Michael Brown reveals his biggest Portsmouth FA Cup final regret against Chelsea

Michael Brown has revealed his FA Cup final regret – not being able to celebrate a Wembley goal with the Pompey faithful.
Michael Brown was part of the Pompey side which lost 1-0 to Chelsea in the 2010 FA Cup final. Picture: Steve ReidMichael Brown was part of the Pompey side which lost 1-0 to Chelsea in the 2010 FA Cup final. Picture: Steve Reid
Michael Brown was part of the Pompey side which lost 1-0 to Chelsea in the 2010 FA Cup final. Picture: Steve Reid

Chelsea defeated Avram Grant’s side 1-0 in that May 2010 encounter, with Didier Drogba’s goal securing the Double.

Yet the relegated Blues had the chance to take the lead, through Prince Boateng’s second-half penalty.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Boateng, along with Frederic Piquionne, had previously netted from the spot in a glorious 2-0 semi-final triumph over Harry Redknapp’s Spurs.

But, crucially, on the occasion of the FA Cup final, the Ghana international missed, with Chelsea going on to claim victory.

Brown, who featured for Pompey in both games, told The News: ‘I wish Prince Boateng had scored that penalty, even if we had lost.

‘I just wanted to run to the fans like I had at Wembley in the semi-final. Even losing 2-1 would have given me that celebration of us scoring a goal.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

‘One of my regrets is he didn’t score. I would have loved just to have had that feeling again, regardless is we lost.

‘Beating Spurs in the semi-final was amazing, I cannot tell you how great it felt.

‘We scored twice and when you ran to the supporters you saw the joy in people’s faces. I had never seen that before.

‘We had been relegated from the Premier League the day before, there were financial problems, we may go out of business – but, by the way, there’s an FA Cup semi-final now to play. And it was against Spurs.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

‘We thought we’d be up against it, but you never know. Nobody gave us a hope.

‘What an incredible game, though. What a performance.

‘I have to say, that feeling I got when we scored against Spurs and I was running towards the fans was insane.

‘Honestly, it was one of the best feelings I ever had on the pitch.’

That proved to be Boateng’s final Pompey appearance, totalling 27 outings and five goals during his sole Fratton Park season.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Having featured for Ghana in the 2010 World Cup finals, he returned to a club in the Championship and under Steve Cotterill.

His Fratton Park exit involved an arrangement which saw him join Genoa in August 2010, before instantly loaned to AC Milan.

Brown added: ‘I remember waiting for Kev to come back that summer from the World Cup.

‘We were running around the training ground and he walked up and said “I just want to say goodbye”.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

‘We replied: “That’s handy, you miss a penalty and now you do one!”.

‘He said: “Yes, it looks like I’m signing for AC Milan”. The lads nearly fell over.

‘There were seven senior players and a couple of kids and we’d just finished running, on our knees, and then Kev said that.

‘Talk about rubbing salt in our wounds, Kev!

‘I'm pleased for him, what amazing ability. He demanded everything from his team-mates, but when he got on that ball he was a magician.’

A message from the Editor

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Thank you for reading this story on portsmouth.co.uk. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to portsmouth.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to local news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit our Subscription page now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.