The 2015 Women's FA Cup final was the 45th final of the Women's FA Cup, England's primary cup competition for women's football teams. The showpiece event was the 22nd to be played directly under the auspices of the Football Association (FA). The competition was rebranded to become the Women's FA Cup final, and named the SSE Women's FA Cup final for sponsorship reasons.
The final was contested between Chelsea Ladies and Notts County Ladies on 1 August 2015 at Wembley Stadium in London. Chelsea made its second final appearance, after losing the 2012 final. Notts County appeared in its first ever final.
It was the first Women's FA Cup Final to be staged at Wembley, and was the first women's club final there since 1993. Watched by a record crowd of 30,710 and a BBC television audience of nearly two million, Chelsea won the match 1–0, with a first-half goal from Ji So-yun. Chelsea's Eniola Aluko was named player of the match.
Route to the final As FA WSL 1 clubs, both teams entered the competition at the fifth round stage. Chelsea beat Watford (6–0), holders Arsenal (2–1) and Manchester City (1–0) to reach the final. Notts County faced lower-division opponents in all three games, defeating Tottenham Hotspur (4–0), Aston Villa (5–1) and Everton (3–0).
The 2015 final marked the second time Chelsea had reached this stage, after losing in 2012 in a penalty shootout against Birmingham City. Notts County had never previously appeared in the final, since its founding in 2014 or as its predecessor Lincoln Ladies.
Match After a quiet start to the game, Chelsea winger Eniola Aluko applied the first serious pressure of the game with a shot at the 30th minute. A second soon after was deflected by Notts County's goalkeeper Carly Telford. The resulting corner setup Gemma Davison for a shot which went wide. In the 37th minute, Aluko found centre forward Ji So-yun inside the box and set her up for a short range goal. Notts County came back on the attack after the half. A long-range shot from midfielder Desiree Scott was deflected and a header by Leanne Crichton in the resulting corner was narrowly cleared off the line. Chelsea hunted for a second goal but Aluko had another shot deflected while midfielder Drew Spence sent a shot wide. In the end So-yun's lone goal proved enough and Chelsea won 1–0.
Details
GK 1 Hedvig LindahlRB 3 Hannah BlundellCB 6 Niamh FaheyCB 5 Gilly FlahertyLB 11 Claire RaffertyRM 24 Drew SpenceCM 4 Millie BrightLM 17 Katie Chapman (c) RW 7 Gemma DavisonCF 10 Ji So-yun LW 9 Eniola Aluko Substitutes:GK 13 Marie HourihanDF 16 Ana Borges MF 19 Laura Coombs MF 20 Jodie BrettFW 23 Marija BanušićManager: Emma Hayes GK 1 Carly TelfordRB 14 Sophie WaltonCB 23 Laura Bassett (c)CB 15 Amy TurnerLB 3 Alex GreenwoodRM 18 Leanne Crichton CM 11 Desiree ScottLM 4 Danielle Buet RW 7 Jess ClarkeCF 8 Rachel Williams LW 9 Ellen WhiteSubstitutes:DF 30 Laura Jayne O'NeillMF 19 Ashleigh PlumptreFW 2 Dunia Susi FW 10 Fiona O'Sullivan FW 20 Aileen Whelan Manager: Rick Passmoor
Player of the match Eniola Aluko (Chelsea)
Assistant referees: Natalie Aspinall (Lancashire) Jane Simms (West Yorkshire) Fourth official: Rebecca Welch (Durham)Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Five named substitutes. Maximum of three substitutions.
References
External links
The FA Women's Cup