Alan Pardew will never forget Steven Gerrard conversation after FA Cup final

Alan Pardew has revealed all on the classy gesture Steven Gerrard sent to the former West Ham manager when Liverpool defeated them in the 2006 FA Cup final.

On that day 16 years ago, the Reds legend was the main man as he picked the game up by the scruff of the neck to hoist Liverpool back into the fold. In an absolute classic that pitted Rafa Benitez against Pardew, the cup would eventually be on its way to Merseyside - but not before 120 minutes of pure football theatre.

While Gerrard was the star of the show as West Ham crumbled to the floor, the midfielder still found time to make his way to Pardew and had a word with the Hammers boss as his teammates danced around the Millennium Stadium in celebration.

Pardew said: “He was very humble to me after the game. He knew we had come so close. He came up to me and he wasn’t full of beans, jumping around. Nothing like that. He just said ‘it was our day and sorry for you guys’.

"I have always respected him for that. It takes a special person to do that after they have beaten you in a Cup final. He made a point of coming to me on the pitch, he walked over and said that to me and those moments, even in defeat, remain.

“There were only two words I could say — ‘thank you’. Then I added ‘go and enjoy your celebrations’. It was painful because we lost but not because of our performance.

“We did a great job, we were thirty seconds or so away from it. It would have been a game-changer for West Ham and me personally. I am still proud of the team that played that day.”

And it was certainly a cup final for the ages as West Ham had raced into a two-goal lead within 30 minutes after Jamie Carragher scored an own goal and Dean Ashton hit the back of the net. Djibril Cisse clawed one