The 2009 FA Women's Premier League Cup final was the 18th final of the

FA Women's Premier League Cup The FA Women's National League Cup is an annual England, English women's association football, football cup competition, founded in 1991 by the Women's Football Association, Women's Football Association (WFA). The 1991–92 WFA Women's National L ...

, England's main women's league cup competition before it was replaced by the

FA WSL Cup The Women's League Cup, also known as the Subway Women's League Cup due to sponsorship reasons, 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 t ...

in 2011.

Arsenal Ladies Arsenal Women Football Club, commonly referred to as just Arsenal, is an English professional women's association football, women's football club based in London Borough of Islington, Islington, London, England. The club plays in the FA Women' ...

defeated

Doncaster Rovers Belles Doncaster Rovers Belles Ladies Football Club, previously Doncaster Belles, is an England, English women's association football, women's football club that currently plays in the , the fourth tier of women's football in England. The club's admi ...

5–0 at

Glanford Park Glanford Park, currently known as The Attis Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a association football, football stadium in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England, and is the home of team Scunthorpe United F.C., Scunthorpe United. Opened in 1988 at ...

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town in Lincolnshire, England, and the county's third most populous settlement after Lincoln, England, Lincoln and Grimsby, with a population of 81,286 in 2021. It is the administrative centre and largest settleme ...

Match

Team news

Belles manager John Buckley, already without his injured Canadian top-goalscorer Liz Hansen, regretted the scheduling of the match which ruled key midfielder Precious Hamilton out with suspension. It also meant that Arsenal's Alex Scott and

Kelly Smith Kelly Jayne Smith (born 29 October 1978) is an English former football forward who spent three spells with FA WSL club Arsenal. After moving to the United States, Smith broke records with Seton Hall University then played professionally with ...

were still available, having not yet joined

Boston Breakers The Boston Breakers were an American professional women's soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defu ...

Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 ...

Vic Akers Victor David Akers, OBE (born 24 August 1946) is an English football manager and former player who was most recently the assistant manager at Boreham Wood. As manager of Arsenal Ladies he became the club's most successful manager of all time w ...

– in his final season as Arsenal manager – could call on Scott and Smith for a final time, but Karen Carney had already taken up her

transfer Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies * ...

Chicago Red Stars Chicago Stars Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in the Chicago metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league as the Chic ...

. He was also without

Faye White Faye Deborah White, (born 2 February 1978) is an English former footballer who captained Arsenal Women in the FA Women's Super League and is the longest-serving female captain of England to date. Her Lionesses career spanned 15 years and fi ...

and Yvonne Tracy (long-term knee injuries),

Julie Fleeting Julie Stewart Order of the British Empire, MBE (; born 18 December 1980) is a Scottish former association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), forward. She spent nine years at English club Arsenal L.F.C., Arsenal ...

(pregnant), and recent signing

Helen Lander Helen Jane Ward (née Lander; born 26 April 1986) is a former international football striker who last played club football for Watford. Ward previously spent three seasons with Chelsea Ladies, whom she joined from Arsenal in 2010. Born in the ...

, who was cup-tied having played for

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

in an earlier round. New signing from Hibernian Suzanne Grant was named as a substitute.

Emma Byrne Emma Anne Byrne (born 14 June 1979) is an Irish former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. She played for the Republic of Ireland on a record 134 occasions and served as captain of the team. She spent almost 17 years with Arsenal before joini ...

remained in goal having rejected her own transfer offer from Boston Breakers. Akers named a 4–2–1–3 formation with

Gemma Davison Gemma Suzanne Davison (born 17 April 1987) is an English footballer who plays as a forward. She has previously played for Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur and Reading whom she joined from Chelsea in 2018. After joining Arsenal at youth team level ...

coming in for Carney on the right

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

to start her first Cup final for Arsenal.

Rachel Yankey Rachel Aba Yankey (born 1 November 1979) is a former English footballer who played as a winger or forward. Yankey is best known for her long association with Arsenal Ladies, for whom she played 15 seasons over two separate spells, and is rank ...

was on the other flank, with youngster

Kim Little Kim Alison Little (born 29 June 1990) is a Scottish professional association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for and captains Arsenal W.F.C., Arsenal of the English Women's Super League. Before her retirement from international ...

playing behind Smith in attack. Strong midfielders

Jayne Ludlow Jayne Louise Ludlow (born 7 January 1979) is a Welsh football coach and former player. A midfielder, Ludlow played at Arsenal for 13 years, whom she also captained and was the club's all-time top goalscorer when she retired. She represented t ...

and

Katie Chapman Katie Sarah Chapman (born 15 June 1982) is an English former professional association football, footballer who notably played for FA WSL clubs Arsenal W.F.C., Arsenal Ladies and Chelsea L.F.C., Chelsea Ladies and was a member of the England wome ...

played in front of a back four in which the experience of

Laura Bassett Laura Bassett (born 2 August 1983) is an English former football defender who represented England internationally. She played for FA WSL club Notts County, Birmingham City (two separate spells), Arsenal, Leeds Carnegie, Chelsea, and Australia ...

was preferred to the youthful talents of Gilly Flaherty. John Buckley aimed for containment, naming a 4–1–4–1 setup with Amy Turner sweeping in front of the back four and Rachel Williams leading the line as a makeshift centre-forward.

Summary

References

Prem February 2009 sports events in the United Kingdom FA Women's National League Cup League cup final, 2009 Doncaster Rovers Belles L.F.C. matches Sport in Scunthorpe Football in Lincolnshire 2000s in Lincolnshire {{England-footy-competition-stub