The Women's FA Challenge Cup Competition
is the top annual
cup tournament for
women's clubs
The woman's club movement was a social movement that took place throughout the United States that established the idea that women had a moral duty and responsibility to transform public policy. While women's organizations had always been a par ...
in
English football
Association football is the most popular sport in England, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game. With over 40,000 association f ...
. 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 reasons).
Designed as an equivalent to the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
in men's football, the competition began in
1970–71 as the Mitre Challenge Trophy, organised by the
Women's Football Association
The Women's Football Association (WFA) was the governing body of women's football in England. It was formed in 1969 and was disbanded in 1993, as responsibility for overseeing all aspects of the game of women's football in England passed to Th ...
(WFA).
There were 71 entrants, including teams from Scotland and Wales.
The WFA ran the competition for the first 23 editions, during which time
Southampton Women's won the cup eight times.
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 ...
(FA) began administrating English women's football in mid-1993.
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 ...
holds the record for most titles overall, having won fourteen times. The current cup holders are
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
, who defeated
Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
3–2 in the final at
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
on 15 May 2022, winning them back-to-back FA Cup finals in front of 49,094 fans, a record in the competition.
Name
![Everton LFC women's fa cup 2010](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Everton_LFC_women%27s_fa_cup_2010.JPG)
The competition, founded in 1970, was sponsored as the ''
Mitre
The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in ...
Challenge Trophy'' until April 1976.
As a
Women's Football Association
The Women's Football Association (WFA) was the governing body of women's football in England. It was formed in 1969 and was disbanded in 1993, as responsibility for overseeing all aspects of the game of women's football in England passed to Th ...
competition until 1992–93, it was known as the ''WFA Cup'' or more informally as the ''Women's FA Cup''. After the running of the competition passed to the FA in 1993–94, the Association renamed it as the ''FA Women's Cup'', until 2015. The name was officially reworded as the ''Women's FA Cup'' in June 2015, prior to that year's
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 rules, as in the men's FA Cup, name it the ''Challenge Cup Competition''.
[Title of "Rules: Women's FA Cup rules" (PDF) on ]
History
Previous national cup competitions included the
English Ladies Football Association Challenge Cup in 1922, won by Stoke Ladies.
The first women's Mitre Challenge Trophy matches were played in
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...
,
["And on the following Sunday Novemberthe Lichfield girls visit Leicester City Supporters L.F.C. in the All British Ladies' F.A. Cup." ]
and the first final was held on 9 May 1971 at
Crystal Palace National Sports Centre
The National Sports Centre at Crystal Palace in south London, England is a large sports centre and outdoor athletics stadium. It was opened in 1964 in Crystal Palace Park, close to the site of the former Crystal Palace Exhibition building which ...
.
The WFA was initially named the ''Ladies Football Association of Great Britain'',
and Scottish clubs were successful in reaching the first three finals of this tournament (albeit as runners-up). Two of these clubs were runners-up in England while also winning the
Scottish Women's Cup
The Scottish Women's Cup is the national knockout cup competition for women's football in Scotland. First held in 1970–71, the competition is owned and managed by Scottish Women's Football (SWF), an affiliated body of the Scottish Football As ...
in the same season,
Stewarton Thistle in 1971 and Westthorn United in 1973.
Southampton Women's F.C. won eight of the first 11 WFA Cup competitions.
Doncaster Belles
Doncaster Rovers Belles Ladies Football Club, previously Doncaster Belles, is an English women's football club that currently plays in the , the fourth tier of women's football in England. The club's administration is based at the Eco Power St ...
reached nearly every final between 1982–83 and 1993–94, and won the trophy six times.
Format
The current entry points as of the
2019–20 season:
* the Second Qualifying round for
FA Women's National League
The FA Women's National League, formerly WFA National League and FA Women's Premier League (WPL), is a group of six football divisions run by the English Football Association. Founded in 1991 by the Women's Football Association, the League includ ...
Division One teams (47 teams)
* the Second Round Proper for
FA Women's National League
The FA Women's National League, formerly WFA National League and FA Women's Premier League (WPL), is a group of six football divisions run by the English Football Association. Founded in 1991 by the Women's Football Association, the League includ ...
North & South Premier Division teams (24 teams)
* the Fourth Round Proper for
FA WSL
The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features t ...
and
FA Women's Championship teams (33 teams)
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).
Trophies
The original Mitre Challenge Trophy has "disappeared", according to the WFA History records.
This cup was replaced in May 1979 when the Football Association donated a new trophy for the competition's winners, to mark the WFA's tenth anniversary.
1970–71 cup winner
Sue Lopez
Sue Lopez, (born 1 September 1945) is an English former international footballer. She spent her entire club career with Southampton, except for a season in Italy's Serie A with Roma in 1971. A leading advocate of the women's game in England, Lo ...
said it was suspected that a player "tucked it away somewhere in a trophy cabinet", and she was trying to locate the original cup for the
National Football Museum
The National Football Museum is England's national museum of football. It is based in the Urbis building in Manchester city centre, and preserves, conserves and displays important collections of football memorabilia.
The museum was originally b ...
in 2015.
The current Women's FA Cup trophy was one of the first prestigious trophies to be made in the
Thomas Lyte
Thomas Lyte is an English luxury brand specialising in gold and silverware, sporting trophies and leather accessories.
The company has designed, made or restored many well known trophies and medals, such as the football’s FA Cup, golf’s Ryder ...
silver workshop.
List of finals
The following is a list of Women's FA Cup seasons and Final results.
:''Finalists are primarily clubs from England, unless denoted with for Scotland.''
:''Where a season's Final is marked in bold, it has a specific article for the match.''
Finalists by club
![Arsenal Ladies v Charlton FA Cup 2007](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Arsenal_Ladies_v_Charlton_FA_Cup_2007.jpg)
The Cup winner competed against 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 ...
champions in the annual
FA Women's Community Shield
The Women's FA Community Shield is an association football match in England. It is a national super cup, and the equivalent of the FA Community Shield in male football. It is the first competitive match of the football season. The match is comp ...
match from 2000 until 2008, and against the
FA WSL
The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features t ...
winners since 2020.
Media coverage
In the late 1980s
and early 1990s,
television coverage of the WFA final was provided by
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
.
Between 2001 and 2008, the final of the tournament was covered by
BBC TV
BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 19 ...
, presented by
Celina Hinchcliffe
Celina Alexandra Hinchcliffe (born 21 March 1976 in Windsor, Berkshire) is an English television sports broadcaster. She has worked for BBC, Sky News and ITV.
Early life
Hinchcliffe is the daughter of television producer Philip Hinchcliffe an ...
,
Rebecca Lowe
Rebecca, ; Syriac: , ) from the Hebrew (lit., 'connection'), from Semitic root , 'to tie, couple or join', 'to secure', or 'to snare') () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical ...
, 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
BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcas ...
. In 2009, the final was moved to
ITV1
ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...
with commentary from Jon Champion and Lucy Ward.
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...
secured a three-year deal for live coverage from 2010 until 2012.
Sponsorship
Sponsors of the original WFA competition (1970–1993) included
Mitre
The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in ...
,
[ Pony wines and ]Mycil
Tolnaftate ( INN) is a synthetic thiocarbamate used as an anti-fungal agent that may be sold without medical prescription in most jurisdictions. It is supplied as a cream, powder, spray, liquid, and liquid aerosol. Tolnaftate is used to treat ...
.[
In the FA competition, the sponsors have been UK Living (1995–1998), ]AXA
Axa S.A. (styled as ''AXA'' or GIG in the Middle East) is a French multinational insurance company. The head office is in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. It also provides investment management and other financial services.
The Ax ...
(1998–2002), Nationwide Building Society
Nationwide Building Society is a British mutual financial institution, the seventh largest cooperative financial institution and the largest building society in the world with over 16 million members. Its headquarters are in Swindon, England. ...
(2002–2006) and E.ON (2006–2011). From 2007, Tesco
Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...
obtained additional branding and advertising rights through their partnership agreement with the FA.
Despite sponsorship by these major companies, entering the tournament has actually cost clubs more than they often get in prize money. In 2015 it was reported that even if Notts County
Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...
had won the tournament outright the paltry £8,600 winnings would leave them out of pocket. The winners of the men's FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
in the same year received £1.8 million, with teams not even reaching the first round proper getting more than the women's winners.
In September 2020, the FA announced that health and life insurance and investment company VitalityHealth
VitalityHealth is a United Kingdom-based company specialising in private medical insurance sold to the UK market. The company is a subsidiary of Discovery Limited and alongside VitalityLife and Vitality Corporate Services it forms Discovery Li ...
have signed a deal to become the sponsor of the competition until July 2023.
Notes
See also
* FA Women's National League Cup
*FA Women's League Cup
The FA Women's League Cup is a league cup competition in English women's association football. The competition was originally open to the eight teams in the FA WSL, but since the WSL's restructuring to two divisions, it has featured 23 teams. Pri ...
*List of women's association football clubs
This is a partial list of women's association football club teams from all over the world sorted by the confederation they reside in. Only teams playing at the highest level in each country are shown; for clubs playing at lower divisions, see the ...
References
External links
*
{{National football (soccer) cups
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
Women's football competitions in England
Recurring sporting events established in 1970
1970 establishments in England