take a bit, give a bit., take a bit, give a bit. It's absolutely ridiculous and that's why I don't watch football that much anymore.

How would you rate the side you played in to Lee Richardson's current crop? If there was a game between the side of '97 and the current one -who would win?

That's a tough one!

The side now are probably better ball players than us and would probably play us off the park, but with that said, lets not forget that we were a big, strong and rugged team - tough, both mentally and physically. Nobody was going to boss us, and we had that willingness to win, so I think we'd bully them out of the game to be quite honest!

We played to our strengths, which were getting in behind teams, getting the ball up into the box, keeping a certain shape and bossing teams that way, and because of that, teams were never going to get a lot from us.