The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON Portsmouth v Cardiff, F, 15:00 come on pompey
Portsmouth or Cardiff will end long waits for a second FA Cup win when they meet in Saturday's final at Wembley.
Pompey's victory came in 1939, while Cardiff became the only non-English side to lift the trophy in 1927.
Cardiff boss Dave Jones said: "Maybe, over the last few years, the FA Cup has lost a little bit of magic because it's been the same teams (in the final).
"But Portsmouth and ourselves have broken the mould this season - we want to make our own history."
Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp, 61, has never previously reached an FA Cup final in a career as a player and manager spanning over 40 years.
Redknapp hopes to end a successful season with silverware "It's great for everyone at the club," he said.
"I look at where we were two years ago (almost relegated from the Premier League), or five years ago, when we were near the bottom of the Championship and now we are in the Cup final."
A Pompey win will provide a memorable end to the season for Redknapp, who was arrested and bailed in November as part of a police investigation into football corruption. He vehemently denies any wrongdoing and last month began legal action over his arrest.
Cardiff's rollercoaster campaign has seen them survive a potentially ruinous bid by Swiss investment bank Langston to force the club to repay £24m in loans.
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Like Pompey, they are planning to build a new stadium - a scheme that could only be boosted by winning the FA Cup which guarantees entry into the Uefa Cup.
"We're not even thinking about that," said Jones. "What we are thinking about is trying to beat a very good side. If we do that, the rest will follow." If Portsmouth win, they will be the first team other than Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United or Liverpool to triumph in the final since 1995.
Victory for the Bluebirds will be a first for a club from outside the top flight since 1980, when West Ham of the old Second Division beat Arsenal 1-0.
Reaching the Cup final is a dream - Dave Jones Pompey are favourites, however, especially with experienced campaigners Sol Campbell and David James set to play after shaking off injuries.
Strikers David Nugent and Kanu should overcome niggles to boost Pompey who are without the cup-tied Jermain Defoe.
Cardiff's Robbie Fowler has not played for five months since hip surgery, but the ex-England striker will have a late fitness test.
Paul Parry is set to continue up-front alongside veteran Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
BIG-MATCH FACTS The 127th FA Cup has been the most unpredictable in living memory. Form counted for little as every round, from the turn of the year, provided more than its fair share of shocks and surprises, as one-by-one the giants were slain.
It is the first final for 17 years in which both participants come from outside the top seven since eighth placed Nottingham Forest faced 10th placed Tottenham in 1991, when the Londoners prevailed 1-2 after extra time.
Portsmouth are the sole Premier League survivors, aiming to become the first club outside the so-called 'Big Four' of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United to lift the trophy since Everton in 1995.
Redknapp and Jones are chasing historic wins at Wembley Pompey's participation ensures the top-flight have provided at least one participant in every FA Cup final since the formation of the Football League in 1888.
Cardiff City are the first non-Premier League club to reach the final since Millwall in 2004, and the 25th team from outside the top-flight to qualify for this showpiece.
They could become the first non top-flight side to lift the FA Cup since West Ham in 1980, and the lowest ranked to do so since non-league Tottenham in 1901.
Both clubs are aiming to win the competition for the second time in their history; Portsmouth won it in 1939, Cardiff in 1927.
A place in next season's Uefa Cup awaits the winners. Portsmouth have never qualified for Europe; Cardiff have had 14 campaigns in the Cup Winners' Cup as Welsh Cup holders, making the semi-finals in 1968.
The FA decided last month to allow Cardiff to represent England in the Uefa Cup should they win the FA Cup, despite their ruling that Welsh clubs can only qualify for Europe through their own national competitions.
This is the second FA Cup final to be staged under the arch of the new Wembley, after six years at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. Both clubs are returning to Wembley after winning their semi-finals there six weeks ago.
The Welsh national anthem will be played prior to the game, along with God Save the Queen.
The League ladder
Portsmouth ended the league campaign in their highest ever Premier League placing of eighth; Cardiff were 12th in the Championship, some 24 places lower in the pecking order.
FA CUP RECORDS AND BEST PERFORMANCES
PORTSMOUTH Current form
Lost the last four of the league season, and not won in five, since defeating West Ham 0-1 at Upton Park on 8 April.
Not scored in three matches or 336 minutes (five hours 36 minutes) since John Utaka got Portsmouth's goal in the 3-1 away defeat to Manchester City on 20 April. It was Pompey's only goal in a minute under eight hours soccer.
Recent FA Cup performance
Defeated three Championship clubs in Ipswich, Plymouth and Preston, at the outset of this march to the arch. Then knocked out Manchester United, with a Sulley Ali Muntari penalty, 12 minutes from time. They played second fiddle to West Bromwich Albion for long periods of the semi-final on 5 April, but went through courtesy of a 54th minute goal from former West Brom striker Nwankwo Kanu.
The Manager
Harry Redknapp never reached Wembley as a player, and is taking a club there as a manager for the first time. The 61-year-old former Bournemouth, West Ham and Southampton boss, has twice guided teams to promotion. He took Bournemouth up from Division Three in 1987, and masterminded Portsmouth's arrival in the Premier League in 2003. Redknapp's only cup success came with West Ham, when they won the Intertoto Cup in 1999.
FA Cup fact
Famously held the trophy for seven years after their 4-1 triumph over Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1939, in front of 99,370. Bert Barlow opened Pompey's account two months after leaving the Molineux club as surplus to requirements. Jock Anderson and Cliff Parker put the south coast club three-up and Parker's second, a header, confirmed a highly unexpected victory.
The competition was put in abeyance in 1939 due to the Second World War, so Portsmouth are the longest holders of the cup in the history of the oldest knock out competition in the world. Derby were the next winners in 1946.
Pompey have qualified for their fourth FA Cup final; the others were in 1929 and 1934. But their last visit to Wembley was in 1942, when they lost to Brentford in the London War Cup final.
CARDIFF CITY Current form
Ended the league season with a 3-0 home victory over Barnsley; their first win in four outings. Scored three goals in each of the last two games, but conceded three goals in each of the three matches prior to the clean sheet against the Tykes.
Not won away from home since the 1-0 triumph over Barnsley in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley on 6 April.
Won as many matches away from home in the FA Cup, as in the Championship (four).
Recent FA Cup performance
Knocked out non-league Chasetown, League Two Hereford, Championship rivals Wolves and Premier League Middlesbrough, in this cup run before the semi-final triumph over fellow Championship side Barnsley.
The Manager
51 year old Liverpool born Dave Jones was a commanding centre-half in his playing days with Everton, Coventry, Seiko FC in Hong Kong, and Preston.
As a manager he took Stockport to within one match of Wembley, losing to Middlesbrough in the semi-finals of the 1996-97 League Cup final. Jones had three seasons in charge at Southampton before his time at the Dell came to an end in unfortunate circumstances. He later won promotion to the Premier League with Wolves, winning the Division One play-off final 3-0 over Neil Warnock's Sheffield United at the Millennium Stadium on 26 May 2003. Now Jones will lead out a club at Wembley for the first time.
FA Cup fact
Famously became the first and only club from outside England to win the FA Cup in 1927.
The Bluebirds are competing in their third FA Cup final. They were a top-flight club when beaten 0-1 by Sheffield United in 1925. Two years later they returned to Wembley, again as a top division outfit, and faced Arsenal. It was an unspectacular match, decided by a speculative shot from Cardiff's Scottish centre-forward Hugh Ferguson, and fumbled by Gunners Welsh international keeper Dan Lewis.
HEAD to HEAD All competitions
Portsmouth and Cardiff have not competed in the same division for 23 years, since Pompey won 1-2 at Ninian Park and Cardiff drew 0-0 at Fratton Park in the 1984-85 Second Division campaign.
Subsequent to that they have met three times in the League Cup. Pompey prevailed over two legs in the second round of the 1990-91 Rumblelows Cup, Cardiff returned the favour over two first round legs of the Coca Cola Cup in 1995-96, and Portsmouth knocked out the Welsh side 0-2 in the fourth round of the Carling Cup on 9 November 2004, when Yakubu scored both, one from the penalty spot.
FA Cup
Cardiff and Portsmouth have never met before in this competition
