Football is a beautiful but treacherous game. Whenever you’re winning and looking unbeatable, you must be ready for a fall because everyone falls eventually. Look at Manchester United, for example. They were the Champions League winners and the owners of the Premier League. Now, they are trying to reach the dizzy heights of the fourth position in the league. Barcelona used to be the hottest team in the world with the best player that ever played the game. Now they consider finishing second in La Liga success. It happens to just about anyone. Cast a look down to the third tier of English football, the EFL League One, and you’ll find a few familiar names.##EDITORS_CHOICE##Sheffield Wednesday, Sunderland, Bolton Wanderers, Ipswich Town, Charlton Athletic… All those clubs were once competing for the biggest prizes. They’ve got big stadiums, passionate fans, rich history and tradition – and they are all miles away from where they’d like to be. They hope and pray to get back into the second tier, let alone the Premier League. But perhaps it’s the fall of Wigan Athletic and Portsmouth that’s the most depressing. These two clubs lifted the most prestigious trophy in England not so long ago. They both celebrated winning the FA Cup at Wembley Stadium before plunging into the abyss.Portsmouth beat Cardiff City in the 2008 FA Cup final, with the legendary Nwankwo Kanu scoring the only goal. Pompey played exciting football with some fantastic players wearing blue shirts in those days. Papa Bouba Diop, Sol Campbell, David James, Lassana Diarra, Glen Johnson, Sulley Muntari, John Utaka… what a team and what a coach – the charismatic Harry Redknapp. They exceeded all expectations and won the valuable trophy in front of the noses of the big guys. Not Chelsea, not Manchester United, not Arsenal, but brave Pompey from the south coast. Throwback to Kanu’s 🇳🇬 match winning goal in the 2008 FA Cup Final for Portsmouth Happy Birthday @Pompey 🥳 pic.twitter.com/EMS65zjHNz— JABULANI XI (@JABULANIXI) April 5, 2020 But then the whole club went south, so to speak. A slurry of financial and legal problems, changes of ownership and utter uncertainty at every level caused three relegations in four seasons, leaving the club to struggle for its very existence in the fourth division for four years.Thankfully, Pompey has managed to get back to the EFL League One in 2017 and are now at least looking like there will be some more good days in the future. League finishes of 8th, 4th, 5th and again 8th suggest that they could soon return to the Championship.1⃣ point away from promotion…Could tonight be the night for @LaticsOfficial?#EFL | #SkyBetLeagueOne pic.twitter.com/slJ2ILYkaM— Sky Bet League One (@SkyBetLeagueOne) April 26, 2022 Tonight, Portsmouth will host Wigan Athletic, the club that will certainly get promoted. They need just one point in their remaining two games to secure one of the top two places and automatic promotion. The time has come for the Latics to taste a bit of success again. Since the highest point in their 90-year-long history, they’ve had some bad times.What Portsmouth had done in 2008, Wigan’s done in 2013. They beat a powerful Manchester City team at Wembley to win their only major trophy. And what a day that’s been! They faced Vincent Company, Sergio Aguero, Samir Nasri, Yaya Toure, Carlos Tevez, James Milner and many other stars – and they still came on top with a fairy-tale added-time winner by Ben Watson. It was a fantastic time for the club. They didn’t have as many big stars as Portsmouth five years earlier, but who cares – they got their hands on the precious cup. It was a fantastic achievement for the club that’s traditionally living in the shadows as the ‘tiny neighbour’ of the Manchester rivals.On This Day in 2013 🗓️Wigan beat Manchester City to a claim a famous victory in the FA Cup Final thanks to a late Ben Watson header!pic.twitter.com/h32k2Ng0UX— Classic Football Shirts (@classicshirts) May 11, 2021 All good things must end, of course, and so has Wigan’s glory days. They had the infamy of getting relegated from the Premier League the same season they lifted the FA Cup. Since then, they’ve been a yo-yo club, going up and down far too many times. Last season, they finished in 20th place, a far cry from this campaign.You see, it’s not a question of whether you’ll fall – the only question is whether you’re strong enough to get up again.EFL LEAGUE ONETuesday21.45: (2.35) Sunderland (3.20) Rotherham (3.15)21.45: (4.70) Fleetwood (3.45) Sheffield W. (1.82)21.45: (3.45) Portsmouth (3.25) Wigan (2.20)Saturday14.30: (1.57) Sheffield W. (4.00) Portsmouth (6.00)14.30: (2.65) Plymouth (3.25) Milton Keynes Dons (2.70)14.30: (1.53) Oxford (4.20) Doncaster (6.25)14.30: (2.10) Ipswich (3.45) Charlton (3.50)14.30: (5.20) Shrewsbury (3.70) Wigan (1.70)14.30: (5.50) Gillingham (3.80) Rotherham (1.65)14.30: (2.85) Wimbledon (3.30) Accrington (2.50)14.30: (1.85) Lincoln City (3.50) Crewe (4.40)14.30: (4.80) Morecambe (3.60) Sunderland (1.77)14.30: (2.50) Bolton (3.30) Fleetwood (2.85)14.30: (4.40) Burton (3.50) Wycombe (1.85)14.30: (2.75) Cambridge (3.30) Cheltenham (2.55)***odds are subject to change
