The 2000 FA Cup final was memorable for a few reasons – most of them nothing to do with the action, or lack thereof, on the Wembley pitch as the old stadium hosted one last FA Cup final before being knocked down and rebuilt into the world-class ground we’ve been regular visitors to over the past 15 years.

Aside from that fact, ask most Chelsea fans to recount something to do with our win over Aston Villa and the most likely answers will be along the lines of ‘Robbie Di Matteo did it again!’ and ‘That was the one when Wisey took his son up with him!’

In fact, Dennis Wise wasn’t the only one whose offspring got to enjoy – well, as much as a five-month-old baby can enjoy something – the celebrations at Wembley that day, as several other players brought their kids out with them to share the moment.

One man who didn’t, however, was George Weah, the former World Player of the Year who had rocked up at Chelsea a few months earlier on loan for the final months of the season.

Although his son, Timothy, arrived in the world not long after his dad had made the switch to west London, he was born in New York. So, the next best thing George could do for his son at Wembley was to print a message on the vest underneath his Chelsea shirt, which was revealed in the celebrations: ‘Believe in God, Timothy’.

In a strange quirk of fate, today not only marks Timothy’s 22nd birthday, but it is also the date that his Lille side are in west London to take on Chelsea in the first leg of our Round of 16 tie in the Champions League. (Not too much of a) Happy Birthday, Timothy!

For those of you not old enough to remember George as a player, do yourself a favour and look up his famous goal for AC Milan against Verona, which made him almost a mythical figure to supporters in England who had become hooked on Football Italia, Channel 4’s regular offering of Serie A at a time when the Italian top flight could claim to be the best in the world.

He was at the peak of his powers at that time, having helped Paris Saint-Germain reach the semi-finals of the Champions League before switching to Serie A with the Rossoneri, and in 1995 he completed a unique treble as he was named Player of the Year in two continents – Africa and Europe – as well as being selected as the best footballer on the planet. He remains the only African player to claim the prestigious FIFA award.

Although he was undoubtedly past his peak by the time he joined us in January 2000, he still earned cult-hero status at the Bridge after taking only 31 minutes of his debut to score the winner against Tottenham Hotspur. Incredibly, he had only officially completed his loan move that same day!

Only four goals followed over the course of the next few months, but two of them were in the FA Cup. He started the 1-0 win over Aston Villa in the final before being replaced in the closing stages by Tore Andre Flo.

The message to Timothy was his last action as a Blue before he joined Manchester City and, of course, he has now taken one of the more spectacular post-football career paths by becoming President of his native Liberia.

Chelsea’s squad around that time has become famed over the years for the number of them who have gone into coaching or management, but it should also be noted that Weah is not the only one whose son has attempted to make it in the professional game.

Here’s Gustavo Poyet with his two sons, one of whom, Diego, is a former Player of the Year winner at Charlton Athletic, as well as playing three times in the Premier League for West Ham United.

After a promising start to his career, though, he has been without a club since 2018.

Of course, we all remember Henry Wise being held in his dad’s arms as Dennis lifted the trophy high into the Wembley sky, and he’s now at Watford and trying to catch the eye of Roy Hodgson. He made his debut for the Hornets, who he joined from Derby, in the FA Cup two years ago but is still awaiting his next competitive appearance.

Unfortunately, Gianfranco Zola’s son Andrea didn’t make it in the game despite spending time with West Ham as a full-back, but he tried his hand at golf and has played in a few tournaments along the way.