Women's FA Cup

Everton players with the FA Women's Cup trophy in 2010

The competition, founded in 1970, was sponsored as the Mitre Challenge Trophy until April 1976.[9]

As a Women's Football Association 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,[10][11] until 2015.[12][13] The name was officially reworded as the Women's FA Cup in June 2015,[14] prior to that year's final.[15][16] The tournament rules, as in the men's FA Cup, name it the Challenge Cup Competition.[1]

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 final was held on 9 May 1971 at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre.[9] The WFA was initially named the Ladies Football Association of Great Britain,[9] and Scottish clubs were successful in reaching the first three finals of this tournament. Two of these clubs were runners-up in England while also winning the Scottish Women's Cup 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 reached nearly every final between 1982–83 and 1993–94, and won the trophy six times.

The current entry points as of the 2019–20 season:

• the Second Qualifying round for FA Women's National League Division One teams (47 teams)
• the Second Round Proper for FA Women's National League North & South Premier Division teams (24 teams)
• the Fourth Round Proper for FA WSL 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).

The original Mitre Challenge Trophy has "disappeared", according to the WFA History records.[9] 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.[9]

1970–71 cup winner Sue Lopez 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 in 2015.[17]

The current Women's FA Cup trophy was one of the first prestigious trophies to be made in the Thomas Lyte silver workshop.[18]

The following is a list of Women's FA Cup seasons and Final results.[19]

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.

Season	Winners	Score	Runners-up	Scorers	Venue
1970–71	Southampton	4–1	Stewarton Thistle	Southampton: Davies (3), Cassell	Crystal Palace National Sports Centre
1971–72	Southampton	3–2	Lee's Ladies	Southampton: Judd (2), Lopez	Eton Park, Burton upon Trent Attendance: 1,500
1972–73	Southampton	2–0	Westthorn United	Kenway, Hale	Bedford Town FC Attendance: 3,000
1973–74	Fodens	2–1	Southampton		Bedford Town FC
1974–75	Southampton	4–2	Warminster		Dunstable Town FC
1975–76	Southampton	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Queen's Park Rangers	QPR: McGroarty[20]	Bedford Town FC Attendance: 1,500
1976–77	Queen's Park Rangers	1–0	Southampton	Staley	Champion Hill, East Dulwich Attendance: 3,000
1977–78	Southampton	8–2	Queen's Park Rangers	Southampton: Chapman (6)[20]	Wexham Park Stadium, Slough
1978–79	Southampton	1–0	Lowestoft	Chapman	Waterlooville FC Attendance: 1,200
1979–80	St Helens	1–0	Preston North End	Holland	Enfield Town FC
1980–81	Southampton	4–2	St Helens	Southampton: Chapman (2), England, Carter St Helens: Leatherbarrow, Turner	Knowsley Road, St Helens Attendance: 1,500
1981–82	Lowestoft	2–0	Cleveland Spartans	Curl, Poppy	Loftus Road
1982–83	Doncaster Belles	3–2	St Helens	St Helens: Leatherbarrow, Deighan	Sincil Bank, Lincoln
1983–84	Howbury Grange	4–2	Doncaster Belles		Sincil Bank, Lincoln
1984–85	Friends of Fulham	2–0	Doncaster Belles		Craven Cottage, Fulham
1985–86	Norwich	4–3	Doncaster Belles	Norwich: Curl, Colk, Jackson, Lawrence[21]	Carrow Road, Norwich[21]
1986–87	Doncaster Belles	2–0	St Helens		City Ground, Nottingham
1987–88	Doncaster Belles	3–1	Leasowe Pacific		Gresty Road, Crewe
1988–89	Leasowe Pacific	3–2	Friends of Fulham	Leasowe: Murray, Thomas, McQuiggan Fulham: Powell (2)	Old Trafford Attendance: 941
1989–90	Doncaster Belles	1–0	Friends of Fulham	Coultard 61'	Baseball Ground Attendance: 3,000
1990–91	Millwall Lionesses	1–0	Doncaster Belles	Baldeo 65'	Prenton Park Attendance:4,000
1991–92	Doncaster Belles	4–0	Red Star Southampton		Prenton Park
1992–93	Arsenal	3–0	Doncaster Belles	Curley 45', Ball 45', Bampton 80'	Manor Ground, Oxford Attendance: 3,547
1993–94 (Final)	Doncaster Belles	1–0	Knowsley United	Walker 38'	Glanford Park Attendance: 1,674
1994–95	Arsenal	3–2	Liverpool		Prenton Park
1995–96	Croydon	1–1 (a.e.t.) (3–2 pen.)	Liverpool	Liverpool: Burke 22' Croydon: Powell 38'	The New Den Attendance: 2,110
1996–97 (Final)	Millwall Lionesses	1–0	Wembley	Waller 51'	Upton Park Attendance: 3,015
1997–98	Arsenal	3–2	Croydon	Arsenal: Spacey 17', Yankey 52', Few 90+3' Croydon: Broadhurst (pen.) 10', Powell 55'	The New Den
1998–99	Arsenal	2–0	Southampton Saints	Hayes (o.g.) 14', Wheatley 41'	The Valley Attendance: 6,450
1999–2000 (Final)	Croydon	2–1	Doncaster Belles	Croydon: C.Walker 40', Hunt 67' Doncaster: Exley 40'	Bramall Lane Attendance: 3,434
2000–01	Arsenal	1–0	Fulham	Banks 52'	Selhurst Park Attendance: 13,824
2001–02 (Final)	Fulham	2–1	Doncaster Belles	Fulham: Yankey 55', Chapman 56' Doncaster: Handley 58'	Selhurst Park Attendance: 10,124
2002–03	Fulham	3–0	Charlton Athletic	Moore 18', Hills (o.g.) 36', Williams (o.g.) 61'	Selhurst Park Attendance: 10,389
2003–04 (Final)	Arsenal	3–0	Charlton Athletic	Fleeting 23', 25', 83'	Loftus Road Attendance: 12,244
2004–05 (Final)	Charlton Athletic	1–0	Everton	Aluko 58'	Upton Park Attendance: 8,567
2005–06 (Final)	Arsenal	5–0	Leeds United	Ward (o.g.) 3', Fleeting 34', Yankey 35', Smith (pen.) 73', Sanderson 77'	The New Den Attendance: 13,452
2006–07 (Final)	Arsenal	4–1	Charlton Athletic	Charlton: Holtham 2' Arsenal: Smith 7', 80', Ludlow 15', 45'	City Ground Attendance: 24,529
2007–08 (Final)	Arsenal	4–1	Leeds United	Arsenal: Smith 54', 83', Ludlow 59', Sanderson 60' Leeds: Clarke 69'	City Ground Attendance: 24,582
2008–09 (Final)	Arsenal	2–1	Sunderland	Arsenal: Chapman 32', Little 90' Sunderland: McDougall 90'	Pride Park Stadium Attendance: 23,291
2009–10 (Final)	Everton	3–2 (a.e.t.)	Arsenal	Arsenal: Little (pen.) 43', Fleeting 54' Everton: Dowie 16', 119', White (o.g.) 45+2'	City Ground Attendance: 17,505[22]
2010–11 (Final)	Arsenal	2–0	Bristol Academy	Little 19', Fleeting 32'	Ricoh Arena Attendance: 13,885[23]
2011–12 (Final)	Birmingham City	2–2 (a.e.t.) (3–2 pen.)	Chelsea	Birmingham City: Williams 90', Carney 111' Chelsea: Lander 69', Longhurst 101'	Ashton Gate Attendance: 8,723
2012–13 (Final)	Arsenal	3–0	Bristol Academy	Houghton 2', Nobbs 72', White 90'	Keepmoat Stadium Attendance: 4,988
2013–14 (Final)	Arsenal	2–0	Everton	Smith 15', Kinga 61'	Stadium MK Attendance: 15,098
2014–15 (Final)	Chelsea	1–0	Notts County	Ji So-yun 39'	Wembley Stadium Attendance: 30,710
2015–16 (Final)	Arsenal	1–0	Chelsea	Carter 18'	Wembley Stadium Attendance: 32,912
2016–17 (Final)	Manchester City	4–1	Birmingham City	Man City: Bronze 18', Christiansen 25', Lloyd 32', Scott 80' Birmingham City: Wellings 73'	Wembley Stadium Attendance: 35,271
2017–18 (Final)	Chelsea	3–1	Arsenal	Chelsea: Bachmann 48', 60', Kirby 76' Arsenal: Miedema 73'	Wembley Stadium Attendance: 45,423
2018–19 (Final)	Manchester City	3–0	West Ham United	Walsh 52', Stanway 81', Hemp 88'	Wembley Stadium Attendance: 43,264
2019–20 (Final)	Manchester City	3–1 (a.e.t.)	Everton	Everton: Gauvin 60' Manchester City: Mewis 40', Stanway 111', Beckie 120+2'	Wembley Stadium Behind closed doors (COVID-19 pandemic)

Club	Winners	Runners- up	Winning seasons	Runner-up seasons
Arsenal	14	2	1992–93, 1994–95, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2015–16	2009–10, 2017–18
Southampton Women's	8	2	1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1980–81	1973–74, 1976–77
Doncaster Belles	6	7	1982–83, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1993–94	1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1990–91, 1992–93, 1999–2000, 2001–02
Croydon/Charlton Athletic	3	4	1995–96, 1999–2000, 2004–05	1997–98, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2006–07
Manchester City	3	0	2016–17, 2018–19, 2019–20	—
Leasowe Pacific/Everton	2	4	1988–89, 2009–10	1987–88, 2004–05, 2013–14, 2019–20
Chelsea	2	2	2014–15, 2017–18	2011–12, 2015–16
Fulham	2	1	2001–02, 2002–03	2000–01
Millwall Lionesses	2	0	1990–91, 1996–97	—
St Helens	1	3	1979–80	1980–81, 1982–83, 1986–87
Queen's Park Rangers	1	2	1976–77	1975–76, 1977–78
Friends of Fulham	1	2	1984–85	1988–89, 1989–90
Lowestoft	1	1	1981–82	1978–79
Fodens	1	0	1973–74	—
Howbury Grange	1	0	1983–84	—
Norwich	1	0	1985–86	—
Birmingham City	1	1	2011–12	2016–17
Knowsley United/Liverpool	0	3	—	1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96
Stewarton & Thistle/ Lee's Ladies[9]	0	2	—	1970–71, 1971–72
Red Star Southampton/ Southampton Saints	0	2	—	1991–92, 1998–99
Leeds United	0	2	—	2005–06, 2007–08
Bristol Academy	0	2	—	2010–11, 2012–13
Westthorn United	0	1	—	1972–73
Warminster	0	1	—	1974–75
Preston North End	0	1	—	1979–80
Cleveland Spartans	0	1	—	1981–82
Wembley	0	1	—	1996–97
Sunderland	0	1	—	2008–09
Notts County	0	1	—	2014–15
West Ham United	0	1	—	2018–19

Arsenal and Charlton contest the 2007 FA Women's Cup Final at the City Ground

The Cup winner competed against the FA Women's Premier League National Division champions in the annual FA Women's Community Shield match from 2000 until 2008, and against the FA WSL winners since 2020.

In the late 1980s[24] and early 1990s[25] television coverage of the WFA final was provided by Channel 4.

Between 2001 and 2008 the final of the tournament was covered by BBC TV, presented by Celina Hinchcliffe, Rebecca Lowe, 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. In 2009 the final was moved to ITV1 with commentary from Jon Champion and Lucy Ward. Sky Sports secured a three-year deal for live coverage from 2010 until 2012.[26]

Sponsors of the original WFA competition (1970–1993) included Mitre,[5] Pony wines and Mycil.[25]

In the FA competition, the sponsors have been UK Living (1995–1998), AXA (1998–2002), Nationwide Building Society (2002–2006) and E.ON[27][28] (2006–2011). From 2007, Tesco obtained additional branding and advertising rights through their partnership agreement with the FA.[29]

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 had won the tournament outright the paltry £8,600 winnings would leave them out of pocket.[30] The winners of the men's FA Cup in the same year received £1.8 million, with teams not even reaching the first round proper getting more than the women's winners.[31] In September 2020, the FA announced that health and life insurance and investment company VitalityHealth have signed a deal to become the sponsor of the competition until July 2023.[32]

• FA Women's National League Cup
• FA Women's League Cup
• List of women's association football clubs

• Official website