Congratulations to Portsmouth on winning the 2008 English FA Cup after a hardfought and often scrapping game against plucky Championship side Cardiff City. Only a Kanu goal after Cardiff goalkeeper Peter Enckelman spilled a cross allowed the Premier League side to sneak in front and it was often Cardiff on the front foot for most of the game.

Neither side had won the Cup since before the Second World War so it was pleasing to see a winner from outside the usual suspects of the top tier of Premier League clubs. Winning the FA Cup also gives Pompey a direct route into next season's UEFA Cup which is the first time they have ever qualified for European competition, a feat which should finally put to an end any lingering resentment at manager Harry Redknapp's brief interlude as manager at bitter south coast rivals Southampton.

Scottish football has had to mourn the premature passing of another great servant this week with the news of the death of Celtic coach Tommy Burns. He died of stomach cancer at the age of 51 having only been diagnosed with the disease in March and had been given a leave of absence from post as first team coach at the Glasgow club.

Burns had been an important player for Celtic during the 1970s and 1980s and had managed the club during the mid 1990s. After working with the Scottish national team he had returned once again to Celtic Park to work in several different roles as head of youth development and then back onto the professional coaching staff.

Much loved by fans and fellow professionals at all levels of the game, Tommy Burns was a devoted family man and a great servant to the world of Scottish football who will be sorely missed.

Football is funny sometimes, turning the sweet scent of imminent success to the obnoxious whiff of defeat in the space of a minute and vice versa, it's moods dictate the mood of thousands of fans who follow the game and while life is surely about more than 22 men kicking a ball around a field, there are many who can't seem to see the distinction. Take last Wednesday night for example.

Rangers played Zenit St Petersburg in the UEFA Cup final in what should have been their finest moment in European competition since a European Cup Winner's Cup win back in the early 1970s. 100,000 die hard Rangers fans travelled to Manchester to support their side, either in the stadium if they were lucky enough to get a ticket, or form the plethora of bars or dedicated "fan zones" set up by the organisers to cater for the high demand to see the game. So far, so good. Read more...

So it's all over for another year and what an entertaining day of football it turned out to be at both ends of the English Premier League table. Manchester United's hard fought 2-0 win over Wigan Athletic saw them lift their 17th English league title leaving them only one behind Liverpool's record haul of 18. Manager Sir Alex Ferguson and goalscorer Ryan Giggs both secured their 10th league titles with the Old Trafford club on the same day as Giggs equalled the Manchester United appearance record held by legend Sir Bobby Charlton. Quite a day for the Welshman then.

Chelsea finished second after their draw at home to Bolton wasn't enough to catch United but they can look forward to next week's UEFA Champion's League final against Manchester United in Moscow to exact their revenge.

At the bottom of the table Reading, Birmingham City and Fulham all started the day with the threat of relegation hanging over them but despite all three securing credible wins it was Fulham who edged out of the relegation zone after four wins in their last five games and delivered the kind of escape Harry Houdini would have been proud of. Coach Roy Hodgson now picks up an estimated bonus of around £1m for avoiding the drop so I'm sure he'll be a happy man tonight.

Elsewhere, Everton secured a much deserved 5th spot, Liverpool beat Spurs in a meaningless contest and Middlesbrough recorded a record Premier League win of 8 - 1 against Manchester City in what looks to be Sven Goran Eriksson's last game in charge of City. With city rivals United winning the title it wasn't the happiest of endings to a season for the long suffering City fans in any regard.

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