FA Cup winners’ medal, Odegaard badge and illustrated dictionary with Arteta

This match will be one of the strangest FA Cup finals ever.

Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Chelsea in 2020 was played at a near-deserted Wembley Stadium while Arsenal collected the trophy on the pitch, rather than climbing the famous steps to the Royal Box for the presentation as is usual.

Although fans were banned from attending the domestic final due to coronavirus, it was a day Matt Smith will never forget.

Aged 19 and without a first-team appearance to his name, the boyhood Arsenal fan was named on the bench after Mesut Ozil was left out., external By Mikel Arteta.

After the final whistle confirmed the first and only major trophy of the Arteta era, Smith collected a winners’ medal and had his photo taken with fellow substitute Bukayo Saka on the pitch with the FA Cup.

Six years on, Smith, who now plays as a midfielder for Wigan Athletic, returns to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday when the Championship strugglers take on Premier League leaders Arsenal in the fourth round of the FA Cup (16:30 GMT).

“It was really crazy because it was happening at the same time as everything surrounding Ozil was happening,” Smith, 25, told BBC Sport about his memories of the 2020 final.

He added: “He was not in the team, so I sat on the bench. I was on the bench in the quarter-finals against Sheffield United, the semi-finals with Manchester City, and then the final.”

“When you’re young, you don’t really understand the importance of being part of an FA Cup Final or the memories it will give you for the rest of your life.

“Only now do I realize how grateful I am to be involved in something so special.

“I remember I got my suit in the final and it was too big for me. I didn’t want to say anything because I was small.

“All the other players had their suits tailored but mine was huge – they must have made a mistake.

“I wasn’t able to get on the pitch but that day will live with me forever.”