Women’s FA Cup 2023

Sam Kerr found the back of the net to hand Chelsea victory in front of a record crowd in the 2023 Women’s FA Cup last weekend.

Three on the bounce

Chelsea made it three on the bounce when they won the Women’s FA Cup for a third successive time with victory over Manchester United at a packed Wembley Stadium last weekend. The crowd of 77,390 was a world record for a domestic women’s football match and this was testament to the increased popularity of the women’s game.

First major cup final

Manchester United – who were in their very first major cup final and who had never before beaten Chelsea – piled on the pressure in the early stages of the encounter, however despite being on top for the majority of the first half they found themselves a goal behind after Sam Kerr – who has banged in six goals since the start of this season’s competition – fired in a cross from Pernille Harder. This proved to be the only goal of the match and as such, it secured for the Blues their third successive win in the FA Cup Final.

Dominant force

This was the fifth FA Cup trophy for Chelsea and it underlines what has proven to be the dominant force in the women’s domestic scene. Under Emma Hayes, the west London outfit have been very much the team to beat and they have continually brushed aside increasingly ambitious opponents each season. Indeed, weekend opponents Manchester United are the latest team to develop and they will undoubtedly challenge in the future but at least for now, Chelsea continue to dominate and their relentless hunger for silverware won’t be slowing down any time soon. While they will clearly face tougher challenges as the seasons roll on, the leading bookmakers continue to make the Blues firm favourites on all fronts in the domestic game.

Best striker in the world

Hayes has described Sam Kerr as the best striker in the world several times and there can be no denying that she never fails to turn up on the big stage, the player having netted in six successive finals for Chelsea, including scoring the winner in the 2022 Women’s FA Cup against Manchester City.