Cardiff City v Portsmouth
The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON
The Final
3pm, Saturday 17 May 2008
Wembley Stadium
Winning club will receive £1,000,000 from The FA
Seating plan - click here



Robbie Fowler heads to Wembley with Cardiff City on Saturday, looking for another shot at Cup glory.

The former Liverpool striker only joined Cardiff last summer after bumping into Dave Jones while on holiday with his family.

The 33-year-old had just finished his second spell at Anfield and liked what he heard about the Bluebirds and while a trip to Wembley was part of the plan that interested Fowler, it was the play-offs rather than The FA Cup that the club was aiming for. However, during the early weeks of his Cardiff career, he was having problems with an ongoing hip injury and decided that surgery was the only option. 

“Whenever you move to a new club, you want things to be perfect," he explained. 

"I’d love to have been playing every game and scoring lots of goals but unfortunately it’s not an ideal world that we live in. I couldn’t carry on and my hip needed looking at.

“I know Cardiff City haven’t seen the best of me yet, but I hope I can get the chance to put that right.”

And when better than The FA Cup Final?

Though Fowler has picked up one Cup Final winners’ medal, in Cardiff seven years ago, he was at Liverpool when they lifted The Cup in both 1992 and 2006, and was a losing Finalist in 1996.

“I love The FA Cup, it was the first thing I wanted to win,” he said.

“It is just fantastic to be involved in as a player, and when you win it, it’s a great day out for the supporters too.”

Soon after Fowler signed his first professional contract with Liverpool, the Reds had lifted The Cup for the fifth time but he was yet to break into the first team when he travelled down to Wembley with the club and was a spectator as his long-time friend Steve McManaman guided Graeme Souness’s side to a 2-0 win over Sunderland in '92.

“I was a supporter of the club then, and I watched the Semi-Final, which was against Portsmouth, and they were very tight games," he recalled. 

"Liverpool managed to win on penalties and for The Final, we all went down with the club. My mate Steve McManaman was fantastic on the day and he probably won The Cup for Liverpool. It was also a big day for Graeme Souness, who had only just come out of hospital following a heart operation. It was a good day all round for Liverpool.”
 
Fowler had to wait until 2001 to finally get his hands on the famous trophy. It wasn’t looking good, though, as he watched on from the sidelines. Arsenal dominated and Freddie Ljungberg scored on 72 minutes to put Liverpool a goal behind. However, within five minutes, Fowler was on, and another eleven passed and Gerard Houllier’s men were leading 2-1. They were on the way to Cup glory and part two of their famous ‘treble’.  

“We were one-nil down when I came on and Michael [Owen] scored his two goals. I’m not saying it was down to me, but I played my part in helping Liverpool win that year and it was a great feeling to lift The Cup.

He added: “Anytime you get to The Cup Final, it’s always a special day. Whatever round you are in, any team can play any team and the non-League teams try and get involved and look to upset one of the big boys. But The Final is a day you can dream about, and sometimes dreams do come true.”

You can read more from Robbie Fowler in the official FA Cup Final matchday programme, which is available to pre-order online now at www.thefa.com/FACupProgrammes