OPINION: Three things we learnt from the Vitality Women’s FA Cup final | OneFootball

Chelsea completed their domestic quadruple with a 3-0 Vitality Women’s FA Cup final victory over Arsenal at Wembley yesterday.

Player of the Match Sam Kerr helped herself to a brace while Fran Kirby was also on target for Emma Hayes’ side at the national stadium.

Just as it has done in previous years, the Vitality Women’s FA Cup final threw up many talking points and FAWSL Full-Time have identified three things that we learnt yesterday.

Selling out a Vitality Women’s FA Cup final is quite an ask

The latest Vitality Women’s FA Cup final attracted an attendance of 40,942. The attendance was a good one but it did fall short of the 47,000 which The Football Association were hoping for and was less than half the capacity of Wembley. The Football Association are targeting a sell-out within the next three years but that target looks to be a real challenge. Crowds in the women’s game have been stable this season but growth has been a struggle. A successful EUROs next summer, an improvement on the COVID front and a water-tight growth strategy will be needed if there is any chance of selling out Wembley by the 2024 Vitality Women’s FA Cup final.

Wembley is no place for off-days

From the moment Jen Beattie’s headed clearance fell to Chelsea feet, you knew that it wasn’t going to be Arsenal’s day at the national stadium. Arsenal’s stuttering start cost them dearly and prevented them from building any level of momentum needed to haul them back into the game. Virtually every 50-50 fell Chelsea’s way but ultimately, you make your own luck, that’s something which The Blues managed by leading from the front.

Wembley is no place for losers and this was a rare off-day for Jonas Eidevall’s side. The Arsenal boss will have learnt a lot about his players yesterday and he will have plenty to ponder going forward as The Gunners look to end their trophy drought.

Sam Kerr does have a special place at Wembley after all

Sam Kerr’s previous appearance in a Chelsea shirt at Wembley came in the 2020 FA Women’s Community Shield. It was a day to forget for the Australian international who wasted several excellent chances to score in what was arguably one of her worst performances for the South West Londoners.

For almost an hour yesterday, it looked as though Kerr’s Wembley nightmare would continue after she spurned a couple of great chances to score. The forward had the last laugh though, leaving Lotte Wubben-Moy and Manuela Zinsberger with egg on their faces as she claimed two cheeky goals along with a Player of the Match award.

It seemed like Wembley and Kerr wouldn’t be two words to be mentioned in the same sentence for a long time, but they now fit together beautifully.

The 2021/2022 Vitality Women’s FA Cup gathers pace this weekend with 12 elite clubs from the FA Women’s Championship entering the competition at the third round stage.