Thursday, 14 July 2011
Sunday, 16 May 2010
Chelsea v Portsmouth FA Cup Final Saturday 15th of May
With the FA Cup semi-final behind me, I had six weeks to seek out a ticket for the final and set out contacting the 51 regional FAs all of whom receive their own allocation. To my surprise all but one came back with the reply that their allocation was spoken for and the other said they would see what they could do but would have to prioritise their own members which was fair enough. In the meantime I also contacted ITV, eon & 5live but with no success and going into the bank holiday weekend I was still no closer to success. At this point my friends decided to come to the rescue, with Sally putting out a broadcast on facebook and very soon plenty of people took up the clarion call to try and find someone who could help find me a ticket. If any of you are reading this, you have my very grateful thanks. By Tuesday morning, Mike had put me in touch with his friend Matt who was a Pompey season ticket holder who confirmed he'd managed to book a ticket for me and would post it up to me and the day before the final I emerged feeling like a kid at Christmas with the treasured ticket in my hand. I was going to the very first FA Cup final in my life.
Amidst all the excitement, I needed to sort my transport out and managed to discover the Virgin One Day Travelcard deal thanks to the Rail UK Forums. You have to travel down to London on an advance ticket basis but can return back on any service you like and it also covers London Zones 1-6 all for £32.40. The only available ticket was departing Stockport at 7.23 so it meant getting myself out of bed at 5.30 but it meant I had the bulk of the morning to enjoy London and having it devoured Saturday's Independent, I arrived to a nice sunny morning at Euston.
I had not made any firm plans for the morning, but given recent events I fancied heading down to Westminster and then enjoyed a nice stroll in the sunshine down the river to Vauxhall, before getting the tube to Kensington to check out the V&A Museum. After the museum, I was feeling peckish and drink sounded tempting too and as I was enjoying the tree lined streets I decided to take a random wander until I found myself on Fulham Road where a decent boozer was located with Aspall on tap and excellent gourmet burger to follow.
Setting off suitably refreshed, it was getting on for one o'clock so it was time to head off towards the stadium. The nearest tube was Fulham Broadway so, ironically my route took me right past Stamford Bridge where I picked my programme whilst Chelsea fans were also starting to make their way there including this nostalgic effort.
A few tubes changes later and boarding the fast train from Marylebone, I was back at Wembley for 2pm. There was time enough for a quick pint before taking my seat, pre-match entertainment was under way in the form of both clubs cup goals being broadcast on the big screen and a cameo appearance from Stomp. Once more the armed forces brought out the clubs' banners, a nice touch was to have Portsmouth being represented by the Royal Navy.
The Pompey fans were in good voice as the stadium filled, Chelsea had brought their flag with them but seemed strangely quiet. Perhaps after their Championship-clinching 8-0 win six days ago, they felt the second leg of their double bid may be a stroll on the Wembley park. After what was, for me, an emotional singing of Abide with me the teams took to the pitch and we were ready for kick-off. If Portsmouth could draw on the inspiration of their win over Tottenham, I would be witnessing an upset on a par with Wimbledon's victory over Liverpool in 1988.
The game got under way and Chelsea were first out of the blocks. Frank Lampard fired narrowly wide and then clipped the wood work with a couple of efforts and David James had to react well to a close range effort from Drogba that he turned behind for a corner. Portsmouth then showed themselves capable of threatening when a good cross was volleyed across goal by Prince-Boateng and Piqiuonne was unlucky that he could only deflect the ball towards the jumping reach of Cech.
After this scare, Chelsea really turned the screw and it seemed like a matter of time before they would score and managed to hit the woodwork repeatedly. Kalou managed to hit the bar from six yards with an open goal, John Terry headed a wide free-kick onto the bar with James stranded before he pulled off one of the best saves of my FA Cup tipping a Drogba free-kick onto the bar. From where I was sat there never seemed any question that it may have been a goal but it took a few replays for the TV commentators to make their minds up. Drogba hit the post again from a close effort before the half-time whistle brought reprieve for Pompey who were still very much in this final.
Avram Grant must have got the message through at halftime as Portsmouth came out looking a lot more positive and gave notice of their intentions when Prince-Boateng found himself on the end of a cross unmarked but blazed wide. Shortly afterwards he broke into the box after good work on the right flank and drew the foul from the vastly experienced Belletti and Portsmouth had themselves a penalty at Wembley once more. Sadly for Pompey, Boateng's spot-kick was a poor one and Petr Cech became only the third keeper to save a penalty in a Wembley FA Cup final. Curiously enough, the first man to do it, Dave Beasant had provided the half-time entertainment saving spot kicks in the very same goal.
As often happens in football, the failure to take such a gilt-edged chance is soon punished and within five minutes Didier Drogba won a free-kick before picking himself up and hitting the ball beyond the reach of David James off the inside of the post to give Chelsea the lead. Portsmouth to their credit did not capitulate, but the game looked to be over when Frank Lampard got the foul he was looking for to win Chelsea a penalty of their own. However, Lampard managed to put the ball just wide and became the first player in history to completely miss an FA Cup final penalty at Wembley.
Portsmouth had one last chance to take the game into extra time when a late cross was flashed across the goal but deflected beyond the reach of Kanu by John Terry. The final whistle blew and Chelsea had completed their first double. The Pompey fans kept up their loud support and the players came across to show their appreciation to the fans, for most of them for the very last time.
The final detail let was for the presentation of the cup, but not before the Portsmouth recieved their runners-up medals. The loudest cheer was reserved for Avram Grant who's inspirational management of the last few month's is hotly tipped to be rewarded with the vacant West Ham United job. Chelsea then followed and the much-maligned John Terry and Frank Lampard lifted the cup for Chelsea and marking the end of my journey after witnessing over 24.5 hours of FA Cup football that started back in Pontefract 9 months ago.
I hope everyone who has read this has enjoyed my season in football as much as I have enjoyed doing it. This years FA Cup has restored my love of going to the match and I will certainly be doing something next season with a new blog, so watch this space.
Amidst all the excitement, I needed to sort my transport out and managed to discover the Virgin One Day Travelcard deal thanks to the Rail UK Forums. You have to travel down to London on an advance ticket basis but can return back on any service you like and it also covers London Zones 1-6 all for £32.40. The only available ticket was departing Stockport at 7.23 so it meant getting myself out of bed at 5.30 but it meant I had the bulk of the morning to enjoy London and having it devoured Saturday's Independent, I arrived to a nice sunny morning at Euston.
I had not made any firm plans for the morning, but given recent events I fancied heading down to Westminster and then enjoyed a nice stroll in the sunshine down the river to Vauxhall, before getting the tube to Kensington to check out the V&A Museum. After the museum, I was feeling peckish and drink sounded tempting too and as I was enjoying the tree lined streets I decided to take a random wander until I found myself on Fulham Road where a decent boozer was located with Aspall on tap and excellent gourmet burger to follow.
Setting off suitably refreshed, it was getting on for one o'clock so it was time to head off towards the stadium. The nearest tube was Fulham Broadway so, ironically my route took me right past Stamford Bridge where I picked my programme whilst Chelsea fans were also starting to make their way there including this nostalgic effort.
A few tubes changes later and boarding the fast train from Marylebone, I was back at Wembley for 2pm. There was time enough for a quick pint before taking my seat, pre-match entertainment was under way in the form of both clubs cup goals being broadcast on the big screen and a cameo appearance from Stomp. Once more the armed forces brought out the clubs' banners, a nice touch was to have Portsmouth being represented by the Royal Navy.
The Pompey fans were in good voice as the stadium filled, Chelsea had brought their flag with them but seemed strangely quiet. Perhaps after their Championship-clinching 8-0 win six days ago, they felt the second leg of their double bid may be a stroll on the Wembley park. After what was, for me, an emotional singing of Abide with me the teams took to the pitch and we were ready for kick-off. If Portsmouth could draw on the inspiration of their win over Tottenham, I would be witnessing an upset on a par with Wimbledon's victory over Liverpool in 1988.
The game got under way and Chelsea were first out of the blocks. Frank Lampard fired narrowly wide and then clipped the wood work with a couple of efforts and David James had to react well to a close range effort from Drogba that he turned behind for a corner. Portsmouth then showed themselves capable of threatening when a good cross was volleyed across goal by Prince-Boateng and Piqiuonne was unlucky that he could only deflect the ball towards the jumping reach of Cech.
After this scare, Chelsea really turned the screw and it seemed like a matter of time before they would score and managed to hit the woodwork repeatedly. Kalou managed to hit the bar from six yards with an open goal, John Terry headed a wide free-kick onto the bar with James stranded before he pulled off one of the best saves of my FA Cup tipping a Drogba free-kick onto the bar. From where I was sat there never seemed any question that it may have been a goal but it took a few replays for the TV commentators to make their minds up. Drogba hit the post again from a close effort before the half-time whistle brought reprieve for Pompey who were still very much in this final.
Avram Grant must have got the message through at halftime as Portsmouth came out looking a lot more positive and gave notice of their intentions when Prince-Boateng found himself on the end of a cross unmarked but blazed wide. Shortly afterwards he broke into the box after good work on the right flank and drew the foul from the vastly experienced Belletti and Portsmouth had themselves a penalty at Wembley once more. Sadly for Pompey, Boateng's spot-kick was a poor one and Petr Cech became only the third keeper to save a penalty in a Wembley FA Cup final. Curiously enough, the first man to do it, Dave Beasant had provided the half-time entertainment saving spot kicks in the very same goal.
As often happens in football, the failure to take such a gilt-edged chance is soon punished and within five minutes Didier Drogba won a free-kick before picking himself up and hitting the ball beyond the reach of David James off the inside of the post to give Chelsea the lead. Portsmouth to their credit did not capitulate, but the game looked to be over when Frank Lampard got the foul he was looking for to win Chelsea a penalty of their own. However, Lampard managed to put the ball just wide and became the first player in history to completely miss an FA Cup final penalty at Wembley.
Portsmouth had one last chance to take the game into extra time when a late cross was flashed across the goal but deflected beyond the reach of Kanu by John Terry. The final whistle blew and Chelsea had completed their first double. The Pompey fans kept up their loud support and the players came across to show their appreciation to the fans, for most of them for the very last time.
The final detail let was for the presentation of the cup, but not before the Portsmouth recieved their runners-up medals. The loudest cheer was reserved for Avram Grant who's inspirational management of the last few month's is hotly tipped to be rewarded with the vacant West Ham United job. Chelsea then followed and the much-maligned John Terry and Frank Lampard lifted the cup for Chelsea and marking the end of my journey after witnessing over 24.5 hours of FA Cup football that started back in Pontefract 9 months ago.
I hope everyone who has read this has enjoyed my season in football as much as I have enjoyed doing it. This years FA Cup has restored my love of going to the match and I will certainly be doing something next season with a new blog, so watch this space.
Monday, 12 April 2010
Tottenham Hotspur v Portsmouth, Semi-Final Sunday 11th April 2010
Having overcome the seemingly insurmountable hurdle of getting a ticket for the semi-final, I set off from home at the seldom seen hour of 7am from home to meet up with Richard, who was flying in from Belfast, in central London and 3 hours later I was outside Euston station and the holy grail was finally in my hands.
Richard turned out to be excellent company - I was impressed with his tally of 15 Spurs games this season, given his home location- and we met up with a few other friends, a mix of Spurs and Portsmouth followers, for a nice spot of Sunday lunch and a few beers near to Marlybone Station as the sun shone down on London.
Having seen Tottenham play twice in person in their cup run as well as the two televised replays that followed, they were strong favourites for the match with plenty of players in the team capable of winning the game. The fact that Portsmouth had got this far in the cup was nothing short of miraculous having spent most of the season facing financial oblivion and having their relegation from the Premier League confirmed just 24 hours earlier. Manager Avram Grant is clearly a man up for challenge having previously made his name in English football as the less than popular successor to Jose Mourinho at Chelsea, the team who will provide the opposition for today's winners in the final.
The early afternoon passed fairly quickly and pleasantly and soon it was time to make the short hop by train to Wembley Stadium, having previously used the tube for visits to Wembley this is a much better way to get there a far less crowded and much quicker ten minute hop to Wembley Stadium station.
Stepping off the train, I caught my first sight of the new Wembley for the first time - the journey from Manchester to London had taken me past but I had been sat on the wrong side for a sighting.
On the walk to the ground, I cast my mind back to my three previous visits. The first was Bolton's 2-1 Coca Cola Cup Final defeat in 1995 and the last in 2000 was an FA Cup Semi, Bolton losing this time on penalties to Aston Villa 4-1 after a 0-0, the sight of Dean Holdsworth blazing over a gaping goal after an excellent cut-back from Eidur Gudjohnsen ten minutes before the end is still emblazoned on my memory. Sandwiched in between was a 0-0 draw between England and Saudi Arabia. It was interesting to note that David James was on the winning team for both the Bolton games, contributing some excellent saves and would be facing Gudjohnsen at Wembley again today.
The ground looked fine from the outside, and the turnstile queues after the short walk from the station moved very swiftly. Inside there was a quick search from the stewards, what really impressed me was that they were kitted out with plastic glasses for fans to decanted any canned or bottled soft drinks they had rather than just make you throw it away. Another big plus were the escalators which rapidly transported me to the top tier where my seat awaited.
On emerging into the stand, Wembley still holds that wow factor for me. The only other stadium that I visited of comparable size is Old Trafford, but Wembley's more spacious design gives a better view from the top in my opinion and it also has the advantage of the entire seated area being visible too.
The pre-match parade of flags and handshakes were soon concluded and the match was underway, Tottenham fans giving voice to thei excellent slowed down then speeded up version of "When the Spurs go marching in" "Play up Pompey" was provided by way of retaliation but the bell ringing normally prevalent at Portsmouth games could not be heard from where I was. Spurs dominated the early possession and territorial advantage and width was provided by Bentley and more so Gareth Bale. Portsmouth managed to cope admirably well with the balls into the box to deny any early clear-cut chances and looked willing, if not able to mount counter attacks.
Sadly, the first half failed to live up to the occasion with Tottenham largely unable to find the space and precision required to overcome a resolute Portsmouth team and I found my attention increasingly drawn towards the camera suspended high above the pitch as it "flew" back and forth. By half time the teams had managed to eke out three chances, James doing well to deny Crouch and Huddlestone and a good block from Gomez when Piquionne got himself clear on a rare raid.
The second half was not a great improvement, Harry Redknapp soon lost patience with Defoe who never looked in danger of adding to his 5 FA Cup goals and replaced him with the recently in form Pavlyuchenko. The first real hint of a goal was when Aaron Mokoena manged to steer the ball past his own keeper before recovering to clear the ball for a corner. Crouch managed to hit the woodwork and David James's legs from a couple of scruffy chances towards the end of 90 minutes and the introduction of Kranjcar failed to unlock the goal Spurs needed.
Another 30 minutes and quite possibly penalties were looming, 9 minutes later and the unthinkable happened and Portsmouth scored. The Wembley pitch has come in for a lot of criticism for its lack of grip and Michael Dawson fell victim as he slipped in an attempt to clear a knock-down leaving Frederic Piquionne a simple tap in past Gomez and completely silencing all the Spurs fans around me, leaving the Portsmouth cheers sounding very distant.
Tottenham attempted to fight back and Crouch had a goal ruled out and James managed to deny Corluka who possibly took a second to long to take his chance. With the end of extra time approaching, Didane broke free and left Palacios for dead before being brought down and the referee generously sparing the red card. Former Spurs player Prince-Boateng stepped up and placed a good spot kick beyond Gomez's reach to conclude the match. Half the Spurs fans had headed for the exits before the spot kick was taken knowning the game was up and 6 minutes later Portsmouth had pulled off an amazing semi final upset. Having tasted Wembley defeat twice I could relate the dejection from around me but what an amazing turn of events for Portsmouth fans.
Richard turned out to be excellent company - I was impressed with his tally of 15 Spurs games this season, given his home location- and we met up with a few other friends, a mix of Spurs and Portsmouth followers, for a nice spot of Sunday lunch and a few beers near to Marlybone Station as the sun shone down on London.
Having seen Tottenham play twice in person in their cup run as well as the two televised replays that followed, they were strong favourites for the match with plenty of players in the team capable of winning the game. The fact that Portsmouth had got this far in the cup was nothing short of miraculous having spent most of the season facing financial oblivion and having their relegation from the Premier League confirmed just 24 hours earlier. Manager Avram Grant is clearly a man up for challenge having previously made his name in English football as the less than popular successor to Jose Mourinho at Chelsea, the team who will provide the opposition for today's winners in the final.
The early afternoon passed fairly quickly and pleasantly and soon it was time to make the short hop by train to Wembley Stadium, having previously used the tube for visits to Wembley this is a much better way to get there a far less crowded and much quicker ten minute hop to Wembley Stadium station.
Stepping off the train, I caught my first sight of the new Wembley for the first time - the journey from Manchester to London had taken me past but I had been sat on the wrong side for a sighting.
On the walk to the ground, I cast my mind back to my three previous visits. The first was Bolton's 2-1 Coca Cola Cup Final defeat in 1995 and the last in 2000 was an FA Cup Semi, Bolton losing this time on penalties to Aston Villa 4-1 after a 0-0, the sight of Dean Holdsworth blazing over a gaping goal after an excellent cut-back from Eidur Gudjohnsen ten minutes before the end is still emblazoned on my memory. Sandwiched in between was a 0-0 draw between England and Saudi Arabia. It was interesting to note that David James was on the winning team for both the Bolton games, contributing some excellent saves and would be facing Gudjohnsen at Wembley again today.
The ground looked fine from the outside, and the turnstile queues after the short walk from the station moved very swiftly. Inside there was a quick search from the stewards, what really impressed me was that they were kitted out with plastic glasses for fans to decanted any canned or bottled soft drinks they had rather than just make you throw it away. Another big plus were the escalators which rapidly transported me to the top tier where my seat awaited.
On emerging into the stand, Wembley still holds that wow factor for me. The only other stadium that I visited of comparable size is Old Trafford, but Wembley's more spacious design gives a better view from the top in my opinion and it also has the advantage of the entire seated area being visible too.
The pre-match parade of flags and handshakes were soon concluded and the match was underway, Tottenham fans giving voice to thei excellent slowed down then speeded up version of "When the Spurs go marching in" "Play up Pompey" was provided by way of retaliation but the bell ringing normally prevalent at Portsmouth games could not be heard from where I was. Spurs dominated the early possession and territorial advantage and width was provided by Bentley and more so Gareth Bale. Portsmouth managed to cope admirably well with the balls into the box to deny any early clear-cut chances and looked willing, if not able to mount counter attacks.
Sadly, the first half failed to live up to the occasion with Tottenham largely unable to find the space and precision required to overcome a resolute Portsmouth team and I found my attention increasingly drawn towards the camera suspended high above the pitch as it "flew" back and forth. By half time the teams had managed to eke out three chances, James doing well to deny Crouch and Huddlestone and a good block from Gomez when Piquionne got himself clear on a rare raid.
The second half was not a great improvement, Harry Redknapp soon lost patience with Defoe who never looked in danger of adding to his 5 FA Cup goals and replaced him with the recently in form Pavlyuchenko. The first real hint of a goal was when Aaron Mokoena manged to steer the ball past his own keeper before recovering to clear the ball for a corner. Crouch managed to hit the woodwork and David James's legs from a couple of scruffy chances towards the end of 90 minutes and the introduction of Kranjcar failed to unlock the goal Spurs needed.
Another 30 minutes and quite possibly penalties were looming, 9 minutes later and the unthinkable happened and Portsmouth scored. The Wembley pitch has come in for a lot of criticism for its lack of grip and Michael Dawson fell victim as he slipped in an attempt to clear a knock-down leaving Frederic Piquionne a simple tap in past Gomez and completely silencing all the Spurs fans around me, leaving the Portsmouth cheers sounding very distant.
Tottenham attempted to fight back and Crouch had a goal ruled out and James managed to deny Corluka who possibly took a second to long to take his chance. With the end of extra time approaching, Didane broke free and left Palacios for dead before being brought down and the referee generously sparing the red card. Former Spurs player Prince-Boateng stepped up and placed a good spot kick beyond Gomez's reach to conclude the match. Half the Spurs fans had headed for the exits before the spot kick was taken knowning the game was up and 6 minutes later Portsmouth had pulled off an amazing semi final upset. Having tasted Wembley defeat twice I could relate the dejection from around me but what an amazing turn of events for Portsmouth fans.
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