F.A. Cup Semifinals

Barnsley will host Cardiff City and West Brom will host Portsmouth. Not the teams you expected to make it this far? It is pretty odd that 3 Championship clubs and only 1 Premiership club is in the semis. The matches will take place at Wembley Stadium on April 5 and 6.

The story of the tournament has been Barnsley who won 2-1 at Liverpool and then beat Chelsea 1-0 at home. Either Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool or Chelsea have won the Cup since 1996 so we will see a nice change of pace. A team outside of the top division has not won the Cup since West Ham did it in 1980.

Barnsley vs. Cardiff City
Barnsley defeated Liverpool at Anfield 2-1 in the Round of 16. Then they followed it up by defeating Chelsea 1-0 at home in the Quarterfinals. By hearing this you wouldn't believe that they are battling relegation in the Championship division. Well, they are. In between their last two F.A. Cup matches they lost to Norwich, tied QPR, tied Sheff Wed. and tied Blackpool. But somehow they beat two of the best teams in the world. Barnsley has not played in the Semifinals since they won the tournament in 1912. They defeated West Brom in the final that year.

Cardiff City is mid-table in the Championship division. The team out of Wales has not played in the semifinals since they won the tournament in 1927. They defeated Arsenal in the final. Cardiff have had an easier road to the finals; defeating Wolves in the Round of 16 and Middlesbrough in the Quarterfinals.

West Brom vs. Portsmouth
Portsmouth is actually the favorite in something, who knew? If someone told me that out of all EPL clubs, Portsmouth would go the furthest, I would probably kill their whole family. Portsmouth won the Cup in 1939 and defeated Wolves in the final. Portsmouth upset Manchester United at Old Trafford 1-0 in the Quarterfinals.

West Brom is historically one of the best F.A. Cup teams. They have appeared in 10 finals and won 5 of them. But 9 of the finals were before the 1950s so it's not THAT great. They won the Cup in 1968 and defeated Everton in the final. West Brom currently has a spot in the Championship's promotion playoffs. They are only two points behind 2nd place Stoke City who are in a position to be promoted without having to go through the playoffs. They have also played two less games than Stoke.

I really hope any team but Portsmouth wins. There are good stories for every club. Barnsley has been the upset kings while Cardiff would be the first team to win the Cup from Wales since they did it in 1927. Portsmouth is the only EPL club and West Brom can win this and get back to the EPL and play like they did in the old days.