Match Thread - Final: Chelsea vs Notts County

Saturday 1 August. K.O. 3pm
Live on BBC 1

A record crowd is expected for this year's Women's FA Cup final on 1 August, after the Football Association revealed 24,000 tickets have been sold for the showpiece.

The current attendance record is 24,582, set at Nottingham Forest's City Ground in 2008.

The FA says that while the full 90,000 ground capacity will be available for the final, the aim is to attract a crowd of at least 34,000, which will fill the lower bowl.

"We're pretty confident that we're going to exceed that record," Katie Brazier, head of women's leagues and competitions at the FA, told BBC Sport.

"I have no doubt we'll have issued well in excess of that and hopefully we'll be hitting our 34,000 target."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/33548566

I reckon it will be a good game. Shame I am on holiday or I would have gone and watched it live (even though I'm an arsenal supporter).

I've only just realised the Community Shield is the day after. It could be a good weekend for Chelsea fans if they win both trophies.

I wonder if double-headers with men's finals will become the norm now?

Guest wrote:I wonder if double-headers with men's finals will become the norm now?

Double-header with the men's FA Cup final in the years with no summer international tournament. Double-header with the Community Shield in the years when there is one. It sounds like an idea to at least consider.

That would be great if it was 30,000+, I was tipping Chelsea for the win but with last weeks result I think that Notts has a real chance for the win

Jacqui Oatley ‏@JacquiOatley
Notts Co will have to play an injured keeper in Women's FA Cup final v Chelsea next Sat (no sub) as told not allowed to sign a replacement.

Jacqui Oatley ‏@JacquiOatley
Notts told rules state they'd have to have had any keeper on their books by the 6th round (16 weeks ago). On-loan Chamberlain ineligible.

Jacqui Oatley ‏@JacquiOatley
Keeper Carly Telford dislocated shoulder in training with England at World Cup. Notts may have to field outfield player in goal at Wembley.

Jacqui Oatley ‏@JacquiOatley
Telford played (well) today at Arsenal but isn't fit. Chamberlain was ineligible v parent club. Notts say they're not allowed to appeal.

Do the FA not think anything through? I can understand why the sixth round eligibility rule exists, but surely GK is a specialised enough position to allow an exception

Geust wrote:That would be great if it was 30,000+, I was tipping Chelsea for the win but with last weeks result I think that Notts has a real chance for the win

I'm going to go with Notts. Of the two of them, Notts are the ones heading into the final on the back of better results, although they themselves haven't been perfect. I don't know if Chelsea's drop in form is just a temporary blip or a sign that the wheels have fallen off, but either way they have always struck me as a momentum team and right now I don't think they have any.

Anonymous wrote:Jacqui Oatley ‏@JacquiOatley
Notts Co will have to play an injured keeper in Women's FA Cup final v Chelsea next Sat (no sub) as told not allowed to sign a replacement.

Jacqui Oatley ‏@JacquiOatley
Notts told rules state they'd have to have had any keeper on their books by the 6th round (16 weeks ago). On-loan Chamberlain ineligible.

Jacqui Oatley ‏@JacquiOatley
Keeper Carly Telford dislocated shoulder in training with England at World Cup. Notts may have to field outfield player in goal at Wembley.

Jacqui Oatley ‏@JacquiOatley
Telford played (well) today at Arsenal but isn't fit. Chamberlain was ineligible v parent club. Notts say they're not allowed to appeal.

Do the FA not think anything through? I can understand why the sixth round eligibility rule exists, but surely GK is a specialised enough position to allow an exception

I totally agree Notts should be allowed a back up goalie. The final is going to be held for the first time in Wembley, televised, and on the back of the buzz of the world cup it needs to be a quality game. Can you imagine if Notts has to put a field player in goal. The FA is being too inflexible in this matter.

The problem is that NC knowingly let their 2nd choice keeper go earlier, knowing that they wouldn't have cover, and then the cover they got in was not only cup-tied but ineligible for the NC game immediately prior to the Cup Final. And yet poor Siobhan Chamberlain is still not getting a regular game! Arsenal should have loaned her out to a WSL2 side if she wanted to get regular minutes. Maybe one of the promotees will take her next season.

Anyway, I think it's going to be incredibly tight. NC's strike force is amazing but Chelsea do better in the middle of the field. I predict 2-1 NC!

The problem here isn't what has happened with Notts County as such. The problem is more to do with the huge risk which the FA have knowingly and needlessly taken. Truth is, regardless of how many goalkeepers a club has, the eligibility rule does not account for the possibility of them all being unavailable at the same time. Notts are in a pickle because they only have one--but they could have had two or three and still found themselves in this position. A club having multiple keepers injured at the same time is rare but it does happen. And the FA themselves acknowledge this with the emergency GK loan system. But they don't appear to have given it any consideration here.

I really can't understand why they implemented a rule which fails to cover every eventuality. Should the final fall in August again it needs to be amended. There is zero need to gamble that something won't happen when you could instead just decide that if it did happen it could be inconsequential.

k wrote:The problem is that NC knowingly let their 2nd choice keeper go earlier, knowing that they wouldn't have cover, and then the cover they got in was not only cup-tied but ineligible for the NC game immediately prior to the Cup Final.

"Each Club may only register a maximum of 40 Players (including long term loan players) plus 2 Players on short term loan, to play in the Competition each Season (the “Squad Cap”). The Squad Cap includes player registrations for the Clubs’ FA WSL Development League team."

NC cannot tell us that they had only one goalie registered out of a maximum of 40 players by the date of Round 6 on the 12th of April. Most teams had at least 3 goalies registered if not 4.
But what can you expect from them anyway?

Indeed; do they not have a Development League keeper? You're allowed to start one dev player in your senior squad, IIRC.

True, they must not want to play their Developmental goalie.

Guest wrote:True, they must not want to play their Developmental goalie.

I don't think many clubs would. It's not the same as throwing a kid into the deep end in an outfield position.

I expect Telford will play though. Notts will just have to hope she doesn't need to come off at any point.

Anonymous wrote:

Guest wrote:True, they must not want to play their Developmental goalie.

I don't think many clubs would. It's not the same as throwing a kid into the deep end in an outfield position.

I expect Telford will play though. Notts will just have to hope she doesn't need to come off at any point.

When City injured the Chelsea goalie early in the game on final day ( on purpose or not, but the video is clear) ....they had to put a kid on who let two goals in and cost them the title.

Chelsea Starting XI: Lindahl, Blundell, Bright, Flaherty, Fahey, Davison, Aluko, So-Yun, Rafferty, Chapman, Spence
subs: Hourihan, Borges, Coombs, Brett, Banusic

Notts County Starting XI: Telford, Greenwood, Buet, Clarke, Williams, White, Scott, Walton, Turner, Chrichton, Bassett
subs: Susi, O'Sullivan, Plumptree, Whelan, O'Neill

I hope this is a good match. They usually aren't when I'm neutral but go out of my way to watch.

Notts needs to get it together, it could have easily been 3 or 4 nil by now.  Telford's making some wise choices, hope she can make it all the way through the whole match

I'm listening to it on the radio but it sounds like Notts is playing very defensively. It's a cup Final, give it a go. It also must have been extremely cagey at the beginning because for about ten minutes or so the commentator wasn't even bothering giving a blow by blow. Notts needs to come out of that dressing room with a game plan or they just gifted Chelsea the cup today.

Congrats Chelsea. Wanted Notts to win but they were poor. Also if Chelsea doesn't get more clinical in front of goal I don't see them winning the league this year with Sunderland, Man City, and Arsenal breathing down their necks.

Acer wrote:I'm listening to it on the radio but it sounds like Notts is playing very defensively.  It's a cup Final, give it a go.  It also must have been extremely cagey at the beginning because for about ten minutes or so the commentator wasn't even bothering giving a blow by blow.  Notts needs to come out of that dressing room with a game plan or they just gifted Chelsea the cup today.  

Notts game plan = hit it long for our quick strikers. I am not sure they managed to do five consecutive passes in the game very often.
Deserved losers especially after giving it large saying they were now a BIG team by reaching the FA Cup final final.