Gustavo Poyet has a special place in the history of the old Wembley Stadium. The Uruguayan midfielder, was the last man to score in an FA Cup semi-final beneath the famous twin towers, before the stadium was knocked down and rebuilt.

It was 22 years ago that Poyet enjoyed his moment on the big stage, when he helped us to see off a very good Newcastle United side under Bobby Robson, who were bidding to reach the final for the third season in succession.

Alan Shearer, Duncan Ferguson, the late Gary Speed and Shay Given were among the star names for the Toon Army, while this was the Chelsea era of Gianfranco Zola (although he was on the bench that day), Dennis Wise, Roberto Di Matteo and Marcel Desailly, in the final months of Gianluca Vialli’s successful tenure as manager.

Key for much of the Italian’s time in the dugout was Poyet, one of our best goalscoring No.8s before Frank Lampard ripped up the rulebook. He scored 18 times in that 1999/00 season, as part of an impressive overall tally of 49 goals from only 145 appearances for the Blues.

The stage was perfectly set for him on this balmy April day in the new Millennium – he loved playing against Newcastle United and, above all else, he loved the prestige of Wembley Stadium.

‘My record against Newcastle was always very good, even before this game,’ recalled Poyet in an interview for Chelsea magazine. ‘This was a very good match between two top sides and it was actually a much better game than the final against Aston Villa, which was terrible.

‘My first goal was a very good build-up and a decent finish, if I can say that, but everyone probably remembers the second one more because Newcastle had just equalised through Rob Lee. It was a typical goal by me – a header – from a good cross by Jon Harley.

‘It was one of the best moments of my career to score these goals, without a doubt. But it was special for different reasons. Firstly, I used to love the old Wembley – it was a unique stadium and it had one of the best pitches I ever played on in my career.

‘I was able to play there for the national team and in the Charity Shield before this game, but a semi-final was something else. And then to win a place in the FA Cup final there, with me scoring the two goals, made it a great moment. If you look back at the videos and see my face, you can see I was one of the happiest men in the world!

‘You see the new stadium, which is fantastic, but it’s a modern stadium. Anyone can make a stadium anywhere in the world. The old Wembley, there was only one. The walk from behind the goal into the middle of the park was spectacular. You have the players walking a long way, with the fans going crazy, and after that walk… you’re ready!

‘History can be through so many things, it can be in your mind, but you need something to remain there. I don’t know if I’m wrong or not, but the idea that Wembley would have the twin towers, they would leave them, to make them iconic, to not lose the history. And then they disappeared.

‘For me, that Wembley was special, it was unique. I wanted to have that important game in that stadium, and I was lucky enough to have it in the semi-final against Newcastle.’

The most important thing about any semi-final, however, is not the venue, nor what you achieve individually.

‘Your individual goals mean nothing if you don't get through; you only like to remember the semi-finals when you win the game, not if you lose. That is the key, of course. To be able to score twice at Wembley always comes second to the team.

‘When you play in any football game, whether it's a semi-final or a final, it doesn't really matter what you can achieve on your own – it's just about winning. I don't want to be the Man of the Match, I want to win and get hold of the trophy!

‘I remember after we won the final in 2000 against Aston Villa, I got an award in the tunnel after the game. They had a really heavy trophy for me and wanted to do an interview because I was the top scorer in the competition that season – but I didn't even know!

‘I was so focused on winning the game that I had no idea, but then I remembered my goals and I realised how many I had scored. Can you imagine if I had to do that interview if we had lost? It would have been terrible.’