Cardiff connections: No.4

Liverpool fans made the trip down to Wembley so frequently that the great old stadium was once re-christened 'Anfield South'.

Between 1970 and 1992, there were laughing Reds down Wembley Way on no fewer than 26 occasions (if you include pre-season jaunts for Charity Shield clashes). Four League Cups came back to Liverpool, as did four FA Cup trophies and countless shields.

But for Kopites of a certain age, the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff has always been the equivalent, as up to now, many have never had the chance to visit Wembley.

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Younger Reds got to know the streets and pubs around the shiny, new arena on the banks of the River Taff just as generations who went before them grew accustomed to the aura of the old Wembley.

Liverpool made five cup final appearances at the home of the Welsh national side throughout the six years it took centre stage as the new Wembley was being built. If Wembley of old was 'Anfield South', then the Millennium Stadium was undoubtedly 'Anfield South-West'.

The Reds played in the first major English cup final held there against Birmingham in 2001 and sparkled in the stadium's last against West Ham in 2006. They also featured in three out of the six charity shield games the stadium played host to.

In 2005 there was the despair of defeat to Jose Mourinho's men; in 2003 there was the sweetness of beating bitter rivals Manchester United to win the Worthington Cup; and 2001 saw the anxiety of a penalty shoot-out against Birmingham.

Here though, we take a look at perhaps the two most exciting of Liverpool's cup final outings at Cardiff and ask you to decide which was the more enjoyable.

Arsenal 1 Liverpool 2 (May 12, 2001)

With 19 minutes left on the clock, Arsenal finally broke the deadlock. They had threatened to do so from the off as Gerard Houllier's Liverpool were content to sit back, soak up pressure and hit their London opposition on the counter-attack.

But the dam broke on 71 minutes. Robert Pires cut through the heart of the Liverpool back-line and released Fredrik Ljungberg, who drew Sander Westerveld before rounding him and smashing the ball home.

Liverpool looked deflated and Thierry Henry would have killed them off completely had it not been for a fine fingertip save from Westerveld and a goal-line clearance from Sami Hyypiä.

Then, on 83 minutes, McAllister floated in a free-kick from the left-hand side. Arsenal were unable to clear and Markus Babbel diverted the ball towards Michael Owen who struck it on the half volley, tucking it into the corner of David Seaman's net for 1-1.

Five minutes later Patrick Berger picked the young English forward out with a perfectly-weighted pass and Owen was onto it in a flash. He outpaced Lee Dixon and held-off Tony Adams before sliding the ball past Seaman to send the tens of thousands of Reds in Cardiff into dreamland.

Liverpool 3 West Ham 3 (Liverpool won 3-1 on penalties) (May 13, 2006)

If 1953 was the 'Stanley Matthews final' and 2001 became known as the 'Owen final', then there is no doubt who the 2006 FA Cup final belonged to. A year on from Istanbul, Steven Gerrard inspired Liverpool to another astonishing fight-back and another 3-3, penalty shoot-out win.

Jamie Carragher poked the ball into his own net for 1-0 before Dean Ashton made it 2-0 on 27 minutes. The underdogs were cruising but this Liverpool side were no strangers to looking defeat in the eye and staging a comeback.

On 32 minutes Gerrard floated a stunning 40-yard pass into the path of Ciise who rifled home on the half-volley. On 54 minutes Gerrard burst onto a Peter Crouch knock-down, arced his body over the ball and lashed it into the top corner of Shaka Hislop's goal.

However, on 63 minutes, disaster struck. Paul Konchesky's attempted cross from the left drifted past Reina and into the net to make it 3-2. Time was ticking away and the fourth official signalled added time when the ball sat up perfectly for Gerrard who, from 35-yards, fired past Hislop to score one of the finest goals in FA Cup history.

[POLL]