2017–18 FA WSL Cup

The 2017–18 FA WSL Cup was the seventh edition of the FA WSL's league cup competition. It was sponsored by Continental AG, who sponsored the competition from its creation, and was officially known as the FA WSL Continental Tyres Cup. All 20 teams of the two divisions of the WSL took part in the competition - the largest field in its history.

2017–18 FA WSL Cup

Tournament details
Country	England
Dates	11 October 2017 – 14 March 2018
Teams	20
Defending champions	Manchester City
Final positions
Champions	Arsenal
Runners-up	Manchester City
Tournament statistics
Matches played	47
Goals scored	180 (3.83 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	Fran Kirby (7)
← 2016 2018–19 →

Manchester City were the defending champions; only they and Arsenal had won the cup in the previous six seasons it was contested in.

Format changes

After a one-year experiment with a pure knockout formula, the WSL Cup returned to a format featuring a group stage. Four groups of five teams each, with an approximately even split between the two divisions, competed for two qualification spots for the knock-out round in each group, with each team playing every other team only once. Similarly to previous iterations, the groups had a geographical split, with two "Northern" groups and two "Southern". Another new implementation for the season was an automatic penalty shoot-out for all games tied after 90 minutes, with a bonus point awarded for the team who emerged victorious afterwards.^[1]

After the group stage, the remaining eight teams contested a non-seeded standard knock-out format as in the 2015 season.^[1]

Group stage

Group One North

Pos	Team	Pld	W	WPEN	LPEN	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		SUN	LIV	SHE	AST	DUR
1	Sunderland	4	2	2	0	0	5	2	+3	10	Advance to knock-out stage		—	1–0	—	3–1	—
2	Liverpool	4	2	1	0	1	11	2	+9	8			—	—	6–0	5–1	—
3	Sheffield	4	1	0	2	1	8	10	−2	5			1–1	—	—	—	5–1
4	Aston Villa	4	1	1	0	2	7	12	−5	5			—	—	2–2	—	3–2
5	Durham	4	0	0	2	2	3	8	−5	2			0–0	0–0	—	—	—

Source: FA WSL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored

Liverpool	6–0	Sheffield
Weir 10', 29' Gilliatt 52' (o.g.) Ingle 65' Johnson 83' England 90'	Report

11 October 2017

Select Security Stadium, Widnes

Attendance: 352

Referee: Simon Mather

Durham	0–0	Sunderland
	Report
Penalties
	2–3

11 October 2017

New Ferens Park, Durham

Attendance: 641

---

Sheffield	5–1	Durham
Cox 2' Johnson 24', 29', 66' Housley 36'	Report	Atkinson 26'

1 November 2017

Home of Football, Sheffield

Attendance: 122^[2]

Sunderland	3–1	Aston Villa
Staniforth 28', 57' Bruinenberg 76'		Brown 90'

1 November 2017

Mariners Park, South Shields

Attendance: 228^[3]

---

Aston Villa	2–2	Sheffield
Welsh 42' Salmon 80'	[citation needed]	Housley 18' Johnson 90+4'
Penalties
	11–10

5 November 2017

The Lamb Ground, Tamworth

Attendance: 140^[4]

Durham	0–0	Liverpool
	Report
Penalties
Hill Wilson Hepple Worthington Johnson Atkinson Christon Gears	4–5	Greenwood Coombs Bonner England Harding Stoney Charles Weir

5 November 2017

New Ferens Park, Durham

Attendance: 351

Referee: Helen Byrne

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Liverpool	5–1	Aston Villa
Hodson 17' Clarke 38' Greenwood 49' (pen.) Weir 85' Johnson 87'	Report	Jones 67'

15 November 2017

Select Security Stadium, Widnes

Attendance: 282

Referee: Natalie Aspinall

Sheffield	1–1	Sunderland
Lord-Mears 44'	[citation needed]	Staniforth 33'
Penalties
	2–4

16 November 2017

Home of Football, Sheffield

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Aston Villa	3–2	Durham
Baptiste 29' Salmon 63' Ejupi 87'		Atkinson 22' Ness 90+1'

3 December 2017

The Lamb Ground, Tamworth

Sunderland	1–0	Liverpool
Galloway 13'	Report

5 December 2017

Mariners Park, South Shields

Attendance: 128

Referee: Matthew Dicicco

Group Two North

Pos	Team	Pld	W	WPEN	LPEN	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		MCI	EVE	BIR	DON	OXF
1	Manchester City	4	4	0	0	0	13	3	+10	12	Advance to knock-out stage		—	2–1	2–0	—	—
2	Everton	4	3	0	0	1	9	2	+7	9			—	—	1–0	—	4–0
3	Birmingham City	4	2	0	0	2	7	5	+2	6			—	—	—	3–2	4–0
4	Doncaster Rovers Belles	4	1	0	0	3	9	10	−1	3			2–3	0–3	—	—	—
5	Oxford United	4	0	0	0	4	1	19	−18	0			0–6	—	—	1–5	—

Source: FA WSL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored

Birmingham City	4–0	Oxford United
Ayisi 38' Quinn 55' Ladd 86' Wellings 89'

11 October 2017

Damson Park, Solihull

Doncaster Rovers Belles	0–3	Everton
	Report Box Score	Kelly 6' Little 23' (o.g.) Munsterman 86'

12 October 2017

Keepmoat Stadium, Doncaster

Attendance: 482

Referee: Luke Watson

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Oxford United	0–6	Manchester City
	Report	Christiansen 44' Stanway 45', 53' Emslie 57' Beattie 79', 86'

2 November 2017

Court Place Farm, Marston

Attendance: 777

Everton	1–0	Birmingham City
Sweetman-Kirk 12'	Report Box Score

2 November 2017

Select Security Stadium, Widnes

Attendance: 181

Referee: Andy Spence

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Birmingham City	3–2	Doncaster Rovers Belles
Ayisi 45' Wellings 58' Williams 85'		Murray 36' Hanson 76'

5 November 2017

Damson Park, Solihull

Attendance: 682^[5]

Manchester City	2–1	Everton
Christiansen 25' Parris 80'	Report	Magill 77'

5 November 2017

Academy Stadium, Manchester

Attendance: 873

Referee: Samuel Barrott

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Everton	4–0	Oxford United
Kelly 10', 81', 83' Walker 69'	Report Box Score

16 November 2017

Select Security Stadium, Widnes

Attendance: 188

Referee: Aaron Jackson

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Manchester City	2–0	Birmingham City
Parris 18' Emslie 36'	Report

3 December 2017

Academy Stadium, Manchester

Attendance: 1,077

Referee: Christopher Porter

Oxford United	1–5	Doncaster Rovers Belles
Short 12'	Report	Rayner 2', 4' Murray 69', 86' Sigsworth 73'

3 December 2017

Court Place Farm, Marston

Attendance: 172

Doncaster Rovers Belles	2–3	Manchester City
Sigsworth 53' Murray 75'	Report	Emslie 4' Ross 55' Stanway 58'

6 December 2017

Keepmoat Stadium, Doncaster

Attendance: 924

Referee: Rebecca Welch

Group One South

Group match between Arsenal and London Bees.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	WPEN	LPEN	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		REA	ARS	WAT	MIL	LON
1	Reading	4	4	0	0	0	15	1	+14	12	Advance to knock-out stage		—	—	4–0	—	4–0
2	Arsenal	4	3	0	0	1	19	4	+15	9			1–2	—	—	—	7–0
3	Watford	4	1	0	1	2	2	11	−9	4			—	0–6	—	1–0	—
4	Millwall Lionesses	4	1	0	0	3	6	14	−8	3			0–5	2–5	—	—	—
5	London Bees	4	0	1	0	3	4	16	−12	2			—	—	1–1	3–4	—

Source: FA WSL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored

Watford	1–0	Millwall Lionesses
Fatuga-Dada 73'	[citation needed]

12 October 2017

Gaywood Park, Kings Langley

Arsenal	7–0	London Bees
Evans 24' Mukandi 34', 37' Taylor 42' Mead 58' (pen.), pen.' Quinn 83'	[citation needed]

12 October 2017

Meadow Park, Borehamwood

---

Reading	4–0	Watford
Williams 5' Bartrip 45' Linnett 69' Green 90+1'

1 November 2017

Adams Park, High Wycombe

Attendance: 211^[6]

Millwall Lionesses	2–5	Arsenal
Mason 20' Rutherford 69'	[citation needed]	Mead 11' Nobbs 43', 74' Carter 78' James 90' (pen.)

1 November 2017

St Paul's Sports Ground, Rotherhithe

Attendance: 451^[7]

---

London Bees	3–4	Millwall Lionesses
Toussaint 3', 84' Wilson 14'	[citation needed]	Dean 40' Hincks 51', 73' Mason 60'

5 November 2017

The Hive, Canons Park

Attendance: 243^[8]

Arsenal	1–2	Reading
Mead 62'		Williams 56', 63'

5 November 2017

Meadow Park, Borehamwood

Attendance: 380^[9]

---

Reading	4–0	London Bees
Pearce 57' Chaplen 60' Rowe 75' Furness 90'

15 November 2017

Madejski Stadium, Reading

Attendance: 2,110

Watford	0–6	Arsenal
	Report 1 Report 2	Taylor 15', 78' Carter 46' Mukandi 60' Janssen 74' van de Donk 75'

16 November 2017

Gaywood Park, Kings Langley

Attendance: 823

---

London Bees	1–1	Watford
Beckett 82' (pen.)	[citation needed]	Babajide 45'
Penalties
	4–3

3 December 2017

The Hive, Canons Park

Millwall Lionesses	0–5	Reading
	Report	Chaplen 38', 85' Furness 52', 65' Bruton 60'

5 December 2017

St Paul's Sports Ground, Rotherhithe

Group Two South

Pos	Team	Pld	W	WPEN	LPEN	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		CHE	BRI	BHA	TOT	YEO
1	Chelsea	4	4	0	0	0	17	2	+15	12	Advance to knock-out stage		—	—	—	4–1	8–0
2	Bristol City	4	2	0	0	2	6	4	+2	6			1–2	—	3–0	—	—
3	Brighton & Hove Albion	4	2	0	0	2	8	9	−1	6			0–3	—	—	—	4–2
4	Tottenham Hotspur	4	2	0	0	2	6	9	−3	6			—	2–0	1–4	—	—
5	Yeovil Town	4	0	0	0	4	3	16	−13	0			—	0–2	—	1–2	—

Source: FA WSL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored

Brighton & Hove Albion	4–2	Yeovil Town
Gibbons 28' Umotong 42' Natkiel 44', 70'		Sawyer 90+1' Green 90+5'

11 October 2017

Culver Road, Lancing

Tottenham Hotspur	2–0	Bristol City
Pickett 41' Baptiste 66'	Report

12 October 2017

Theobalds Lane, Cheshunt

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Brighton & Hove Albion	0–3	Chelsea
	[citation needed]	Kirby 13' Dunn 76' So-yun 90'

1 November 2017

Culver Road, Lancing

Attendance: 364 ^[10]

Yeovil Town	1–2	Tottenham Hotspur
Evans 36'	Report	Wiltshire 63' Humes 90+'

1 November 2017

14:45

Huish Park, Yeovil

Attendance: 283^[11]

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Bristol City	1–2	Chelsea
Turner 85'	Report	Aluko 47' Carney 90' (pen.)

4 November 2017

Stoke Gifford Stadium, Filton

Attendance: 400

Tottenham Hotspur	1–4	Brighton & Hove Albion
Baptiste 15'	Report	Somes 18' Whelan 31' Martin 78' Umotong 83'

5 November 2017

Theobalds Lane, Cheshunt

Attendance: 215

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Yeovil Town	0–2	Bristol City
		Hemp 31' Daniels 62'

15 November 2017

Viridor Stadium, Taunton

---

Bristol City	3–0	Brighton & Hove Albion
Kerkdijk 24' Hemp 54' (pen.) Daniels 88'	[citation needed]

2 December 2017

Stoke Gifford Stadium, Filton

Attendance: 224^[12]

Chelsea	8–0	Yeovil Town
Dunn 5' Cousins 19' (o.g.) Cuthbert 45+4', 57' Spence 45+13', 90+4' Kirby 72' (pen.) Davison 90+2'	[citation needed]

3 December 2017

Kingsmeadow, Kingston upon Thames

Attendance: 1,289^[13]

Chelsea	4–1	Tottenham Hotspur
Blundell 24' Kirby 44', 56' Spence 77'	Report	Pickett 65'

5 December 2017

Kingsmeadow, Kingston upon Thames

Attendance: 1,541

Knock-out stage

Quarter-finals

Everton	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Reading
Chloe Kelly  97' 112'	Report Report	Lauren Bruton  26' Fara Williams  56' Kirsty Linnett 94'
Penalties
Chloe Kelly Dan Turner	3–4	Kirsty Linnett

16 December 2017 (2017-12-16)

18:00 GMT (UTC+00:00)

Select Security Stadium, Widnes

Attendance: 155

Referee: Benjamin Speedie

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Arsenal	3–1	Sunderland
Jordan Nobbs 15' Vivianne Miedema 38' Beth Mead 75'	Report	Bridget Galloway 55' Dominique Bruinenberg  67'

17 December 2017 (2017-12-17)

14:00 GMT (UTC+00:00)

Meadow Park, Borehamwood

Attendance: 400

Referee: Josh Smith

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Bristol City	0–2	Manchester City
	Report	Nikita Parris 62' Jen Beattie 88'

17 December 2017 (2017-12-17)

14:00 GMT (UTC+00:00)

Oaklands Park, Almondsbury

Attendance: 352

Referee: Savvas Yianni

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Chelsea	5–1	Liverpool
Fran Kirby 4', 24', 63' Ramona Bachmann 23' Erin Cuthbert 78'	Report	Casey Stoney 51'

17 December 2017 (2017-12-17)

14:00 GMT (UTC+00:00)

Kingsmeadow, Kingston upon Thames

Attendance: 1,161

Referee: Alex Burke

Semi-finals

Chelsea	0–1	Manchester City
	Report	Nadia Nadim 19'

14 January 2018

14:00 GMT (UTC+00:00)

Kingsmeadow, Kingston upon Thames

Attendance: 2,595

Referee: Rebecca Welch

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Reading	2–3	Arsenal
Brooke Chaplen 7' Lauren Bruton 70' Grace Moloney  79'	Report	Beth Mead 5' Jemma Rose  55' Vivianne Miedema 80' Jordan Nobbs 83'

14 January 2018

14:00 GMT (UTC+00:00)

Adams Park, High Wycombe

Attendance: 749

Referee: Ryan Atkin

Final

Main article: 2018 FA WSL Cup final

Arsenal	1–0	Manchester City
Miedema 32'	Report

14 March 2018

19:00 GMT (UTC+00:00)

Adams Park, High Wycombe

Attendance: 2,136

Referee: Amy Fearn (Derbyshire)

Top goalscorers

As of 18 December 2017.^[14]

Rank	Player	Team	Goals
1	Fran Kirby	Chelsea	7
2	Chloe Kelly	Everton	5
3	Melissa Johnson	Sheffield	4
	Christie Murray	Doncaster Rovers Belles

See also

• 2017–18 FA WSL