Chelsea had never experienced a season quite like the 2006/07 campaign. A remarkable spate of injuries, none more dramatic than the depressed skull fracture Petr Cech suffered, meant Jose Mourinho was constantly forced to place square pegs in round holes.

Blues fans became accustomed to seeing hitherto unknown third-choice Hilario between the posts, and Michael Essien and Paulo Ferreira in central defence. Despite the seemingly endless stream of hurdles placed in our path, Mourinho's men fought hard on all four fronts.

Only in the antepenultimate league fixture did we relinquish our Premier League crown. By then, the League Cup had been won, while our Champions League journey ended at the semi-final stage, after penalty heartbreak at Anfield.

Our FA Cup campaign was fittingly dramatic, too. We had to come back from 3-1 down at home to Tottenham in the quarters before winning a replay at the Lane. Against Blackburn in the last-four, an extra-time goal from Michael Ballack was decisive.

The new Wembley, over budget and behind schedule, had only opened a few months earlier. For the final, a sunny May afternoon, it welcomed FA Cup-winning teams and legends from years gone by, along with all the usual dignitaries.

There was extra pomp and fanfare to herald the new arena, the second-largest football stadium in Europe, with a capacity of 90,000.

Predictably, Mourinho was without several key players. Ashley Cole and Arjen Robben were only fit enough for a place on the bench, and Essien stepped in for the injured Ricardo Carvalho. Happily, John Mikel Obi recovered from a thigh injury to start in central midfield.

Mourinho had steered us to a pair of league titles and League Cups in his first three seasons in charge, but had yet to experience the magic of the domestic game’s showpiece fixture.

‘The English Cup Final was the game everybody was waiting all year in the country to watch on TV,’ he said. 'We always wanted a draw because we always wanted a second game. The other thing was the feeling that the small team could always win it.

'In Portugal, if you have a final of say Porto against a small team, nobody believes the small team can win. I remember in one FA Cup Final, Coventry playing and winning it, and it was great stuff.’

Mourinho could take heart from the fact he had only suffered defeat to Sir Alex Ferguson, his counterpart at Man United, once in eight clashes. He also had Cech in goal, his headguard a permanent reminder of that traumatic incident in Reading earlier in the season.

'If you had told me on October 17, three days after [suffering the injury] and when I couldn't remember anything, that I would be in this Final, maybe I would not believe it,' the big keeper mused.

As it turned out, Cech didn’t have much to do. Nor did Edwin van der Sar. It was cagey and certainly not a classic for the neutral, but the tension was unbearable at points. Two teams that had gone blow for blow all season fought with all they had, but tiredness was clearly a factor, as was the Wembley sunshine.

It was goalless at full-time, and goalless four minutes before the end of extra-time. Then Mikel threaded the ball through to Didier Drogba, who exchanged passes with Frank Lampard before stabbing his effort past Van der Sar.

‘I believe we deserved this victory because we were the best team today,’ said Mourinho afterwards. ‘It was not easy. It was a game where you had to think hard all the time. We did not give them the game they expected. But I believe we had the game under control the whole time.’

Mourinho hailed the young Mikel’s performance as ‘unbelievable’, saying he controlled the game for long periods. Captain John Terry, himself plagued by injury during the season, had the honour of lifting the Cup.

'It was a long way up there, but when you are up there, it is a great view and a great sight in seeing all the Chelsea fans waving about,’ the skipper smiled.

‘I feel really proud. Walking the last part of that walkway was really special; I was quite emotional. Every captain wanted to be the first to walk up those steps. Chelsea were the last at the old Wembley and we were the first at the new. That is special in its own right.'

For Drogba, the matchwinner whose Wembley story was only just beginning, the result vindicated a mammoth collective effort in adversity.

'I'm just happy to score the first cup final goal in the new stadium,’ the striker said. ‘A lot of the players have been criticised this season, but we are here. This team spirit is what Chelsea have shown since the beginning of the season.’

Our reward? Yet another historic piece of silverware, the name of Chelsea forever etched first in the list of FA Cup winners at the new Wembley.