Chelsea’s powerful forward line of the FWA and PFA player of the year Fran Kirby and two-goal hero Ramona Bachmann may have dominated the FA Cup final headlines but a familiar face in midfield was described by the manager, Emma Hayes, as “the best player on the park”.

At 35, Katie Chapman collected her 10th FA Cup winner’s medal in the 3-1 win against Arsenal, but this was no token inclusion on the part of Chelsea because Chapman was, and remains, the heartbeat of a side who dominated possession against Arsenal on Saturday.

Bachmann’s double gave Chelsea the lead and Kirby quietened a potential fightback with a goal one minute after Vivianne Miedema had pulled one back for Arsenal. Hayes highlighted Chapman’s contribution. “For someone who’s chasing their 10th winner’s medal she led by example. She was dominant, outrun their midfield at times, between her and Ji [So-yun].

“What I think Katie has in abundance is composure under pressure. It’s not always about the technical and tactical things but about managing the biggest games on the biggest occasions and Katie’s done that year in year out throughout her career.”

Chapman’s first FA Cup win came after her first season in the Millwall Lionesses first team aged 14. “I remember I was playing left side of a back three! It was a long, long time ago, for me a magical moment. It was at Selhurst Park, a big stage back then, the crowd was only 3,000 people so to see the crowd of 45,000 now is unbelievable,” said Chapman.

When Chapman joined Chelsea from Arsenal, where she won a historic quadruple, Hayes and her assistant manager, Paul Green, were at the beginning of their build and Chapman has been their leader, now things have changed: “It’s so refreshing for us to see so many leaders throughout the lines now that there’s not a reliance on Katie to just do that. As a result of that Katie can just get on and express herself,” Hayes said.

The midfielder’s trophy-laden career is all the more impressive when you factor in the three breaks for pregnancy and Hayes puts Chapman’s longevity at the top down to having children.

“Everybody who’s become a mother tells me – so I’m looking forward to this – that it increases your red blood cells so you can run longer, you become better endurance runners, and Katie is insistent that because of the birth of her three children she runs more and more,” Hayes said with a smile.

“Listen, she’s in impeccable shape – physically, she’s probably our most dominant athlete – but it’s the quality she has as a leader, as a person and as a footballer that sets her apart. She loves this football club.

“The first words she said to me when the whistle went were: ‘It’s so easy playing with this team,’ and I think that’s what has become different in Katie’s time. We’ve turned into a team that’s got it all over the pitch.”