On Saturday 17th May, The FA Cup will reach its climax at New Wembley Stadium when Portsmouth and Cardiff City will battle it out to lift the Cup.
The FA Cup is the oldest football competition in the world and is synonymous with Wembley’s rich history. The first FA Cup competition in season 1871-72 had fifteen entries and this season more than 600 took part. Wanderers, a team formed by ex-public school and university players, won the first final 1-0 against Royal Engineers at Kennington Oval. A crowd of 2,000 attended the match and they each paid one shilling for the privilege.
The FA Cup Final has been played at Wembley Stadium from 1923 to 2000 and at Millennium Stadium from 2001 to 2006 and returning to London in 2007. Chelsea are the current holders of The FA Cup after becoming the first team to win the competition coming back to the New Wembley Stadium, beating Manchester United last season.
Tickets for FA Cup Final are being always distributed by the participating clubs. Portsmouth, who plays at the Premiership, reached the final beating in the semi-final to West Bromwich Albion (1-0) on 5th April.Cardiff City, who plays at the Championship League, is reaching the FA Cup final after a win in semi-final (1-0) over Barnsley on 6th April.
Cardiff City supporters will return to Wembley 81 years after their previous FA Cup success of 1927 beating Arsenal (1-0) and Portsmouth supporters will also come back to Wembley 69 years after their FC Cup last success in 1939 beating Wolverhampton (4-1).