Cup, cuddle and joy for prime fan Joyce
THIS is the moment when Joyce Tynan's dreams came true.
The 75-year-old has been a diehard Pompey fan for the last 62 years, following the team to away games and getting to home games three hours early so she can chat with other supporters.
So when she had the opportunity to hold the FA Cup she had just seen her heroes win she leapt at the chance.
Mrs Tynan, who turns up to every game with her trusty rattle, was rewarded for her dedication to the Pompey cause with a free trip to Wembley and a place on one of the victory parade buses – and she even got a cuddle from Pompey hero Kanu.
The mother-of-three and grandmother-of-two said: 'I never miss a match.
'I went to Italy once when we did the Italian cup. I left Fratton Park at midnight once to go to Scotland for a friendly.
'And I went to the Isle of Man for a week-long football festival.
'When I first went to a game with my step-father I suppose I got a feeling for it.'
Mrs Tynan, of Cleveland Road, Southsea, gave up her cherished Cup final ticket so her son could take his girlfriend, but when word spread that Pompey's number-one fan wasn't going to Wembley a fellow supporter invited her along and treated her to her own box.
She said: 'I couldn't believe it. At Wembley I had the full treatment.
'And during the victory parade the stewards saw me and invited me on their bus following behind the team.
'On Monday night I was all on my own at Fratton Park when Kanu came to see me.
'He could've just walked by and waved but he came running down the steps and cuddled me and that made my night.
'I was really touched by that.
'Lots of people say they've touched the FA Cup but it's our cup now and that made it perfect.'
Pompey's sports liaison officer Johnny Moore said: 'I see Joyce every week.
'She's one of our most dedicated fans so to get her hands on the FA Cup must have been a dream come true.'
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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