The 2009–10 FA Women's Cup was an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

tournament for women's teams, held between 13 September 2009 and 3 May 2010. It was the 39th season of the

FA Women's Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup Competition is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup and now Women's FA Cup (Vitality Women's FA Cup for sponsorship reas ...

and was won by Everton, who defeated

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. The tournament consisted of a preliminary round, four qualifying rounds and eight rounds of competition proper. The competition began on 13 September 2009 when the 24 lowest-ranked teams in the tournament took part in the preliminary round, however only eleven games were played due to the withdrawal of Stokesley, allowing Forest Hall YPC to progress to first qualifying round. :''All match results and dates from the Football Association website.''

Teams

A total of 245 teams had their entries to the tournament accepted by

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

. Twenty-four teams entered at the preliminary round stage, while a further 140 joined entered at first round qualifying. Teams that played in the four regional Combination leagues (

South West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

South East The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

, Midland and

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

) were given an exemption to the first round proper, while teams in the

FA Women's Premier League Northern Division The FA Women's National League Northern Premier Division is a league at the third-level in the women's football league pyramid in England, along with the Southern division. These two divisions are part of the FA Women's National League and bel ...

and

FA Women's Premier League Southern Division The FA Women's National League Southern Premier Division is a league in the third level in the women's football pyramid in England, along with the FA Women's National League North, Northern division. These two divisions are part of the FA Women ...

entered at the third round stage. Teams in the

FA Women's Premier League National Division The FA Women's Premier League National Division (originally WFA National League Premier Division) was a football division in England. From 1991 until 2010, the National Division functioned as the top league in English women's football. Durin ...

, which at the time was the top flight of women's football in England, were given byes to the fourth round.

Preliminary round

All games were played on 13 September 2009.

First round qualifying

All games were played on 27 September 2009.

Second round qualifying

All games were played on 11 October 2009.

Third round qualifying

All games were played on 25 October 2009, with the exception of the Harraby Catholic Club v Hull City tie, which was played on 8 November in Hull after twice having been postponed.

First round

All games were originally scheduled for 8 November 2009. The tie between Cullompton Rangers and Forest Green Rovers was postponed four times, before Cullompton withdrew from the competition, allowing Forest Green to progress to the next round.

Second round

All games were originally scheduled for 29 November 2009.

Third round

All games were originally scheduled for 13 December 2009.

Fourth round

All games were originally scheduled for 10 January 2010.

Fifth round

All games were played on 7 or 14 February 2010.

Sixth round

The games at Arsenal and Everton were played on their original scheduled date of 14 February. The ties at Aston Villa and barnet, were scheduled to be played a week later, but snow and waterlogged pitch meant they were not played until 7 March.

Semi finals

The game at Everton was played on 14 March, while Barnet's tie at Everton took place on 4 April.

Final

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2009-10 FA Women's Cup Women's FA Cup seasons 2009–10 in English women's football