20 years on: Macca and Macca meet again

Match-winner Steve McManaman and Jason McAteer, the boyhood Red who made his Wembley debut that day, discuss what it meant to both to walk out on the hallowed turf, their memories of the game and the special moments that followed the full-time whistle.

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Bolton at the time were the underdogs, below the Reds in the league and with speculation surrounding McAteer's future at the time, this match to him was perceived as something of a trial run...

McAteer: "I was getting a bit nervous because it was Liverpool and I was having a few phone calls from them at the time asking about my position, what was going on and if I fancied coming to Liverpool, which made me laugh! So I actually felt like this game was a trial, more than anything, it kind of surpassed the fact we were at Wembley in a major cup final. I felt more pressure at it being 'a trial' and it actually being against Liverpool, coming up against Phil [Babb], Jamie [Redknapp], Steve [McManaman] and Robbie. It was a really nervous affair for me and I'd only been to Wembley once before - to watch Liverpool in the 1989 FA Cup final."

As the 'David v Goliath' match kicked off, Bolton kept themselves under control, denying Liverpool the opportunity to go in front for at least 25 minutes. Until a piece of brilliance from McManaman changed the outcome...

McAteer: "From when the game kicked off, it was at 100 miles an hour from what I remember. We wanted to stay in the game for as long as we could really, we wanted to stop Liverpool from getting on the ball; stop Jamie [Redknapp] from spraying it around and stop Barnsey [John Barnes] from dictating. I felt that we actually did quite well for probably 20-25 minutes, but then eventually, they managed to get the ball out to McManaman..."

The game described by Kopites as 'The McManaman Final' was undeniably his most memorable match in a red shirt. The first of two goals netted by our former winger put Liverpool, who were under pressure as favourites, in the driving seat...

McManaman: "I picked it up fairly centrally from what I remember, I had lots of space. The game was quite stretched at the time and we were both attack-minded teams, so we were both having a go at each other. I picked it up in lots of space and I remember running forward. I think in the end, when I've looked back at it, the goalkeeper probably should've saved it!"

McAteer: "I just remember it knocked the stuffing out of us a little bit really because we had stayed in the game for so long."

In the second half, McManaman's second goal was of the same calibre as the first. After a pass from Redknapp to the then No.17, he drifted the ball out on the left wing, forcing a menacing dribble through the Bolton defence, cutting inside past two defenders, before placing the ball in the net, to go 2-0 up...

McManaman: "The second goal was a nice one, actually. We then felt relief at going 2-0 up."

McAteer: "That was it for me, 2-0 down, thinking that we were never going to get back in the game as we'd not really created too much."

Reds fans, however, were forced to endure a nervy last 20 minutes until the final whistle. Alan Thompson's spectacular left-foot drive gave the Trotters some hope. Ultimately, that hope though turned into a consolation goal and the final whistle sounded to herald Roy Evans' first trophy as Liverpool manager, ending a three-year silverware drought...

McManaman: "It was great to do it for him - the fact that Evans was the manager and won his first trophy."

McAteer: "He's really proud of that moment, I know. I think what I always remember from that game at the end was when I was on my own clapping the Bolton fans, you [McManaman] came over to me with the cup and I remember you saying, 'Don't worry, you'll come to Liverpool' and you gave me the cup. I managed to get my hands on it and lifted it up to the Liverpool fans celebrating, then I quickly handed it back. Afterwards I thought, 'Oh no, I'm going to get in trouble!'"