17th May 2008, Wembley
The road to Wembley had begun at Ipswich in January, with not many seriously believing Pompey would still be walking it come the final.
But after defeating Ipswich, Plymouth, Preston, Manchester United and West Brom, walking it they were.
Premier League Pompey faced Championship side Cardiff in the final at Wembley for the honour of bringing the FA Cup back to Fratton Park.
Special club suits – picked by skipper Sol Campbell – were made for the occasion, all adding to the flavour of football’s most revered domestic occasion.
Despite the Blues being clear favourites, it was a tight, tense affair that reflected the club’s run to the final, when every tie was won by a single goal.
In a game of few chances Pompey tried to stay resilient at the back and spring their opponents at the opportune moment.
Yet again Kanu, the hero of the semi-final win over West Brom, was the inspiration, latching onto fellow Nigerian John Utaka’s cross on 37 minutes to put Pompey ahead.
It was never a spectacle for the football purist with few openings at either end after Kanu’s goal.
But nobody in the Pompey contingent cared about that when the final whistle blew to give the club its first FA Cup triumph for 69 years.
Manager Harry Redknapp had given Pompey their proudest moment since the back-to-back top-flight title-winning years of 1949 and 1950.
Pompey were the 2008 FA Cup winners and the next day more than 200,000 turned out on the triumphant route from Fratton Park to Southsea Common to welcome their heroes home.
It could only get better for this great club on the coast of England………
