Portsmouth F.C. Portsmouth Football Club is a professional football club based in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, which compete in . They are also known as ''Pompey'', a local nickname used by both HMNB Portsmouth and the city of Portsmouth; the ''Pompey'' nick ...

won their first major trophy since 1950, thanks to an FA Cup

campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed * Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * B ...

that saw them beat

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

in the final. The run to the final included a surprise 1–0 victory against

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

, thanks to a Sulley Muntari penalty. The millions of pounds invested in the squad on players such as Glen Johnson, Lassana Diarra, Muntari and others also enabled Portsmouth to have an unprecedented run in the modern Premier League era, finishing in eighth despite losing the last few matches of the season. During the autumn, Portsmouth was involved in the battle for a Champions League spot, thanks to its surprise form. The season also saw a remarkable

game A game is a structured form of play (activity), play, usually undertaken for enjoyment, entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator s ...

, beating Reading by 7–4 at

Fratton Park Fratton Park is a football ground in Portsmouth, England, which is the home of Portsmouth F.C. Fratton Park remains as the only home football ground in Portsmouth FC's entire history. The early Fratton Park was designed by local architect A ...

, following eight goals in the second half. However, despite the success in the FA Cup and league, the club's overspending on players would lead to a financial crisis that would see Portsmouth enter administration twice and suffer relegation to the fourth tier within five seasons.

Players

First-team squad

:''Squad at end of season''

Left club during season

Reserve squad

:''The following players did not appear for the first-team this season.''

Competitions

Premier League

Results

Table

FA Cup

League Cup

Statistics

Appearances and goals

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Top scorers

Premier League

Benjani Mpenjani ‘Mpe’ Mwaruwari (born 13 August 1978), often known simply as Benjani, is a Zimbabwean retired professional footballer who played as a striker. Having started his career with Jomo Cosmos, Benjani moved to Europe in 2001 to join Swi ...

– 12 * Jermain Defoe – 7 * Sulley Muntari – 4 *

Niko Kranjčar Niko Kranjčar (; born 13 August 1984) is a Croatian former professional footballer. He primarily played as an attacking midfielder, but could also operate as a winger or second striker. As of 5 May 2021, he works as an assistant to Josip Šimu ...

– 3 *

Nwankwo Kanu Nwankwo Kanu (born 1 August 1976) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He was a member of the Nigeria national team, and played for Nigerian team Iwuanyanwu Nationale, Dutch side Ajax, Inter Milan of Italy, and ...

– 3 * John Utaka – 3

Notes

References

External links

2007–08 Portsmouth F.C. season at ESPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:2007-08 Portsmouth F.C. season Portsmouth F.C. seasons Ports