Cardiff to qualify for Europe if they beat Portsmouth in FA Cup final

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The FA Board overturned a long-standing agreement over the European competition and gave Cardiff the thumbs up yesterday as well as approving a break with tradition over the national anthem at Wembley.

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Passage to Europe: Joe Ledley and his Cardiff team-mates could be heading for the Uefa Cup if they beat Portsmouth in the FA Cup final

While God Save the Queen is always sung before the showpiece game, this season Land of My Fathers will also be aired.

The Welsh National Anthem was sung in 1927, before Cardiff's previous final appearance, but only in English and just the first two verses.

The FA made the controversial concessions after being called on by Welsh Sports Minister Rhodri Glyn Thomas to show some 'common sense'.

A Soho Square statement said: 'The Board have given full approval for Cardiff to participate in next season's UEFA Cup as one of England's representatives should they win this season's FA Cup and it was decided that the Welsh National Anthem would also be played ahead of the game.'

UEFA had earlier claimed they would offer Cardiff a wildcard should they win and president Michel Platini even spoke out on the club's behalf.

In the build-up to the Welsh side's first final appearance for 81 years, officials became most exercised by the issue, with manager Dave Jones claiming there would be 'hell to pay' if they were kept out.

UEFA communications director William Gaillard said: "We entirely understood the FA's reasons for their regulations and had no problems with them"

"We just believed that if Cardiff did win the Cup and were not given qualification for the UEFA Cup then for sporting reasons we would look to offer them a wildcard."

The decision to allow the Welsh National Anthem appears to be a wider political decision but it is a bolder move than the last time the question arose.

In 2003, a similar anthem row erupted before a play-off final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff between Queens Park Rangers and Cardiff.

That resulted in neither anthem being played and the clubs were given permission to choose their own song.

Cardiff showed their Welsh pride then by opting for Men of Harlech, while QPR went for Pigbag's 1981 hit Papa's Got A Brand New Pigbag, which is a fans' favourite.

If the FA had gone down that road it may also have been popular with Cardiff fans, who have ensured pre-sales of their final song Bluebirds Flying High are outselling Madonna and Justin Timberlake.