by Andrew Crawshaw
Last year for the first time the Ladies FA Cup final was held at Wembley, the only trouble was that Arsenal weren’t there; Chelsea beat Notts County scoring the only goal to lift the trophy.
This year the Cup is again being contested at Wembley kick-off 14:00 on Saturday 14 May and Arsenal are there to play the current holders Chelsea. Both teams entered the competition in the fifth round. This is how they progressed to the final.
| Round | Arsenal | Chelsea |
| 5 | beat Birmingham City (5 – 3 on penalties) after the teams were tied one all at fill time and the extra time failed to break the deadlock | beat Doncaster Rovers 4 – 1 |
| 6 | beat Notts County 2 – 0 | beat Aston Villa 6 – 0 |
| Semi-final | beat Sunderland 7 – 0 | beat Manchester City 2 – 1 |
The current WSL table is :-
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Manchester City Women | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 13 | 15 |
| 2 | Chelsea Ladies FC | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 5 | 9 | 12 |
| 3 | Arsenal Ladies FC | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | -1 | 7 |
| 4 | Birmingham City Ladies | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -1 | 7 |
| 5 | Notts County Ladies FC | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | -1 | 4 |
| 6 | Liverpool Ladies FC | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 13 | -4 | 4 |
| 7 | Sunderland AFC Ladies | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 6 | -2 | 3 |
| 8 | Reading FC Women | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 9 | -3 | 3 |
| 9 | Doncaster Rovers Belles | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 12 | -10 | 0 |
Chelsea, like Manchester City have 100% records, Arsenal are lagging some way behind following losses to both of them and a draw last time against Birmingham so I would suggest that Chelsea are probably most people’s favourites to win on Saturday.
In the league game against Chelsea, we lost by two goals to nil, Emma Kirby scoring both goals. Chelsea were more physical and generally more dangerous and we just failed to convert our chances. We had the ball in the Chelsea net but the referee had already whistled for a free kick to Arsenal, perhaps he could have waited a little longer to check on any advantage to us. There isn’t a video of the game on Arsenal Player so it is difficult to tell. There were also claims that there was a handball in the buildup to Chelsea’s second goal but again this wasn’t given.
Arsenal Skipper, Alex Scott interviewed on Arsenal Player was adamant that the game being played at Wembley is massive for ladies football in this country and that the team should just remember that they love playing football for Arsenal. They should go out and enjoy themselves without worrying about the size of the crowd or who is watching.
Dan Carter one of our main attackers knows many of the Chelsea players at they were signed from Arsenal. She said that we need to be focussed on our own game. Yes Chelsea have a good front line and an excellent bench but we have learned from the mistakes we made in the league game and if we play to our strengths we are more than capable of winning the game.
Arsenal Team (and Beach)
GK – Sari van Veenendaal with Emma Byrne on the Bench
Right Back – Alex Scott (C)
Centre backs – Emma Mitchell, Casey Stoney, Josephine Henning (one on the bench)
Left Back – Jemma Rose or Marta Corredera
Midfield – Jordan Nobbs, Dominique Janssen, Marta Corredera, with Farah Williams, Vicky Losada and Danielle Van de Donk all vying for starting or bench slots
Forwards – Natalia, Danielle Carter and Asisat Oshoala. Kelly Smith on the bench with Chloe Kelly and Jodie Taylor (if fit)
I’ll be there with family – we are all looking forward to the game. It will be tough but it’s time this trophy came back to Arsenal after all we are 14 times winners.
COYLG
- They maybe didn’t want change… preparing for the Villa game.
- Positivity is contagious and in the end always wins through.
- When it comes to the chances of getting a card for a foul, it certainly doesn’t even out in the end.
Untold Arsenal has published five books on Arsenal – all are available as paperback and three are now available on Kindle. The books are
- The Arsenal Yankee by Danny Karbassiyoon with a foreword by Arsene Wenger.
- Arsenal: the long sleep 1953 – 1970; a view from the terrace. By John Sowman with an introduction by Bob Wilson.
- Woolwich Arsenal: The club that changed football. By Tony Attwood, Andy Kelly and Mark Andrews.
- Making the Arsenal: a novel by Tony Attwood.
- The Crowd at Woolwich Arsenal by Mark Andrews.
You can find details of all five on our new Arsenal Books page
If you’re not at Wembley tomorrow afternoon, the game is being televised BBC1 from 13:30. Not sure about other regions of the world but you will probably be able to find it.
Go on do your stuff and win this one , ladies . Up the Gunners !
Good luck ladies!!!
The women change clubs so often How many teams has Aluko played for? If they were all full time pro they might get a chance to settle into one club for a reasonable period.
Didn’t we lose this last year against Bristol Academy or was that another competition?
Best of luck to the girls.
Arsenal Ladies have always been the best. Many players have been poached by money rich clubs but that does not diminish the quality of Arsenal.
Go on you Arsenal Ladies – you are always the best.
And we have a lineup, courtesy of the Ladies Twit feed:
Starting XI:
Sari van Veenendaal
Alex Scott
Casey Stoney
Josephine Henning
Emma Mitchell
Jordan Nobbs
Fara Williams
Vicky Losada
Dan Carter
Asiat Oshoala
Kelly Smith
On the beach:
Emma Byrne
Leah Williamson
Dominique Janssen
Danielle van de Donk
Natalia
My apologies if I mis-capitalised any names (they were shown ALL-CAPS)
COYLG!
I just looked at the programming (basic) on the satellite, and it appears the Womens FA Cup Final is not on TV in western Canada. Maybe where you live? Here, you have to be a real man (like Top Guns) and watch fishing.
COYLG!
BBC commentators very much Chelsea biased. Chelsea move stopped by offside flag in first 5 mins.
Already a shocking offside decision against Chelsea’s Fran Kirby. She was clear and would have been one on one
High foot not given against Chelsea player
1 0 to the Arsenasl in 17mins Da Carter!!! go on you beauties.
Great goal. This is our new Rachel Yankey
Speed typing is not my forte Chelsea on the attack but an off side stops them after a good save by Arsenals keeper.
42 min & Oshoala one on one with keeper side foots & loses the ball. Golden op for 2 – 0. Apparently PGMO’s Oliver has a relative officiating.
Oshoala! Should have scored. Never mind we’re on topl
Truth be told it probably was a handball against us, and penalty to Chelsea
Move to latest thread Arsenal v Aston Villa.
This (male) commentator obviously wants Chelsea to win
Kelly’s a real pro
Cards coming out. One each
Congrats to our ladies. A great win
Congrats, Arsenal ladies.
Well done the Ladies ! Up the Gunners ! WOO HOO , HOO !