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By Mike Collett
LONDON, April 4 (Reuters) - English soccer will hark back to a different age this weekend when Portsmouth, West Bromwich Albion, Cardiff City and Barnsley play in the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley.
For the first time in exactly 100 years only one team from the top division has reached the last four with Portsmouth the sole Premier League representatives.
They face Championship (second division) side West Bromwich Albion on Saturday (kickoff 1115 GMT) with Cardiff City playing Barnsley in an all-Championship semi-final on Sunday (1500 GMT).
The appearance of such an unlikely quartet at this stage of the competition recalls an era before the advent of the almost untouchable "Big Four" of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United began their domination of the English game.
For the first time since 1987 none of those four are involved at this stage of the competition.
West Brom were the last of the four semi-finalists to win the FA Cup -- or reach the final -- when they beat Everton 1-0 after extra time with a Jeff Astle goal in 1968.
Portsmouth's last appearance in the final was in 1939 when they beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-1, while Cardiff City won it on their last appearance in 1927 when they beat Arsenal 1-0.
Barnsley's only victory came in their second appearance in 1912 when they beat West Brom 1-0 in a replay. They had lost to Newcastle United in another replayed final two years earlier.
If West Brom should beat Portsmouth, the final will feature two teams from outside the top division for the first time since League football began in England in 1888-89.
SAD FACES
West Brom boss Tony Mowbray said on Friday he had no new injury worries with Portuguese playmaker Filipe Teixeira their only absentee with knee ligament damage.
"I have had my team in my head for some time and there will be some sad faces when I tell the players the starting line-up but that's football," Mowbray said.
Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp was concerned about the fitness of defender Hermann Hreidarsson (Achilles injury) and striker John Utaka (hamstring) and will also be without cup-tied striker Jermain Defoe who appeared in the competition for Tottenham Hotspur before moving to Portsmouth in January.
Barnsley head for Sunday's clash with Cardiff after a run of three league defeats which has left them facing a fight against relegation from the Championship.
They will be without defender Stephen Foster (bruised foot), while striker Daniel Nardiello (hamstring) is a doubt.
However Barnsley have been a different side in the Cup this season with wins over Liverpool and Chelsea in earlier rounds, and boss Simon Davey believes his team are the neutrals' favourites to succeed.
"If we can overcome Cardiff and win the final, I think the whole nation will rejoice. Everyone thinks we deserve to win the Cup because we have beaten Chelsea and Liverpool. Barnsley have kept the magic of the Cup alive."
Cardiff, famously the only non-English club to win the FA Cup in 1927, will give late fitness tests to forwards Paul Parry and Steve Thompson but boss Davie Jones expects them to be fit.
Both players were substituted in Tuesday's 0-0 league draw with West Brom with muscle problems. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, who played in the Chelsea team beaten by Arsenal in the 2002 Cup final, is in the squad after serving a three-match ban.
