AS MARK Hughes left Wembley Stadium on Saturday evening he must have thought to himself if only' If only Morten Gamst Pedersen had scored with that header in the FA Cup semi-final a month ago.

If only Blackburn Rovers had reached the final instead of Chelsea, the nation might have seen a game befitting of this awe-inspiring venue.

If only he, and not Jose Mourinho, had been given the chance to pit his wits against his great friend and mentor, Sir Alex Ferguson, in possibly the most famous final in world football.

Instead, the Blackburn manager had to be content with a place alongside Messrs Lineker, Hansen and Shearer in the BBC studio as two of his former clubs, Chelsea and Manchester United, squared up for the first FA Cup final at the revamped Wembley.

This, remember, was the dream' final we were told the FA, and indeed the whole of football, wanted to see.

The two best teams in English football squaring up to each other in a battle royale to decide the destiny of the world's most famous cup. It was north versus south; blue versus red; Terry versus Rooney; Ronaldo versus the rest.

But what the pundits conveniently seemed to forget in all the pre-match hype is the best finals are very rarely those contested by the crème de la crème of English football.

It's no coincidence that since the FA Cup became dominated by the big four a decade ago, there has been a distinct shortage of memorable finals in the intervening years.

Remember Manchester United versus Liverpool in 1996? Or Arsenal versus United in 2005? No. Neither do I.

The best finals are often those that pit an underdog against one of the Premiership's fat cats.

Think Coventry City versus Tottenham Hotspur in 1987; Crystal Palace versus United in 1990; or Liverpool versus West Ham 12 months ago.

That's why Blackburn Rovers were so badly missed on Saturday.

Instead, we saw a final where the big two' cancelled each other out.

Chelsea did what Chelsea have done all season; they won without appearing to play particularly well.

United, meanwhile, lacked the kind of élan that has consistently illuminated the Premiership, and, for once, their star performer, Cristiano Ronaldo, disappeared without trace.

Despite the disappointing fayre on view, the occasion itself was still something to savour.

From Gordon Ramsay to Jimmy Nesbitt, Chris Eubank to David Baddiel, stars from all walks of life came together to witness history in the making.

It took seven years, and cost £757 million, to build the new Wembley, but the end result is simply stunning.

Bigger, bolder and more refined than its illustrious predecessor, it is a cross between the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and Arsenal's impressive new Emirates Stadium, only on steroids.

Some of the greatest players in Cup final history seemed to be blown away by the sheer scale of it; Peter Schmeichel and Marcel Desailly were both snapping away with their cameras like excited school children.

A parade of FA Cup heroes from the past was one of the highlights of the pre-match entertainment, and the biggest cheer of all was reserved for Hughes, the only man to win the cup four times as a player at the old Wembley in the 20th Century; three in the red of United, once in the blue of Chelsea.