Kelly Smith dreams of sell-out Wembley for Women's FA Cup Final

Kelly Smith would love to see Wembley one day draw a packed crowd for the SSE Women's FA Cup final.

This season's showpiece event of the English club game should see a record turnout, with over 35,000 tickets sold for Saturday's clash between Manchester City Women and Birmingham City Ladies.

Smith, 38, is widely recognised as England's greatest women's footballer. She retired in January and announced in February she was pregnant.

She played in last season's cup final for Arsenal, as the Gunners upset favourites Chelsea with a 1-0 triumph at the national stadium.

It was her fifth FA Cup win, and Smith said. "It's one of my fondest memories as a footballer to have won it with Arsenal last year. It was magnificent."

She believes the success of the England national team can drive crowds up at all levels of the game.

Asked about the prospect of Wembley's capacity being one day tested by the Women's FA Cup final, she said: "I think it's a good few years off. It's baby steps with the women's game.

"We've got the Euros coming up in a couple of months and I think once the England national team raise their level and there's good exposure of them, it raises the profile of the women's game.

"And if the cup final is a spectacle on Saturday, a really good and entertaining game, it's obviously on terrestrial TV so people can watch and appreciate women's football. Then it can gather momentum and try to get more fans on board."

With tickets still on sale, Smith is thrilled to see such an uptake for the third Wembley final in the history of the competition. Just four years ago, the match was played in Doncaster and a crowd of under 5,000 turned out.

"It's fantastic. It's really pleasing because it's not two clubs from London this year, and there's still massive interest," Smith said.

"Hopefully we'll get a few more thousand walking up on the day and we'll break the record by even more.

"It's right that this was supposed to happen for the women's game."

Smith expects a tight contest, despite Manchester City being England's top club and having world player of the year Carli Lloyd in their ranks.

Smith told Press Association Sport: "Manchester City won the league last year and did well in the Champions League. They are the favourites and they should win it.

"But Birmingham are silently confident because they've beaten Arsenal and Chelsea to get there. They've had the harder route."

:: Kelly Smith's Manchester City player to watch - Carli Lloyd (attacking midfielder, 34 years old, United States international, World Cup and Olympic Games winner)

"I played with Carli way back when with the New Jersey Wildcats, and played against her a number of times in the two leagues that I played in out there. She's a world-class player and a leader on and off the pitch. She's certainly a player to watch out for. She's a big game player, she steps up and wants that ownership and the limelight on her and she always delivers in big games. So she's going to be leading from the middle of the park, charging her team on."

:: Kelly Smith's Birmingham City player to watch - Ellen White (striker, 28 years old, England international, two-time FA Cup winner)

"Birmingham are a strong, solid outfit, difficult to beat. The one player who certainly could guide her team to victory is Ellen White. She's been playing well as of late. If she has a good game I think the others will follow her example. She puts her body on the line every time she plays football. She's a winner."

:: Kids Go Free to the SSE Women's FA Cup Final and tickets are still available via TheFA.com/Tickets