Play Up Pompey

Today was FA Cup Final day.
Portsmouth played Cardiff at the new Wembley Stadium.

It was a tad unusual this year as neither Man Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool or Chelsea were in it. A welcome breath of fresh air as personally I'm fed up with the media only talking about the top four teams all the time - boring!

It was also special because as a young woman in the Navy based in Portsmouth -(all those centuries ago) I supported Portsmouth and even went to away games. I was going out with a local lad who supported them so as I loved to watch footie, went along with him. That was in the Mark Hately, Alan Biley glory days!!!!

Even though I have now come to support Newcastle (again because I went out with a local lad, there's a theme here methinks??) I have always had a soft spot for Pompey.

Today they did good. They won 1-0 and deserved it although Cardiff should be proud of themselves too. So Congratulations to everyone who supports Portsmouth.

What it has done is brought on a wave of nostalgia. I have just surfed through Forces Reunited, sending a couple of messages to long lost ex Navy pals. It's also made me think about the three trips we had to watch Newcastle play at Wembley (although we didn't win any of them!)

This isn't actually Wembley as it was being re-built at the time, but it was a trip to Cardiff Millennium Stadium (co-incidentaly) and the Geordies were out and about. In this photo playing football outside the castle walls. Every kick was met by cheers and boos depending on which side you were rooting for. The atmosphere was fantastic, despite the rain. Even though I don't normally get a ticket into the game I would still go just for the experience. In Wembley I would disappear to The Blackbird pub where I could watch the game with other ticket-less Toon Army and then stagger out to join the throng afterwards.













This photo is one I dug out of goodness knows where. It's a very young 'me' on my tractor waiting to start up a Wessex V helicopter from 771 Naval Air Search & Rescue Squadron. I think it was a bit cold.
























And now I'm thinking I need to get out my old photo albums and start scanning in some more nostalgia so I can share my exciting life with you all. (so now you're all wondering where you put the shotgun eh?)