'Portsmouth fans are second to none. A different class': Portsmouth FA Cup hero on why he returned for 125th Anniversary celebrations

Yet there was no mistaking the familiar figure of Hermann Hreidarsson as he embraced an emotional Fratton Park reunion.

Nowadays manager of IBV in his Nordic homeland, the FA Cup hero returned to the south coast on Saturday to attend Pompey’s 125th Anniversary festivities.

Also present was his 2008 Wembley final team-mate Pedro Mendes, along with Yakubu, Svetoslav Todorov, Alan Biley, Noel Blake, Martin Kuhl and Michael Doyle among many others in a star-studded line-up.

And for the popular left-back who made 123 appearances and scored eight goals, it was an invitation he couldn’t ignore.

Hreidarsson told The News: ‘What makes Pompey special is the fans.

‘The passion from the fans is second to none, they support you whatever. I was here for four years and all across the ride every game you know you have the backing of the supporters.

‘They are a different class.

‘I loved my time here, they were amazing years, it’s great to see old friends, I know a lot of brilliant people around here. It’s great to be back.

‘The pinnacle of my career was the FA Cup win, having all those trips to Wembley and celebrating with the people of Portsmouth.’

Hreidarsson was an ever-present in the Blues’ 2008 FA Cup run which saw them claim the trophy at Wembley courtesy of Kanu’s goal.

Harry Redknapp’s men conceded just one goal along the way – against Plymouth – while pulled off a stunning 1-0 win at Old Trafford against a Manchester United team which would later win the Champions League.

To this day, Hreidarsson claims the last-gasp winner in a 2-1 success at Preston in the fifth round in February 2008.

Although, in truth, it was actually a clear own goal by the Lilywhites’ Darren Carter!

He added: ‘I’m forever claiming that Preston goal, no doubt about it, it was an absolutely top finish!

‘For the Old Trafford game, we were always going to win that day, we just had so much going for us and cleared a couple off the line.

‘Something was brewing for the FA Cup that year, Manchester United was definitely the hardest game and possibly the best United team. It was the only win of my career there.

‘As a team, we were absolutely rock solid at the back, David James, Sol Campbell, Sylvain Distin, big characters and winners – and King Kanu to produce when it mattered. Big-game players.

‘We were hard to play against, hard to beat, we proved that in the FA Cup. We didn’t score a lot of goals in that run, but had clean sheets for fun.’