The Football Association Women’s Challenge Cup Competition, commonly referred to as the FA Women's Cup, is the top cup competition for women's football clubs in England – designed as an exact equivalent to the FA Cup created 99 years earlier.
The competition began in 1970–71 as the Mitre Challenge Trophy, organised by the Women's Football Association (WFA). There were 71 entrants, including teams from Scotland and Wales.
Since the Football Association (FA) took over direct control of English women's football in 1993, the semi–professional teams affiliated with male FA Premier League and Football League counterparts have dominated the re–branded competition. Arsenal won in 2004, beating Charlton Athletic 3–0 in the final on 3 May. On 2 May 2005, Charlton made amends for the disappointment of the two previous years, by beating Everton 1–0. Arsenal regained the trophy on 1 May 2006, beating Leeds United 5–0. Wins in 2007, 2008 and 2009 gave Arsenal a record ten titles.
The FA Women's Cup often shared sponsorship with its men's equivalent (for 2006 to 2011, E.ON). The current cup holders are Birmingham City. They beat Chelsea 3–2 in a penalty shootout after a 2–2 draw in the final at Ashton Gate on 26 May 2012.
Read more about FA Women's Cup: Format, List of Finals, Media Coverage, Sponsorship
Famous quotes containing the words women and/or cup:
“... if, as women, we accept a philosophy of history that asserts that women are by definition assimilated into the male universal, that we can understand our past through a male lens—if we are unaware that women even have a history—we live our lives similarly unanchored, drifting in response to a veering wind of myth and bias.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)
“The morning cup of coffee has an exhiliration about it which the cheering influence of the afternoon or evening cup of tea cannot be expected to reproduce.”
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–1894)