Women's FA Cup

The Women's FA Cup (or SSE Women's FA Cup for sponsorship reasons)[1] is the top cup competition for women's football clubs in England[2][3] – designed as an equivalent to the FA Cup.

Women's FA Cup
Founded1970
Region England
Number of teams293 (2018–19)
Current championsManchester City (2nd title)
Most successful club(s)Arsenal (14 titles)
Television broadcastersBBC
WebsiteWomen's FA Cup
2019–20 FA Women's Cup

The competition began in 1970–71 as the Mitre Challenge Trophy, organised by the Women's Football Association (WFA).[4] There were 71 entrants, including teams from Scotland and Wales.[5]

Since the Football Association (FA) began administrating English women's football in 1993, the teams affiliated with FA Premier League and Football League counterparts have dominated the re–branded competition. Arsenal currently holds the record for most titles, having won fourteen times.[6] The Women's FA Cup trophy was one of the first prestigious trophies to be made in the Thomas Lyte silver workshop.[7]

The current cup holders are Manchester City. They defeated West Ham United 3–0 in the final at Wembley Stadium on 4 May 2019.

Format

The current entry points as of the 2019–20 season:

All other clubs in the fifth tier or below are drawn to either play in the Extra Preliminary Round or have a bye to the Preliminary Round. After the initial preliminary rounds, there are three qualifying rounds before the First Round Proper. All rounds until the FA WSL and Championship teams enter in the Fourth Round are played on a geographical basis (north and south regions).

List of finals

The finals so far:[8]

Year Winners Score Runners up Scorers Venue
1971 Southampton 4–1 Stewarton Thistle Southampton: Davies (3), Cassell Crystal Palace National Sports Centre
1972 Southampton 3–2 Lee's Ladies Southampton: Judd (2), Lopez Eton Park
Attendance: 1,500
1973 Southampton 2–0 Westthorn United Kenway, Hale Bedford Town FC
Attendance: 3,000
1974 Fodens 2–1 Southampton Bedford Town FC
1975 Southampton 4–2 Warminster Dunstable Town FC
1976 Southampton 2–1 a.e.t. QPR QPR: Margaret “Paddy” McGroarty[9] Bedford Town FC
Attendance: 1,500
1977 QPR 1–0 Southampton Staley Champion Hill
Attendance: 3,000
1978 Southampton 8–2 QPR Southampton: Pat Chapman (6)[9] Slough Town FC
1979 Southampton 1–0 Lowestoft Pat Chapman Waterlooville FC
Attendance: 1,200
1980 St Helens WFC 1–0 Preston North End Sue Holland Enfield Town FC
1981 Southampton 4–2 St Helens WFC Southampton: Pat Chapman (2), Jill England, Hillary Carter. St Helens: Alison Leatherbarrow, Janet Turner St Helens R.F.C Knowsley Road
Attendance: 1,500
1982 Lowestoft 2–0 Cleveland Spartans Linda Curl, Angela Poppy Loftus Road
1983 Doncaster Belles 3–2 St Helens St Helens:Alison Leatherbarrow, Liz Deighan Lincoln City FC Sincil Bank
1984 Howbury Grange 4–2 Doncaster Belles Lincoln City FC Sincil Bank
1985 Friends of Fulham 2–0 Doncaster Belles Craven Cottage
1986 Norwich 4–3 Doncaster Belles Norwich: Linda Curl, Miranda Colk, Sallie Jackson, Marianne Lawrence[10] Carrow Road[10]
1987 Doncaster Belles 2–0 St Helens Nottingham Forest City Ground
1988 Doncaster Belles 3–1 Leasowe Pacific
1989 Leasowe Pacific 3–2 Friends of Fulham Old Trafford
Attendance: 941
1990 Doncaster Belles 1–0 Friends of Fulham Coultard 61' Baseball Ground
Attendance: 3,000
1991 Millwall 1–0 Doncaster Belles Baldeo 65' Prenton Park
Attendance:4,000
1992 Doncaster Belles 4–0 Red Star Southampton Prenton Park
1993 Arsenal 3–0 Doncaster Belles Curley 45', Ball 45', Bampton 80' Manor Ground, Oxford
Attendance: 3,547
1994 Doncaster Belles 1–0 Knowsley United Walker 38' Glanford Park
Attendance: 1,674
1995 Arsenal 3–2 Liverpool Prenton Park
1996 Croydon 1–1 a.e.t. (3–2 pen.) Liverpool Liverpool: Burke 22'
Croydon: Powell 38'		 The New Den
Attendance: 2,110
1997 Millwall 1–0 Wembley Waller 51' Upton Park
Attendance: 3,015
1998 Arsenal 3–2 Croydon Arsenal: Spacey 17', Yankey 52', Few 90+3
Croydon: Broadhurst (pen) 10', Powell 55'		 The New Den
1999 Arsenal 2–0 Southampton Saints Hayes (o.g) 14', Wheatley 41' The Valley
Attendance: 6,450
2000 Croydon 2–1 Doncaster Belles Croydon: C.Walker 40', G.Hunt 67'
Doncaster: Exley 40'		 Bramall Lane
Attendance: 3,434
2001 Arsenal 1–0 Fulham Banks 52' Selhurst Park
Attendance: 13,824
2002 Fulham 2–1 Doncaster Belles Fulham: Yankey 55', Chapman 56'
Doncaster: Handley 58'		 Selhurst Park
Attendance: 10,124
2003 Fulham 3–0 Charlton Athletic Moore 18', Hills (o.g) 36', Williams (o.g) 61' Selhurst Park
Attendance: 10,389
2004 Arsenal 3–0 Charlton Athletic Fleeting (3) 23', 25', 83' Loftus Road
Attendance: 12,244
2005 Charlton Athletic 1–0 Everton Aluko 58' Upton Park
Attendance: 8,567
2006 Arsenal 5–0 Leeds United Ward (o.g) 3', Fleeting 34', Yankey 35', Smith (pen) 73', Sanderson 77' The New Den
Attendance: 13,452
2007 Arsenal 4–1 Charlton Athletic Charlton: Holtham 2'
Arsenal: Smith 7', 80', Ludlow 15', 45'		 City Ground
Attendance: 24,529
2008 Arsenal 4–1 Leeds United Arsenal: Smith 54', 83', Ludlow 59', Sanderson 60'
Leeds: Clarke 69'		 City Ground
Attendance: 24,582
2009 Arsenal 2–1 Sunderland Arsenal: Chapman 32', Little 90'
Sunderland: McDougall 90'		 Pride Park Stadium
Attendance: 23,291
2010 Everton 3–2 a.e.t. Arsenal Arsenal: Little (pen) 43', Fleeting 54'
Everton: Dowie 16', 119', White (o.g.) 45'+2'		 City Ground
Attendance: 17,505[11]
2011 Arsenal 2–0 Bristol Academy Little 19', Fleeting 32' Ricoh Arena
Attendance: 13,885[12]
2012 Birmingham City 2–2 a.e.t. (3–2 pen.) Chelsea Birmingham City: Williams 90', Carney 111'
Chelsea: Lander 69' Longhurst 101'		 Ashton Gate
Attendance: 8,723
2013 Arsenal 3–0 Bristol Academy Houghton 2' Nobbs 72' White 90' Keepmoat Stadium
Attendance: 4,988
2014 Arsenal 2–0 Everton Smith 15' Kinga 61' Stadium MK
Attendance: 15,098
2015 Chelsea 1–0 Notts County Ji 39' Wembley Stadium
Attendance: 30,710
2016 Arsenal 1–0 Chelsea Carter 18' Wembley Stadium
Attendance: 32,912
2017 Manchester City 4–1 Birmingham City Manchester City: Bronze 18' Christiansen 25' Lloyd 32' Scott 80'

Birmingham City: Wellings 73'

 Wembley Stadium
Attendance: 35,271
2018 Chelsea 3–1 Arsenal Chelsea: Bachmann 48', 60' Kirby 76'

Arsenal: Miedema 73'

 Wembley Stadium
Attendance: 45,423
2019 Manchester City 3–0 West Ham United Walsh 52' Stanway 81' Hemp 88' Wembley Stadium
Attendance: 43,264

Performance by club
Club Winners Runners-up Winning Years
Arsenal
14
2
 1992–93, 1994–95, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2015–16
Southampton
8
2
 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1980–81
Doncaster Belles
6
7
 1982–83, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1993–94
Everton[A]
2
3
 1988–89, 2009–10
Chelsea
2
2
 2014–15, 2017–18
Croydon
2
1
 1995–96, 1999–2000
Fulham
2
1
 2001–02, 2002–03
Millwall
2
0
 1990–91, 1996–97
Manchester City
2
0
 2016–17, 2018–19
Charlton Athletic
1
3
 2004–05
St Helens
1
3
 1979–80
Q.P.R.
1
2
 1976–77
Friends of Fulham
1
2
 1984–85
Lowestoft
1
1
 1981–82
Fodens
1
0
 1973–74
Howbury Grange
1
0
 1983–84
Norwich
1
0
 1985–86
Birmingham City
1
1
 2011–12
Liverpool
0
2
 —
Southampton Saints[B]
0
2
 —
Leeds United
0
2
 —
Bristol Academy
0
2
 —
Stewarton & Thistle
0
1
 —
Lee's Ladies
0
1
 —
Westhorn United
0
1
 —
Warminster
0
1
 —
Preston North End
0
1
 —
Cleveland Spartans
0
1
 —
Knowsley United
0
1
 —
Wembley
0
1
 —
Sunderland
0
1
 —
Notts County
0
1
 —
West Ham United
0
1
 —

From 2000 until 2008, the Cup winner competed with the FA Women's Premier League National Division winners for the FA Women's Community Shield.

A. ^ Everton were previously known as Leasowe Pacific.[13]
A. ^ Southampton Saints were previously known as Red Star Southampton.

Media coverage

In the late 1980s[14] and early 1990s[15] television coverage of the WFA final was provided by Channel 4.

Between 2001–2008 the final of the tournament was covered by BBC TV, presented by Celina Hinchcliffe, Rebecca Lowe, Ray Stubbs and Jake Humphrey, the punditry team was usually current players like Sue Scott and commentary usually by Steve Wilson and Lucy Ward or Faye White and always played on May Day Bank Holiday. The final was also simulcast on BBC Radio Five Live. In 2009 the final was moved to ITV1 with commentary from Jon Champion and Lucy Ward. Sky Sports secured a three-year deal for live coverage from 2010 until 2012.[16]

Sponsorship

Sponsors of the original WFA competition (1970–1993) included Mitre,[4] Pony wines and Mycil.[15]

Below is a list of sponsors of the FA competition:

From 2007, Tesco obtained additional branding and advertising rights through their partnership agreement with the FA.[19] Despite sponsorship by these major companies, entering the tournament actually costs clubs more than they get in prize money. In 2015 it was reported that even if Notts County had won the tournament outright the paltry £8,600 winnings would leave them out of pocket.[20] The winners of the men's FA Cup in the same year received £1.8 million, with teams not even reaching the first round proper getting more than the women's winners.[21]

See also

References
  1. Association, The Football. "The website for the English football association, the Emirates FA Cup and the England football team". www.thefa.com. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  2. "Women's FA Cup final: 40,000 tickets sold for Wembley showpiece". BBC Sport. 1 May 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  3. "Relive both Women's FA Cup semi-finals". BBC Sport. 11 April 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  4. "Women's FA Cup: The history". BBC Sport. 1 May 2003. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
  5. "Women's Football Competitions Fact Sheet" (PDF). Football Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 August 2011. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
  6. Tony Leighton (2 May 2010). "England dug-out duo become rivals in FA Women's Cup final at Nottingham". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
  7. FA Women's Cup Final comes to Wembley in August
  8. "England – List of Women Cup Winners". RSSSF. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
  9. https://womensfootballarchive.org/tag/cambuslang-hooverettes/
  10. Norwich Evening News, May 26, 2016, page 12
  11. Lavery, Glenn (3 May 2010). "Late drama as Dowie downs Arsenal – ARSENAL LFC v EVERTON LFC – 03/05/2010". TheFA.com. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  12. "Arsenal complete 11th cup final win". Shekicks.net. 21 May 2011. Archived from the original on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  13. Leighton, Tony (3 May 2010). "Everton upset Arsenal to win Cup". BBC News.
  14. "Fact Sheet 5: Women and Football". University of Leicester. March 2002. Archived from the original on 12 September 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  15. Joan Ruddock (29 April 1991). "MILLWALL LIONESSES FA CUP VICTORY". UK Parliament. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  16. "Community Shield for Sky Sports". TheFA.com. 27 July 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
  17. "FA announces new Cup sponsorship". BBC News. 3 February 2006. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  18. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 25 August 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  19. "Football Association Joins Forces With Tesco". Sportbusiness.com. Archived from the original on 3 July 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  20. BBC article on the sponsorship situation
  21. Prize money list on the FA website
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