da dobrowin： A lot can happen in a decade, however, a decade in football can feel like a lifetime for particular clubs up and down the country. Just ask Portsmouth.
da cassino： One moment they are enjoying themselves in the Premier League and are even winning silverware and the next they are fighting for their lives and looking to start the long climb back to England’s top-flight after a disastrous period of mismanagement.
As mentioned, the club were guided to a FA Cup triumph 11 years ago when they beat Cardiff City at Wembley Stadium under the management of Harry Redknapp in front of a near-90,000 capacity.
Although the euphoria of winning the trophy will have been second-to-none at the time, it had meant Portsmouth would be going on to play European football in the UEFA Cup.
A moment in time: Portsmouth’s 2008/09 UEFA Cup run
Portsmouth’s fans would have been delighted with the prospect of entertaining some of the continent’s best teams at Fratton Park and would have likely been eagerly anticipating the draw for who they would meet in the first round.
Their first round pitted them against Portuguese outfit Vitoria Guimaraes with the first leg being played at home, where they ran out as 2-0 winners. The trip to Guimaraes would have had fans tense though as they saw their side lose that two-goal advantage in the first half, however, a certain Peter Crouch was their saviour as he hit a brace in extra time to send them through to the group stages.
Redknapp oversaw another trip to Portugal as they lost 3-0 to Braga before Tony Adams took control and arguably oversaw one of their best ever results in European competition.
A packed Fratton Park welcomed AC Milan to the south coast in November that had stars such as Andriy Shevchenko, Filippo Inzaghi, Kaka, Ronaldinho, Andrea Pirlo and Clarence Seedorf all involved.
Pompey took an incredible 2-0 lead through Younes Kaboul and Nwankwo Kanu late in the second half and looked to be holding on before Ronaldinho and Inzaghi decided to strike late and steal a share of the points on what would have been a famous night.
Adams’ side managed to continue with that fine performance in the early stages of their match against Wolfsburg, taking a 2-1 lead inside the first 15 minutes, however, the Bundesliga outfit had other ideas and won 3-2.
In what would be their final game of the UEFA Cup, Portsmouth ran out 3-0 winners against Eredivisie club Heerenveen to end their European campaign rather respectfully, if you consider that they did not necessarily have the squad to compete.
Obviously, Portsmouth are someway from having nights at Fratton Park like those again, however, with an EFL Trophy Final against Sunderland to come at the end of March, a victory could bring the same jubilation to the crowd that the previous FA Cup and UEFA Cup matches once brought to the club.
Portsmouth fans, are you fond of the time you were in the UEFA Cup? What was the club’s greatest achievement in the tournament? Join in with the discussion below by sharing your thoughts with us.