2015 FA Women's Cup final

The 2015 FA Women's Cup final was the 45th final of the FA Women's 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) and was 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.

2015 Women's FA Cup final

Team flags flying at Wembley Stadium
Event	2014–15 FA Women's Cup
Chelsea Notts County 1 0
Date	1 August 2015 (2015-08-01)
Venue	Wembley Stadium, London
Player of the Match	Eniola Aluko (Chelsea)
Referee	Amy Fearn (Derbyshire)
Attendance	30,710[1]
Weather	Partly cloudy 23 °C (73 °F)[2]
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It was the first Women's FA Cup Final to be staged at Wembley,^[3] and was the first women's club final there since 1993. Watched by a record crowd of 30,710 and a BBC^[4] television audience of nearly two million,^[1] 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.^[5] Chelsea beat Watford (6–0), holders Arsenal (2–1) and Manchester City (1–0) to reach the final.^[6] Notts County faced lower-division opponents in all three games, defeating Tottenham Hotspur (4–0), Aston Villa (5–1) and Everton (3–0).^[7]

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.^[6]

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.^[3]

Details

1 August 2015

15:00 BST

Chelsea	1–0	Notts County
Ji 37'	Report

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 30,710

Referee: Amy Fearn (Derbyshire)^[8]

Chelsea

Notts County

GK 1 Hedvig Lindahl RB 3 Hannah Blundell CB 6 Niamh Fahey CB 5 Gilly Flaherty LB 11 Claire Rafferty RM 24 Drew Spence CM 4 Millie Bright LM 17 Katie Chapman (c)  41' RW 7 Gemma Davison CF 10 Ji So-yun  90' LW 9 Eniola Aluko  81' Substitutes: GK 13 Marie Hourihan DF 16 Ana Borges  81' MF 19 Laura Coombs  90' MF 20 Jodie Brett FW 23 Marija Banušić Manager: Emma Hayes

GK 1 Carly Telford RB 14 Sophie Walton CB 23 Laura Bassett (c) CB 15 Amy Turner LB 3 Alex Greenwood RM 18 Leanne Crichton  83' CM 11 Desiree Scott LM 4 Danielle Buet  76' RW 7 Jess Clarke CF 8 Rachel Williams  56' LW 9 Ellen White Substitutes: DF 30 Laura Jayne O'Neill MF 19 Ashleigh Plumptre FW 2 Dunia Susi  56' FW 10 Fiona O'Sullivan  83' FW 20 Aileen Whelan  76' Manager: Rick Passmoor

Player of the match Eniola Aluko (Chelsea) Match officials Assistant referees: Natalie Aspinall (Lancashire)[8] Jane Simms (West Yorkshire)[8] Fourth official: Rebecca Welch (Durham)[8]

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.