THE Bishop of Portsmouth, Dr Kenneth Stevenson, kept his promise to wear blue in the pulpit on the Sunday morning if Pompey beat Cardiff in the Cup Final at Wembley.

It was a service of baptism and confirmation and some of the 300-plus congregation also wore their blue Pompey scarves and rosettes. Even the visiting choir from the Cathedral’s twin parish in Finland were presented with Pompey scarves; and many of them wore them all weekend.

The Bishop also promised that the collection taken on the day would go to the Tom Prince Cancer Trust created in memory of the 15-year-old Pompey season-ticket holder, Tom Prince, who died of cancer in 2004. Cancer charities have held a special significance for the Bishop since he himself was diagnosed with leukaemia in September 2005. The diocese have held him in their prayers and been greatly concerned, but his latest biopsy has given him the all-clear.