The 2015–16 Women's FA Cup (also known as the SSE Women's FA Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 46th staging of the FA Women's Cup, a knockout cup competition for women's football teams in England. Chelsea were the defending champions, having beaten Notts County 1–0 in the previous final. Arsenal were crowned champions, beating Chelsea 1–0.
Format The level of league football played by each team determined the stage of the competition in which they were inserted.
There were 262 entries this year and four qualifying round were played.
Entry points: WSL 1 teams: Fifth round WSL 2 teams: Third round Premier League national: Second round Premier League Regional: Third round qualifying
1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q 1R 2R 3R 4R 5R QF SF FinalNew entries 142 33 44 — — 24 10 — 9 — — —Winners of previous round — 71 52 48 24 12 18 14 7 8 4 2Matches 71 52 48 24 12 18 14 7 8 4 2 1
First round qualifying
Tie Home team (tier) Score Away team (tier) 1 Cleveland (7) 0–7 Redcar Town (6) 2 York City (5) 7–0 Cramlington United (7) 3 Birtley Town (6) 0–2 Lowick United (6) 4 Whitley Bay (5) 9–0 Rutherford (7) 5 Ashington Woodhorn Lane (7) 2–3 Seaton (7) 6 Sheffield United Community (5) 4–2 Harrogate Railway (6) 437 Wakefield (5) 0–3 Brighouse Athletic (7) 8 Oughtibridge War Memorial (6) 2–1 Farsley Celtic (6) 1309 Brighouse Town (5) 4–1 Ossett Albion (6) 2410 Winterton Rangers (6) 2–0 Wetherby Athletic (5) 3711 Penrith (6) 3–0 Middleton Athletic (6) 12 City of Manchester (5) 0–1 Blackburn Community Sports Club (5) 13 Urmston Meadowside(6) 0–3 Accrington (5) 14 Curzon Ashton (5) 1–2 Chorltonians (7) 5515 Woolton (6) 6–0 Blackpool (5) 16 Bolton Wanderers (5) 2–1 Crewe Alexandra (5) 17 Wigan Athletic (5) 7–0 Chester City 18 Carlisle United (6) 1–3 Burnley (5) 4819 CMB (6) 5–1 Merseyrail Bootle (6) 20 Workington Reds (6) 1–2 Mersey (6) 4021 Arnold Town (5) 2–1 Dronfield Town (7) 32 22 Rise Park (5) Mansfield Hosiery Mills (6) 23 Ruddington Village (6) 6–2 Sleaford Town (6) 24 Teversal (6) 1–2 AFC Leicester (6) 25 Nettleham (5) 6–0 Desford (7) 26 Oadby & Wigston (7) 1–7 Long Eaton United (5) 27 Coleshill Town (7) 3–1 Bradwell Belles (7) 6228 Bilbrook (6) 3–1 Rubery (6) 29 Stone Dominoes (6) 5–1 Malvern Town (6) 30 Leek CSOB (7) 1–6 Stourbridge (7) 7531 Knowle (5) 0–3 The New Saints (5) 60 32 Crusaders (5) 3–4 Burton Albion (6) 33 Coundon Court (6) 1–4 Shrewsbury Town (6) 8034 Lye Town (5) 4–2 Leek Town (7) 50 35 Kettering Town (5) 5–0 Rothwell Corinthians (6) 36 Great Shelford (5) 6–1 March Town United (8) 82
Tie Home team (tier) Score Away team (tier) 37 Huntingdon Town (7) 0–9 Acle United (5) 38 Northampton Town (7) 2–1 Milton (8) 2039 Riverside (6) 4–0 Fulbourn Institute Bluebirds (7) 40 Moulton (6) 3–2 Netherton United (7) 41 Wymondham Town (7) 6–2 Roade (7) 42 Brentwood Town (5) 0–4 Great Wakering Rovers (5) 43 West Billericay (6) 2–8 Sudbury (5) 44 Brandon Town (7) 2–5 Bury Town (6) 83 45 Haringey Borough (5) 6–0 Leverstock Green (5) 46 Garston (7) 1–2 Colney Heath (6) 47 Sherrardswood (7) 0–6 Royston Town (6) 100 48 Dunstable (5) 1–3 Leyton Orient (5) 49 Hoddesdon Owls (6) 3–5 Stevenage (5) 6050 Hampton & Richmond Borough (7) 11–5 Bracknell Town (5) 51 Marlow (5) 6–2 Ascot United (6) 52 Woodley United (5) 2–0 Brentford (6) 25 53 Wargrave Ladies (7) 3–1 Headington (7) 54 Oxford City (5) H–W Barton United (7) 55 Wealdstone (7) 3–2 Banbury United (5) 56 Rottingdean Village (7) 1–8 Crawley Wasps (5) 57 Carshalton Athletic (5) 15–0 Barming (7) 5758 Cowfold (7) 1–3 Bexhill United (5) 59 Aylesford (5) 1–3 Eastbourne (5) 4060 Margate (8) 2–6 Long Lane (6) 9161 London Corinthians (5) 3–0 Parkwood Rangers (6) 62 Abbey Rangers (7) 10–1 Worthing Town (7) 63 Herne Bay (7) 2–0 Burgess Hill Town (6) 6364 Ashford (6) 2–1 Hassocks (6) 65 AFC Wimbledon (5) 9–0 Regents Park Rangers (6) 2566 Southampton (6) 7–2 Winchester City Flyers (6) 67 Royal Wootton Bassett Town (7) 1–5 Downend Flyers (5) 20 68 Torquay United (5) 0–2 Brislington (5) 69 Cheltenham Civil Service (6) 1–3 Basingstoke Town (5) 70 Ilminster Town (6) 1–7 Bristol Union (5) 71 Wimborne Town (7) 8–0 Pen Mill (7)
Notes
Second round qualifying
Tie Home team (tier) Score Away team (tier) 1 New Forest (6) 0–12 Poole Town (6) 2 Hartlepool United (7) 2–1 Redcar Town (6) 3 Whitley Bay (5) 4–3 York City (5) 4 Boldon (5) 5–0 Prudhoe Town (6) 5 Lowick United (6) 4–0 RACA Tynedale (5) 6 Winterton Rangers (6) 3–1 Bradford Park Avenue (7) 7 Sheffield United Community (5) 0–1 Handsworth (6) 8 Oughtibridge War Memorial (6) 4–1 Sheffield Wednesday (6) 9 Brighouse Town (5) 4–0 Brighouse Athletic (7) 10 North Ferriby United (7) 0–9 Westella & Willerby (6) 11 Woolton (6) 4–2 Mersey Girls (6) 12 Penrith (6) Burnley (5) 13 Accrington Girls & Ladies (5) 3–1 CMB Ladies (6) 14 Chorltonians (7) 1–3 Blackburn Community Sports Club (5) 15 Bolton Wanderers (5) 0–2 Wigan Athletic (5) 16 AFC Leicester (6) 1–3 Nettleham (5) 17 Long Eaton United (5) 5–0 Rise Park (5) 18 Ruddington Village (6) 8–3 Arnold Town (5) 19 Lye Town (5) 7–0 Coleshill Town (7) 20 Coventry Ladies Development FC (6) 3–2 Bedworth United (5) 21 Stockingford AA Pavilion (6) 1–4 Shrewsbury Town (6) 22 Wyrley (8) Stone Dominoes (6) 23 Burton Albion (6) 3–0 Stourbridge (7) 24 The New Saints (5) 5–1 Bilbrook (6) 25 Riverside (6) 4–2 Daventry Town (7) 26 Kettering Town (5) 5–0 Sandy (7)
Tie Home team (tier) Score Away team (tier) 27 Acle United (5) 11–1 Newmarket Town (7) 28 Northampton Town (7) 1–2 Great Shelford (5) 29 Moulton (6) 0–3 Wymondham Town (7) 30 Colchester Town (5) 5–0 Silver End United (6) 31 Sawbridgeworth Town (6) 1–0 AFC Sudbury Ladies (5) 32 Bury Town (6) 1–5 Great Wakering Rovers Ladies FC (5) 33 Leyton Orient (5) 2–0 Stevenage (5) 34 Hemel Hempstead Town (5) 4–2 Colney Heath (6) 35 Royston Town (6) 0–2 Haringey Borough (5) 36 Oxford City (5) 0–1 Hampton & Richmond Borough (7) 37 Wargrave (7) 3–7 Marlow (5) 38 Wealdstone (7) 3–1 Newbury (5) 39 Woodley United (5) 0–4 Queens Park Rangers Girls (6) 40 Ashford Girls (6) 0–6 London Corinthians (5) 41 Fulham (5) 2–1 Carshalton Athletic (5) 42 Dartford Royals (6) 0–6 Crawley Wasps (5) 43 Bexhill United (5) 1–2 Surrey Eagles (8) 44 AFC Wimbledon (5) 10–0 Abbey Rangers (7) 45 Long Lane (6) 4–0 Eastbourne Town (5) 46 Frome Town (5) 1–2 AEK Boco (7) 47 Bristol Ladies Union FC (5) 4–2 Middlezoy Rovers (5) 48 Downend Flyers (5) 0–4 Basingstoke Town (5) 49 Southampton (6) 4–0 Wimborne Town (7) 50 Team Solent (6) 7–0 Fleet Town (6) 51 Brislington (5) 6–2 Keynsham Town Development (6) 52 Herne Bay (5) 2–0 Eastbourne (6)
Third qualifying round
Tie Home team (tier) Score Away team (tier) 1 Blackburn Community Sports Club (5) 4–3 Wigan Athletic (5) 2 Whitley Bay Women FC (5) 9–2 Westella & Willerby (6) 3 Middlesbrough (4) 11–0 Lowick United (6) 4 Woolton (6) 1–0 Boldon (5) 5 Chester-Le-Street Town (4) 3–0 Accrington Girls & Ladies (5) 6 Mossley Hill (4) 4–0 Penrith (5) 7 Brighouse Town (5) 6–1 Winterton Rangers (6) 8 Liverpool Marshalls Feds (4) 2–1 Chorley (4) 9 Morecambe (4) 5–0 Leeds (4) 10 Hull City (4) Tranmere Rovers (4) 11 Blackpool Wren Rovers (4) 1–2 Hartlepool United (7) 12 Rotherham United (4) 4–5 Long Eaton United (5) 13 The New Saints (5) 4–3 Leafield Athletic (4) 14 Lye Town (5) 3–6 Nettleham (5) 15 Wolverhampton Wanderers (4) 9–0 Handsworth (6) 16 Leicester City Ladies (4) 7–4 Stockport County (4) 17 Radcliffe Olympic (4) 2–1 Oughtibridge War Memorial (6) 18 Burton Albion (6) 6–0 Ruddington Village (6) 19 Leicester City (4) 3–2 Loughborough Students (4) 20 Stone Dominoes (6) 3–2 Kettering Town (5) 21 Coventry Ladies Development (6) 5–0 Shrewsbury Town (6) 22 Sporting Khalsa (4) 1–3 Steel City Wanderers (4)
Tie Home team (tier) Score Away team (tier) 23 Wealdstone (7) 1–4 Bedford (4) 24 Norwich City (4) 0–1 Marlow (5) 25 Sawbridgeworth Town (6) 0–6 Ipswich Town (4) 26 Luton Town (4) 3–1 Acle United (5) 27 Enfield Town (4) 4–0 Haringey Borough (5) 28 Wymondham Town (7) 1–0 Cambridge United (4) 29 Leyton Orient (5) 0–2 Great Shelford (5) 30 Great Wakering Rovers Ladies FC (5) 1–3 Milton Keynes Dons (4) 31 Hampton & Richmond Borough (7) 0–7 Peterborough Northern Star (4) 32 Colchester Town (5) 1–2 Hemel Hempstead Town (5) 33 Riverside (6) 0–4 Denham United (4) 34 Queens Park Rangers Girls (6) 1–5 Lowestoft Town (4) 35 Southampton (6) London Corinthians (5) 36 Crystal Palace (4) 5–0 Team Solent (6) 37 Gloucester City A–W Southampton Saints (4) 38 AEK Boco (7) 1–0 Shanklin (4) 39 Gillingham (4) 7–0 AFC Wimbledon (5) 40 Keynsham Town (4) 6–2 Cheltenham Town (4) 41 Bristol Ladies Union (5) 1–3 Herne Bay (5) 42 Larkhall Athletic (4) 11–1 Swindon Spitfires (4) 43 Basingstoke Town (5) 0–2 Fulham (5) 44 St Nicholas (4) 6–1 Surrey Eagles (8) 45 Chichester City (4) 7–1 Poole Town (6) 46 Crawley Wasps (5) 0–1 Actonians (4) 47 Long Lane (6) 0–12 Swindon Town (4) 48 Brislington (5) 2–3 Maidenhead United (4)
Fourth qualifying round Drawn on 12 October. Ties played on 8 November. Ties 6,7,10,18 & 22 were postponed until 15 November. As Nettleham were unable to fulfil the fixture, Leicester City received a walkover. Tie 6 was postponed further until 22 November. Tie Home team (tier) Score Away team (tier) Att. 1 Whitley Bay (5) 1–0 Woolton (6) 2 Chester-Le-Street Town (4) 3–1 Brighouse Town (5) 3 Morecambe (4) 6–3 Hartlepool United (7) 30 4 Mossley Hill (4) 4–2 Blackburn Community Sports Club (5) 25 5 Middlesbrough (4) 1–3 Liverpool Marshall Feds (4) 76 6 Tranmere Rovers (4) 3–0 Steel City Wanderers (4) 7 Burton Albion (6) Radcliffe Olympic (4) 8 The New Saints (5) 0–3 Wolverhampton Wanderers (4) 9 Long Eaton United (5)4–1 Leicester City Ladies (4) 10 Nettleham (5)W-O Leicester City (4) 11 Coventry Ladies Development (6) 1–3 Stone Dominoes (6) 12 Marlow (5) 1–4 Luton Town (4) 13 Enfield Town (4) 1–0 Great Shelford (5) 80 14 Peterborough Northern Star (4) 8–0 Hemel Hempstead Town (5) 40 15 Wymondham Town (7) 0–2 Bedford (4) 16 Ipswich Town (4) 2–3 Milton Keynes Dons (4) 17 Lowestoft Town (4) 1–8 London Corinthians (5) 18 Actonians (4) 4–1 Southampton Saints (4) 19 Denham United (4) 1–2 Crystal Palace (4) 20 AEK Boco (7) 0–10 Chichester City (4) 21 Larkhall Athletic (4) 2–3 Swindon Town (4) 40 22 Fulham Foundation (5) 2–0 St Nicholas (4) 35 23 Keynsham Town (4) 5–0 Maidenhead United (4) 45 24 Gillingham (4) 3–0 Herne Bay (5)
First round proper The draw was held on 9 November 2015. Ties were played on 6 December. Ties 1,2 & 11 were postponed until 13 December. + Number of teams per tier still in competition WSL 1 WSL 2 Premier Division Division One Regional & County Total
Second round proper The 24 Premier League Northern and Southern Divisions sides entered the draw at the asecond round proper. All matches were played in January 2016. + Number of teams per tier still in competition WSL 1 WSL 2 Premier Division Division One Regional & County Total
Third round proper The 10 WSL 2 sides entered the draw at the third round proper. All matches were played in February 2016. + Number of teams per tier still in competition WSL 1 WSL 2 Premier Division Division One Regional & County Total
Fourth round proper Ties were played on 28 February 2016. Brighton & Hove Albion initially won 2–1, but were forced to replay their game, as they named too many substitutes (7 instead of 5) on the match form. The tie was replayed on 13 March. + Number of teams per tier still in competition WSL 1 WSL 2 Premier Division Division One Regional & County Total
Fifth round proper Seven winners of the previous round were joined by the nine WSL 1 teams. Matches were played on 19 and 20 March 2016. + Number of teams per tier still in competition WSL 1 WSL 2 Premier Division Division One Regional & County Total
Quarter-finals Sporting Club Albion were the only team from outside the FA WSL to reach the quarter-finals. Matches were played on 3 April 2016.
+ Number of teams per tier still in competition WSL 1 WSL 2 Premier Division Division One Regional & County Total
Semi-finals