A decade of Wembley for the women’s FA Cup

When Chelsea and Manchester United walk out onto the Wembley pitch today, they will be marking the tenth anniversary of Women’s FA Cup finals being held there.

For Chelsea, Wembley FA Cups are woven into the history of the women’s side. The inaugural 2015 final was their first major trophy, as they beat Notts County 1-0. They have gone on to lift it four more times since then.

It is a special place for Manchester United too, who also won their first major trophy there last year. This is United’s third consecutive FA Cup final, having lost 1-0 to Chelsea in 2023 before beating Tottenham 4-0 last year.

Chelsea undoubtedly go into the game as favourites, having not lost domestically all season. But Manchester United will take heart from a spirited league performance against the Women’s Super League champions last month that ended in a narrow 1-0 loss.

Kelly Simmons was the director of national game and women’s football when the FA decided to move the Women’s FA Cup final to Wembley. Prior to that it had been played at a different ground every year.

“It was obviously part of a wider strategy to develop and commercialise the women’s game,” she said.

“The Women’s FA Cup has this fantastic history and heritage. It’s very special to the players as it is for the fans.

“It felt it was important to move it to Wembley to give it the prestige and the quality of venue and match day experience that we would want.”

The first final in 2015 was attended by 30,710 people, a far cry from the 90,000 expected today. The game is sold out for the third year in a row.

“Sometimes you’ve got to take the leap of faith,” said Simmons.

“If you put it in the best venue that delivers the greatest match day experience, and you invest in marketing it and growing it, it will attract fans.”

“The move to Wembley a ­decade ago marked a pivotal moment in the ­competition’s history, ­driving ­significant growth in its stature, ­profile, and commercial appeal,” said Sue Day, director of women’s football at the FA. “In this same period we’ve signed global brands as ­partners, attracted some of the biggest names in entertainment to perform at the final, and seen ­attendances rocket.”

Carly Telford was in goal for Notts County that first final in 2015, and went to two more finals as part of the Chelsea squad.

“I remember it was the first time we had major segregation in terms of a home and away end. So you had loads of blue one end and then loads of black and white” she said.

“The prestige of it – arriving in the stadium, walking around, realising how big it is. It doesn’t matter how many times you play there, it is such a special moment to arrive and it’s ­different every single time.”

The Women’s final is not an ­identikit version of the men’s. There will be no ‘Abide With Me’ sung on Sunday. Instead, fans will be treated to a performance from 2009 X Factor runner-up Olly Murs.

“It’s about trying to create a ­distinct experience with its own ­history,” said Simmons.

“There were mixed views on whether to copy and paste or build something different. The Women’s FA Cup needed to build its own traditions.”

For a whole generation of ­women’s football fans, the past decade has allowed it to do just that.