LONDON (AFP) - Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp always insisted he'd no regrets after turning down an offer from Newcastle earlier this season and his decision looked all the more justifiable after he'd guided the south coast club into their first FA Cup final for 69 years.

The 61-year-old, the leading English candidate to replace Steve McClaren as England manager, rejected what would have been a lucrative move to the north-east before Kevin Keegan's return as Newcastle boss.

Some said it was a sign of a lack of ambition. But with Portsmouth sixth in the Premier League and through to their first Cup final since they won the trophy for the only time in their history in 1939, Redknapp now has a chance to win his first major honour as a manager.

"It was nice to be wanted by a club like Newcastle," Redknapp said after a goal by Nigeria striker Nwankwo Kanu against his old club saw Portsmouth beat West Browmich Albion 1-0 here at Wembley on Saturday.

"On the one hand, people said take on the challenge to prove I could do it with a big club," added Redknapp, ahead of Portsmouth's May 17 return to Wembley, where they will face Cardiff, another Championship side, in the final.

"But on the other, I've brought good players in here at Portsmouth and wanted to stay loyal to them.

"It's another great day for me and the club, especially the fans," added Redknapp, whose side dramatically beat English champions Manchester United at Old Trafford in the quarter-finals.

His cult hero status at Fratton Park, where he'd guided the side out of the Championship and into the top flight, was jeopardised when he quit Pompey for a brief and unsuccessful spell with arch-rivals Southampton after a row over the appointment of a football director.

When he returned to Portsmouth in 2005 the club appeared destined for relegation from the Premier League.

"As soon as I got back, the captain at the time, Dejan Stefanovic, told me I'd got the worst team here he had ever seen.

"He said 'you must me mad' - and after the first morning's training I realised he was right.

"There were a few good lads still there - Dejan, Gary O'Neil, Richard Hughes but they had got rid of the ones I had like Patrick Berger, (Aiyegbeni) Yakubu and so on.

"They had gone out and bought a load of oddmarks in from everywhere around in the world. I'm not blaming (then manager) Alain Perrin because I don't think it was his fault but, quite rightly, we were bottom of the league, looking dead and buried.

"Somehow we got out of it after going to Wigan and winning in the last game but one. But what a day."

Redknapp added: "If we had gone down I knew I was in big trouble because I can't say truthfully that everybody welcomed me back. At first there were banners up saying 'Judas' nice things like that.

"I got a letter last week from a fan who wrote saying he'd been with his wife to every round in the cup, been to Ipswich, been to Preston but couldn't get tickets for the semi-final. He'd tried for his life.

"So I took it on face value, rang him up, not knowing it was April Fool's Day (April 1) and left a message on his answerphone saying 'Hello Geoff, it's Harry Redknapp, I've got you two tickets and would ring back'.

"Of course, when I did he couldn't believe it. He said he'd had a big ruck with his mates who said somebody was playing a joke. But I was delighted to get him the tickets.

"My wife Sandra said what other Premier League manager would do that, but that's how I am."