Portsmouth — known as Pompey in England — became the first Premier League club to go into administration for insolvency, allowing it to continue doing business. On March 17, the league punished it for that with a mandatory 9-point deduction in the standings. On April 10, it became certain of relegation.
“All the guys I sit with have been going for 40 years,” Payne said. “They’re die-hard Pompey fans, and to a man, they’re saying they can’t wait to get out of the Premier League.”
They will observe next season in the quieter 24-team second tier, but some fans prepared for the team’s liquidation.
“There was definitely an element of fans, that if it meant an absolute clean start, we were ready for it,” Dewing said. “It wouldn’t have been the end of the world, and it would have risen from the ashes. It might be rubbish, but it’s our rubbish.”
Jim Riordan, a fan since 1944, wrote in an e-mail message, “They will not take our club away from us.”
The F.A. Cup became a curious balm. “Que Sera Sera” T-shirts sold in the club shop. A roster hopeless in league play and almost unrecognizable from 2008 somehow eliminated Coventry, Sunderland, Southampton and Birmingham to reach the F.A. Cup semifinals. Fans repeatedly sang: “Que sera sera/Whatever will be, will be/We’re going to Wembley. ...”
Awaiting them there were Redknapp and Tottenham, which defeated Portsmouth, 2-0, in league play on March 27. Yet on the muddy field at Wembley, Portsmouth wrestled Tottenham into extra time without a goal, then scored twice for unimaginable mirth.
As a roar blared through the stadium, a banner read, “You Can Break Many Things, but You Can’t Break Our Spirit.”
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