2009–10 FA Cup Stadium. The final was contested by 2009 winners Chelsea and 2008 winners Portsmouth. Originally, the winners were to qualify for the play-off round of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League. However, as Chelsea won the 2009–10 Premier League (and did not need the FA Cup winners' berth), and Portsmouth failed to apply for a UEFA licence for the 2010–11 season in time (making them ineligible to compete in UEFA competitions), the berth was given to Liverpool, the seventh-placed team in the Premier League. Chelsea won 1–0 in the final to retain the trophy. The calendar for the 2009–10 FA Cup, as
2008 FA Cup Final 1927 and Portsmouth in 1939. Had Cardiff won, they would have been the first club from outside the top division of English football to have won the competition since West Ham United in 1980. The match had an attendance of 89,874, a record which still stands as the largest ever for an FA Cup Final at the new Wembley Stadium. For winning the competition, Portsmouth received £1 million in prize money, as well as qualification to the 2008–09 UEFA Cup, their first foray into European football. It was suggested prior to the game that Cardiff City would not have been