FA Women's National League Cup

The FA Women's National League Cup is an annual English football cup competition, founded in 1991 by the WFA and named the Women's Premier League Cup from 1993 to 2018.

FA Women's National League Cup
Underhill Stadium has hosted five finals
Founded1991
Region England
Number of teams72
Current championsBlackburn Rovers
Most successful club(s)Arsenal
(10 times)
2020–21

The first edition of the Cup included clubs from the 1991–92 WFA National League Premier Division and the first winners were Arsenal, who beat Millwall 1–0 with a goal by Naz Ball. The Football Association assumed the running of the competition in 1994.

Clubs from league levels 1 and 2 competed in the Women's Premier League Cup tournament annually until 2009–10, with Arsenal the most frequent winners, in ten seasons. From 2011 onwards, the top-league teams played in the FA WSL's League Cup instead. Since 2011, the most successful clubs in the Premier/National League Cup have been Tottenham and Blackburn with two final victories each.

The current Women's National League Cup is open to the 72 teams in the FA Women's National League – Northern and Southern divisions, plus the four regional Division One leagues.[1] It is the women's football equivalent to the men's EFL Trophy of third and fourth tier teams, although the competitions are organised by different governing bodies.

Format

The competitions format has changed having previously also included a preceding group stage prior to the knockout rounds.

After the league restructuring of the Women's Premier League in 2015 up to 72 teams are eligible to participate. At first all teams are drawn against each other in the determining round. The winning teams then are drawn into either a preliminary round or directly into the first round of the cup. Thus 32 teams then play the first round.[2]

The losers of the determining round play a preliminary round and then a round of 32 onwards for the FA Women's National League Plate, first played out in 2015–16.

1993 Wembley final
The old Wembley Stadium

The 1992–93 competition ended with a final at Wembley Stadium. Before a sparse crowd, Arsenal beat Knowsley United 3–0 to retain the trophy.[3]

This was one of very few competitive women's club games known to have been held at the old Wembley Stadium; it also remains the only women's League Cup or National League Cup final to be played at Wembley.

The match was held prior to the 1993 Football League Third Division play-off Final. Arsenal manager Vic Akers recalled that the women's teams were not given use of the main dressing rooms.[3]

List of seasons and finals

Level 1 and 2 league cup competition (named Women's Premier League Cup from 1993):[4]

Season Winner Runner-up Score Venue
1991–92 Arsenal Millwall Lionesses 1–0 Alt Park, Knowsley
1992–93 Arsenal Knowsley 3–0 Wembley, London
1993–94 Arsenal Doncaster Rovers Belles 4–0 Abbey Stadium, Cambridge
1994–95 Wimbledon Villa Aztecs 2–0 Butlin Road, Rugby
1995–96 Wembley Doncaster Rovers Belles 2–2 (5–3 pens) Underhill Stadium, Chipping Barnet
1996–97 Millwall Lionesses Everton 2–1 Underhill Stadium, Chipping Barnet
1997–98 Arsenal Croydon 0–0 (4–2 pens) Underhill Stadium, Chipping Barnet
1998–99 Arsenal Everton 3–1 Prenton Park, Birkenhead
1999–2000 Arsenal Croydon 4–1 Underhill Stadium, Chipping Barnet
2000–01 Arsenal Tranmere Rovers 3–0 Deva Stadium, Chester
2001–02 Fulham Birmingham City 7–1 Adams Park, Wycombe
2002–03 Fulham Arsenal 1–1 a.e.t. (3–2 pens) County Ground, Swindon
2003–04 Charlton Athletic Fulham 1–0 Underhill Stadium, Chipping Barnet
2004–05 Arsenal Charlton Athletic 3–0 Griffin Park, Brentford
2005–06 Charlton Athletic Arsenal 2–1 Adams Park, Wycombe
2006–07 Arsenal Leeds United 1–0 Glanford Park, Scunthorpe
2007–08 Everton Arsenal 1–0 Brisbane Road, Leyton
2008–09 Arsenal Doncaster Rovers Belles 5–0 Glanford Park, Scunthorpe
2009–10 Leeds Carnegie Everton 3–1 Spotland, Rochdale

Level 2 and 3 cup competition:

Season Winner Runner-up Score Venue
2010–11 Barnet Nottingham Forest 0–0 a.e.t. (4–3 pens) Adams Park, Wycombe
2011–12 Sunderland Leeds United 2–1 Sixfields Stadium, Northampton
2012–13 Aston Villa Leeds United 0–0 a.e.t. (5–4 pens) Bootham Crescent, York

Level 3 and 4 cup competition (Women's Premier League Cup, renamed National League Cup in 2018–19):

Season Winner Runner-up Score Venue
2013–14[5] Sheffield Cardiff City 6–2 Pirelli Stadium, Burton upon Trent
2014–15[6] Charlton Athletic Sheffield 0–0 a.e.t. (4–2 pen.) Liberty Way, Nuneaton
2015–16 Tottenham Hotspur Cardiff City 2–1 a.e.t. Aggborough, Kidderminster
2016–17 Tottenham Hotspur Charlton Athletic 0–0 a.e.t. (4–3 pens) Lamex Stadium, Stevenage
2017–18[7] Blackburn Rovers Leicester City 3–1 Proact Stadium, Chesterfield
2018–19[8] Blackburn Rovers Crawley Wasps 3–0 Pirelli Stadium, Burton upon Trent
2019–20 Stoke City–Sunderland cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic[9]

Performance by club
Club Winners Runners-up Winning Years
Arsenal
10
3
 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2008–09
Charlton Athletic
3
2
 2003–04, 2005–06, 2014–15
Fulham
2
1
 2001–02, 2002–03
Barnet
2
-
 1995–96, 2010–11
Blackburn Rovers
2
-
 2017–18, 2018–19[10]
Tottenham Hotspur
2
-
 2015–16, 2016–17
Leeds United
1
3
 2009–2010
Everton
1
2
 2007–08
Millwall Lionesses
1
1
 1996–97
Aston Villa
1
1
 2012–13
Sheffield
1
1
 2013–14
AFC Wimbledon Ladies
1
-
 1994–95
Sunderland
1
-
 2011–12
Doncaster Rovers Belles
-
3
Cardiff City
-
2
Birmingham City
-
1
Liverpool
-
1
Tranmere Rovers
-
1

See also

References
  1. "FA women's football leagues and competitions".
  2. "Premier League Cup and Plate Preliminary rounds". shekicks.net. 1 September 2014. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  3. Garry, Tom. "Vic Akers: The legendary Arsenal Ladies manager who won 10 Women's FA Cups". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  4. "England – List of Women League Cup Winners". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  5. http://www.thefa.com/news/fawsl/2014/may/fa-womens-premier-league-cup-final-cardiff-sheffield-burton
  6. http://www.thefa.com/news/fawsl/2015/may/the-final-charlton-athletic-sheffield-fc-nuneaton-town-report
  7. https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2018/april/rovers-ladies-win-league-cup/
  8. http://fulltime-league.thefa.com/DisplayFixture.do?id=19347837
  9. "Women's season comes to premature end". Stoke City F.C. 27 March 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  10. https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2018/april/rovers-ladies-win-league-cup/
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