English football will hark back to a different age this weekend when Portsmouth, West Bromwich Albion, Cardiff City and Barnsley play in the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley.
For the first time in exactly 100 years only one team from the top division has reached the last four with Portsmouth the sole Premier League representatives.
They face Championship (second division) side West Bromwich Albion on Saturday (kickoff 12.15 p.m.) with Cardiff City playing Barnsley in an all-Championship semi-final on Sunday (4 p.m.).
The appearance of such an unlikely quartet at this stage of the competition recalls an era before the advent of the almost untouchable "Big Four" of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United began their domination of the English game.
For the first time since 1987 none of those four are involved at this stage of the competition.
West Brom were the last of the four semi-finalists to win the FA Cup -- or reach the final -- when they beat Everton 1-0 after extra time with a Jeff Astle goal in 1968.
Portsmouth’s last appearance in the final was in 1939 when they beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-1, while Cardiff City won it on their last appearance in 1927 when they beat Arsenal 1-0.
Barnsley’s only victory came in their second appearance in 1912 when they
beat West Brom 1-0 in a replay. They had lost to Newcastle United in another replayed final two years earlier.
If West Brom should beat Portsmouth, the final will feature two teams from outside the top division for the first time since League football began in England in 1888-89.
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