It's 23 years to the day since Liverpool beat Arsenal to win the FA Cup at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.

Having trailed for much of the game, Michael Owen's late double ensured a comeback victory for Gerard's Houllier's side on a roasting-hot day in the Welsh capital.

The result secured a domestic cup double for the Reds having beaten Birmingham City on penalties a few months earlier in the League Cup final and Houllier's men would go on to complete a treble when they bested Alaves in the UEFA Cup later that month.

Here's the story of how Liverpool won the 2001 FA Cup by those who helped achieve it.

After a 3-0 win over Rotherham United in the third round, Liverpool were given a tough draw away at Leeds United before a 4-2 success against Manchester City at Anfield.

Tranmere Rovers gave the Reds a Merseyside-derby-with-a-difference in the quarter-finals before more lower league opposition awaited them in the semis in the shape of Wycombe Wanderers.

Liverpool would lift their first FA Cup since 1992 by dramatically beating Arsenal 2-1 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

Danny Murphy: "That same season I think we'd lost to Leeds in the league and they had really given us the runaround.

"So before that game in the Cup, Thommo (Phil Thompson) had asked Stevie (Steven Gerrard) if Olivier Dacourt was going to run him ragged again. That was a red rag to a bull in some respects, wasn't it?

"So if you watch the game back he hits Dacourt early on with a tackle and he had to go off I think. They lost their playmaker, it unsettled them and it set the tempo, Emile Heskey caused them all sorts of problems and we had a point to prove that day.

"It is a forgotten game that a bit, but Stevie's tackle on Dacourt early on gave everyone the feeling that we meant business that day."

Gary McAllister: "I know what it's like to be wearing the white of Leeds when Liverpool come to town. We knew it was difficult but we went there and won comfortably and we knew it was a big result.

"I can remember feeling that we'd gone to one of the toughest grounds in the country and won quite comfortably."

Phil Thompson: "The Tranmere game was one of those preparations where we knew the pitch, the way it was, was going to be difficult.

"They had the long throws from Dave Challinor, the towels all around the sides of the ground for the throws. Sammy Lee and myself were pushing upon Gerard: 'We need to go English, this is a proper English cup tie'.

"On a pitch like this we had to be ready and mentally prepared. I think if you go through the team that day we had a minimum of eight, possibly nine British players in the game and it helped us get through it."

Jamie Carragher: "It was a local derby and that was the season Tranmere knocked Everton out. They had that famous Cup tie against Southampton too where they had come back, the job John Aldridge did there was great. They were the talk of the nation at the time."

Murphy: "Thommo's influence on Gerard sometimes doesn't get enough credit with regards to the decision making, it was massive. Thommo was very aware of how Tranmere would be.

"When you've got the likes of Michael (Owen), Stevie, Carra, myself and other people as well, a nucleus of lads who understand it, it means you're going to start the game in the right mindset and then rely on your quality which obviously shone through in the end.

"That game was purely about application and attitude. It wasn't really about anything too tactical, just make sure you win your battles and the quality will shine."

McAllister: "Most of the lads who were picked that day were very much aware of what it was like playing at Tranmere. We'd seen upsets there and they were known for causing upsets, so being over the river as well, it was a big game.

"It was a British core to the team that day. In the opening 15 or 20 minutes there was a lot of physicality and that paid dividends because British players are more accustomed to starting cup ties like that."

Murphy: "I think after the Tranmere game it was a little bit of football snobbery coming in where we'd drawn Wycombe in the semi-final. We basically started celebrating as though we'd won it!

"We were buzzing because we'd just beaten Tranmere, got Wycombe in the semis and we thought we were already in the final. As you know it wasn't as easy as you thought it was going to be.

"It's human nature, we're Liverpool Football Club and we've got Wycombe in the semi-final, you couldn't help but punch the air and high five, you know?"

Thompson: "The strange thing about that Wycombe game was I remember sorting set-pieces the day before and our second goal was a free-kick.

"Robbie was moving everyone away to take it, and I am there, typical me, going: 'What's Robbie doing!? He's not the one who takes the free-kicks! Robbie's not supposed to be taking this! Oh my goodness...oh, great goal Robbie!'

"The planning behind it, looking at videos, I can remember treating the Wycombe game with real focus. I went down with Patrice Bergues to watch their games at Adams Park, we flew to Heathrow, a car picked us up and took us to the game to see how they played and we would report back.

"They were so grateful to us for the fact that we took the time to go down there and have a look at how they played, because nobody else did that. So we showed them the respect they thought they should have been getting."

Carragher: "We met Arsenal in the final and we had beaten them 4-0 earlier in the season at Anfield, so we were confident, really.

"We had ran them close for second position in the league and we thought it'd be an even match. But Patrick Vieira on the day, he was brilliant in that game.

Murphy: "My job on the day was to try and stop Ashley Cole, I was on the right side, Stevie and Didi (Hamann) were in the middle and Vladimir Smicer was on the left. I had to stop Cole and that was a difficult task on a boiling hot day, let me tell you!

"We hung on, showed that resilience that we had done many times, but I think we forgot to play our stuff and focus too much on them. We were too worried about stopping them.

McAllister: "My buildup to the game was a wee bit...I can talk about it now and it all worked out fantastic, but in the build up to the game I'd scored three in the previous four games and going into that Saturday Cup final and then a UEFA Cup on the Wednesday.

"If you'd have asked me which one I wanted to play in, being British, growing up watching the games as a boy, there was always a fascination of playing in the FA Cup final.

"When Gerard named the team I couldn't react as the senior player in the squad. I didn't want to show disappointment."

Thompson: "Listen, I am not going to sit here and say that we deserved to win that day. They were the better team and we had two goalkeepers that day with Sander Westerveld and Stephane Henchoz.

"I think he made two saves with his hands that day and nothing was given. So much for VAR! That was a great Arsenal team."

Carragher: "Some of those moments and scenes when we got the winning goal...it was a new generation of Liverpool supporters, a decade since we'd been successful really, so it was a great day. I love Cardiff and we had some great days there.

"It was a big dream to win the FA Cup as an English player isn't it? But there was no way we were going to be able to enjoy ourselves that night.

"We stayed together in Wales that night. Gerard said we could have a couple of drinks with our meal but not go overboard and that was right.

"We had a European final three or four days later. And I was really tired after that game, it was roasting hot and we got a bit of a chasing as well."

Thompson: "I always remember saying to Gerard, it was so hot, and my vivid memory was of Gary Mac with an iced towel over his head because his bald head was burning. It was one of those games, that last 15 minutes we were destined to get back into it.

"We were pushing and pushing. We got back to 1-1 and I said to Gerard that we need to win this game because we were out on our feet. They passed us to death and I said if we don't win this game now, we'll get done in extra-time because we haven't got the legs to go another 30 minutes, so I said we need to win it before extra-time."

Murphy: "Michael is a big-game player. When you look back at what he did for Liverpool for those few seasons, he was a phenomenal player who turned up in the big games. He really did. He ultimately won us the game.

"If you look back at the big games, usually one or two players pull teams through when they're in the mire and that's what happened that day. We were in the mire and Michael pulled us through with his brilliance. A bit like Stevie in Istanbul, if you like. This is what wonderful players do."

Thompson: "Lo and behold, the pass from Patrik Berger, someone said he lumped it out of defence, but if you look at it, he cuts out two players with that wand of a left foot, and Michael is on to it. He gets it in the corner by about that much, the width of a ball, it was astonishing. With his left foot. It was bedlam at that point.

"I remember an old fella behind the goal with glasses on and he's got his hands on his head as if to say 'what has just happened?' It's just...people went wild.

"The celebrations on the pitch were just wonderful. We'd had it with the League Cup, but this was the FA Cup which as an Englishman, was massive, just so special."

McAllister: "Michael's two goals were amazing. The second one, I was on the pitch by then, and when he got put away on the run and took his shot across Dave Seaman, there was only one square of the net he could score and he managed to find that square.

"The celebrations were magnificent and to see the fans in the stadium that day was pretty special.

"I won the last First Division with Leeds United before it was the Premier League, you watch great teams win the league over the years, but the FA Cup at the end of the season was always very prestigious. So winning an FA Cup badge was pretty cool."

Thompson: "We weren't allowed to celebrate because Gerard said we've got another game in Dortmund on Wednesday and we have to be professional. So we had a glass of wine in the hotel with our meal but the lads were not allowed to drink. Whether they did sneak a couple, I am not so sure.

"Gerard made this big speech on the coach and I remember the lads coming to me and saying: 'Phil, we've just won the FA Cup, do us a favour, ask the boss if we can have a bevy?'

"So I went to Gerard, being that buffer if you like and I said: 'Gerard the lads have asked me to ask if they can have a drink to celebrate they have won the FA Cup?'

"And he said: 'Phil, we don't often have this chance in life to go and win three trophies. And I am sorry, but no, we can't'.

"He didn't just leave me to give the message, he stood up and he said that when we win on Wednesday we will not drink again and after we win against Charlton and finish third, then we can celebrate.

"He said you have to believe in me, abstain from it, we'll have a glass of champagne with our meals tonight and we have to prepare, so that is what we did. It was hard, but he was right."

*A version of this piece was first published in 2021