The 2021 Women's FA Cup final was the 51st final of the Women's FA Cup, England's primary cup competition for women's football teams. The showpiece event was the 27th to be played directly under the auspices of the Football Association (FA) and was named the Vitality Women's FA Cup Final due to sponsorship reasons.
The final was contested between Arsenal and Chelsea on 5 December 2021 at Wembley Stadium in London and broadcast on BBC1. Chelsea won 3–0 in front of a crowd of 40,942 to clinch their third title.
Originally scheduled to be played in May 2021, the match was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. The alternative date in December was chosen to symbolically coincide with the 100 year anniversary of the FA's infamous ruling to ban women's football from the grounds of all its affiliated clubs.
Match details
GK 1 Manuela ZinsbergerRB 16 Noelle Maritz CB 3 Lotte Wubben-Moy CB 5 Jen Beattie LB 7 Stephanie Catley DM 13 Lia Wälti DM 12 Frida Maanum AM 10 Kim Little (c)RW 9 Beth Mead LW 15 Katie McCabe CF 11 Vivianne MiedemaSubstitutes:DF 4 Anna Patten MF 8 Jordan Nobbs FW 14 Nikita Parris GK 18 Lydia WilliamsFW 19 Caitlin Foord DF 20 Simone Boye Sørensen DF 22 Viktoria Schnaderbeck FW 23 Mana Iwabuchi DF 29 Teyah Goldie Manager: Jonas Eidevall GK 30 Ann-Katrin BergerCB 4 Millie BrightCB 7 Jess CarterCB 16 Magdalena ErikssonRM 22 Erin Cuthbert CM 5 Sophie Ingle (c) CM 8 Melanie Leupolz LM 11 Guro Reiten RW 17 Jessie FlemingLW 14 Fran Kirby FW 20 Sam Kerr Substitutes:GK 1 Zećira MušovićDF 3 Aniek Nouwen FW 9 Bethany England MF 10 Ji So-yun MF 21 Niamh CharlesFW 23 Pernille Harder MF 24 Drew Spence DF 25 Jonna AnderssonDF 29 Jorja FoxManager: Emma Hayes
Player of the match Sam Kerr (Chelsea)
Assistant referees: Lisa Rashid (Birmingham) Mel Burgin (Manchester) Fourth official: Amy Fearn (Derbyshire)Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Nine named substitutes. Maximum of five substitutions in three stoppages.
References
External links
Report at WomensFACup.co.uk