2008 FA Cup Final
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| Event | 2007–08 FA Cup | ||||||
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| Date | 17 May 2008 | ||||||
| Venue | Wembley Stadium, London | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Nwankwo Kanu (Portsmouth) | ||||||
| Referee | Mike Dean (Cheshire) | ||||||
| Attendance | 89,874 | ||||||
The 2008 FA Cup Final was a football match held at Wembley Stadium on 17 May 2008 and was the final match of the 2007–08 FA Cup competition. The match was the 127th FA Cup Final, and the second to be held at the new Wembley Stadium since its redevelopment. The match was contested by Portsmouth and Cardiff City, with Portsmouth winning 1–0. This was the first time that the two sides have ever met in the competition, as both teams were aiming to win the FA Cup for the second time, Cardiff having won it in 1927 and Portsmouth in 1939. Had Cardiff won, they would have been the first club from outside the top division of English football to have won the competition since West Ham United in 1980. The match had an attendance of 89,874, a record which still stands as the largest ever for an FA Cup Final at the new Wembley Stadium.
The winning team received £1 million in prize money. As in the preceding few years, the players voted Player of the Round in every round from the First Qualifying Round to the Semi-finals were present and given VIP hospitality for themselves and a guest. Although Cardiff City are considered a Welsh club and only hold associate membership with the Football Association, should they have won the 2008 FA Cup they would have been allowed to compete in the 2008–09 UEFA Cup.
It enabled Portsmouth to qualify for European competition for the first time in their history.
The FA announced that, before the game began, the Welsh national anthem, "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" would be played, along with the traditional "God Save the Queen" and "Abide with Me". The Welsh anthem was sung by Katherine Jenkins, while Lesley Garrett sang "God Save the Queen", and the two duetted on "Abide with Me".
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