And with the FA Cup final between Chelsea and Portsmouth to be played at the venue on 15 May - as well as three Football League play-off finals, the Blue Square Premier play-off final, FA Trophy and FA Vase finals and England's World Cup warm-up match against Mexico during the month - Wembley Stadium announced on Sunday that work had begun on a new surface.

BBC: Wembley pitch will be relaid indefinitely up to 2023

The former England Under-21 suffered a cardiac arrest on live television in an FA Cup tie last year.

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Add to the mix 10 England caps, two Uefa Cup runners-up medals and one each for the FA Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup and Parlour can reflect on a glittering career at the top.

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Gillespie began his career in England as a teenager with Manchester United where he was in the same FA Youth Cup-winning team as David Beckham and Ryan Giggs.

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Wembley will host a rugby union game between Guinness Premiership teams Saracens and Harlequins on Saturday and fears have been expressed that the pitch will again be in poor condition for the FA Cup decider on 15 May and the England football team's World Cup warm-up match against Mexico on 24 May.

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He also managed Ipswich Town for more than 13 years between 1969 and 1982, winning the FA Cup in 1978 and the Uefa Cup in 1981, and guided England to the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup.

BBC: Sir Bobby Robson statue

And, much as we've loved working on the FA Cup and England live, we do have the comfort of the Premiership highlights contract until 2010 - and the World Cups in 2010 and 2014.

BBC: Losing the FA contract