The Team that Refused to Die

The Prince and the Pauper headline is being over used in today's papers, albeit with very good reason. In a season which saw Portsmouth F.C. enter administration, aborted winding up orders, unpaid wages and on the weekend that brought confirmation of relegation, Portsmouth managed to book a date in the season's finale; the FA Cup Final. Their opponents in that final on May 15th will be Chelsea F.C, who are seemingly steamrolling their way to the Premiership title and owned by Mr. Moneybags himself, Roman Abramavich. The contrast could not possibly be starker.
This is the beauty of knock out competitions, which the GAA championships have lost a little of recently in my opinion. The idea that the little team can do it against all the odds, that David can conquer Goliath lives on. When Portsmouth went into administration, you could see the team pulling together a bit, and they began playing with heart; something that surprised this hardened cynic. Then they got thumped by 5-0 by Chelsea which effectively killed off the tiny glimmer of hope of survival in the Premiership. For this team of rejects and misfits to beat Chelsea in the final would come with a particular satisfaction after that humiliation in front of their own fans.
More than just the romance of the cup, getting the final also earned Portsmouth a place in the Europa league next year. However due to their financial difficulties, they were unable to apply for a UEFA club licence; which considering how much getting into Europe would boost their revenue, has a certain irony to it.

I'm not for any second considering that Portsmouth could actually beat Chelsea in the final. They won't. In all likelihood, they'll get trounced. The Chelsea team will have a nice kick around before they all jet off the South Africa and walk away with some extra bling to add to their collections. In their last, five meetings Chelsea have scored sixteen goals whereas Portsmouth scored one. No team has ever won the FA Cup and been relegated in the same season.

But still, there's a glint in Avram Grant's eye that says maybe, just maybe...