Pompey now know the reward for their exploits at the other end of the M27, it is a home tie with Premier League form side, Birmingham City. Alex McLeish’s side scrapped through to the Quarter Finals with a 91st minute winner from defender Liam Ridgwell at Derby.
Birmingham who were among the favourites for relegation at the start of the season have had a fantastic run recently which has lifted them to eighth place with thirty seven points. They have four times on the road already this season.
The two clubs have met eight times in the FA Cup before and each side has triumphed four times. Strangely despite having met on that many occasions those games have only been in three decades. In the 1900s there were three clashes in 1901, 1905 and 1909 and Pompey won all three the latter two being at St Andrews.
The next meeting came in 1946 when Pompey were the FA Cup holders and despite there being no league programme the FA Cup was restarted to boost public morale. The games were played over two legs and Brum were to inflict a defeat on Pompey which meant there long spell as holders was over. A single goal was enough to settle the tie and that was an own goal by Reg Flewin. The next season Pompey were drawn with Birmingham again and the result was the same, a 1-0 defeat in the Midlands.
The final three meeting all came in the 1970s which was of course not Pompey`s greatest decade. In 1972, the Cup’s centenary year, Pompey reached the fifth round after beating Boston and Swansea and were drawn away to Birmingham. The home side won 3-1 (Richie Reynolds scored Pompey`s goal) and reached the Semi Final losing 3-0 to eventual winners Leeds United at Hillsborough.
Four years later Pompey were to extract revenge when in round three after a 1-1 draw at Fratton Park they won the replay with a Bobby McGuiness goal. The season ended in relegation so it was as a Third Division side that Pompey were again drawn with Brum the next season. They lost 1-0 at St Andrews to a Howard Kendall goal.
That was the last meeting thirty three years ago. The two clubs have never met in the League Cup. Birmingham City have never won the FA Cup and along with Reading are the only sides in the Quarter Final draw not to have lifted the famous trophy. They have however reached the final in 1931 and 1956 losing to West Bromwich Albion and Manchester City respectively.
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