Women's National League Cup
Underhill Stadium has hosted five finals
Founded1991 (1991)
Region England
Number of teams72
Current championsNottingham Forest
(1st title)
Most successful club(s)Arsenal
(10 titles)
2023–24

The Women's National League Cup is an annual English football cup competition, founded in 1991 by the Women's Football Association (WFA). It was renamed the FA Women's Premier League Cup from 1994 to 2018.

The first edition of the Cup included clubs from the 1991–92 WFA National League Premier Division and the winners were the second-tier Arsenal, who beat Millwall 1–0 with a goal by Naz Ball. The Football Association assumed the running of the competition in 1994–95.

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.[1] 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.[2] 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.[3]

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.[4]

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 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.[4]

List of seasons and finals

Level 1 and 2 league cup competition:[1]

Season Winner Runner-up Score Venue
1991–92 Arsenal Millwall Lionesses 1–0 Alt Park, Huyton
1992–93 Arsenal Knowsley United 3–0 Wembley, London
1993–94 Arsenal Doncaster Belles 4–0 Abbey Stadium, Cambridge
1994–95 Wimbledon Villa Aztecs 2–0 Butlin Road, Rugby
1995–96 Wembley Doncaster Belles 2–2 (5–3 pen.) Underhill Stadium, Chipping Barnet
1996–97 Millwall Lionesses Everton 2–1 Underhill Stadium, Chipping Barnet
1997–98 Arsenal Croydon 0–0 (4–2 pen.) 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 pen.) 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 pen.) 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 pen.) 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 pen.) 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]
2020–21 Competition cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021–22[10] Southampton Huddersfield Town 3–0 Damson Park, Solihull
2022–23[11] Nottingham Forest Watford 3–2 a.e.t. Pirelli Stadium, Burton upon Trent

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
Croydon/Charlton Athletic
3
3
 2003–04, 2005–06, 2014–15
Fulham
2
1
 2001–02, 2002–03
Wembley/Barnet
2
-
 1995–96, 2010–11
Blackburn Rovers
2
-
 2017–18, 2018–19[7]
Tottenham Hotspur
2
-
 2015–16, 2016–17
Leeds United
1
3
 2009–2010
Everton
1
2
 2007–08
Millwall Lionesses
1
1
 1996–97
Villa Aztecs/Aston Villa
1
1
 2012–13
Sheffield
1
1
 2013–14
Wimbledon
1
-
 1994–95
Sunderland
1
-
 2011–12
Southampton
1
-
 2021–22
Nottingham Forest
1
-
 2022–23
Doncaster Belles/
Doncaster Rovers Belles
-
3
Cardiff City
-
2
Knowsley United
-
1
Birmingham City
-
1
Tranmere Rovers
-
1
Leicester City
-
1
Crawley Wasps
-
1
Huddersfield Town
-
1
Watford
-
1

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "England – List of Women League Cup Winners". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  2. ↑ "FA women's football leagues and competitions".
  3. ↑ "Premier League Cup and Plate Preliminary rounds". shekicks.net. 1 September 2014. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  4. 1 2 Garry, Tom. "Vic Akers: The legendary Arsenal Ladies manager who won 10 Women's FA Cups". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  5. ↑ Carla Ward hits treble as Sheffield FC win FA Women's Premier League Cup
  6. ↑ Charlton Athletic win FA Women's Premier League Cup
  7. 1 2 Rovers Ladies win League Cup! 2018
  8. ↑ "Apr 28, Crawley Wasps Ladies 0 Blackburn Rovers Ladies 3 | the FA Women's National League".
  9. ↑ "Women's season comes to premature end". Stoke City F.C. 27 March 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  10. ↑ "Saints secure league and cup double". Southampton F.C. 24 April 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  11. ↑ "Nottingham Forest: Reds focused on title hopes after Women's National League Cup win". BBC Sport. 27 April 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
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