Holders Chelsea will face Arsenal in the semi-finals of the Women’s FA Cup in a repeat of the 2021 final.
Back in December, Fran Kirby and Sam Kerr starred as Chelsea completed a belated domestic treble with a 3-0 win over Arsenal in what was a landmark FA Cup final at Wembley. The game was played in front of more than 40,000 fans – a century to the day after the FA banned women from playing football – as Chelsea cruised to a first FA Cup success since 2018.
Arsenal, who currently lead the Women’s Super League table, will be looking for FA Cup revenge when Chelsea travel to Meadow Park, as the two sides renew a rivalry that also sees them going head-to-head for the WSL title.
The Gunners lead Chelsea by two points but the Blues have the chance to go to the top of the table when they play their game in hand against Tottenham on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports.
Wednesday 23rd March 7:00pm
Kick off 7:45pm
In the other semi-final tie, Manchester City face a trip to the Chigwell Construction Stadium to face West Ham.
This tie is a repeat of the 2019 final when goals from Keira Walsh, Georgia Stanway and Lauren Hemp helped City, who have reached the semi-final stage of the competition for an eighth successive season, to a 3-0 win.
The semi-final ties are set to take place on Sunday April 17, while the final will be played at Wembley Stadium on Sunday May 15.
How Chelsea, Man City, West Ham and Arsenal reached the semi-finals…
Chelsea Women and Manchester City Women powered into the Women’s FA Cup semi-finals with comfortable victories over Birmingham Women and Everton Women respectively on Sunday.
West Ham Women were also victorious at third-tier Ipswich Ladies as the line-up for the last four was completed.
The three sides joined Arsenal Women, who saw off Coventry United Ladies on Friday.
Women’s FA Cup – Key dates…
Semi-finals: Sunday April 17
Final: Sunday May 15 at Wembley Stadium
Women’s FA Cup prize fund to go up by £3m from next season
The figure goes up from around £400,000, with details of how it is to be allocated across the competition yet to be confirmed. The FA has said that a “disproportionate amount of this new fund will be invested into the early rounds of the competition”.
It had been announced in January that a “significant” increase in prize money from next season had been agreed, amid criticism of the disparity between the current figures and those for the men’s competition.
In a statement, the FA’s director of women’s football Baroness Sue Campbell said: “I’m delighted to be able to make this announcement of increased funding for the Vitality Women’s FA Cup because it’s going to benefit so many clubs across the women’s football pyramid.
“The FA Cup, whether men’s or women’s, is the biggest and best domestic cup competition in the world, and this increased investment from the FA highlights that we want clubs competing in it to be rewarded, while also highlighting our ongoing commitment to the women’s game.
“Women’s football continues to be in a growth phase and we are always looking to make improvements and investment to drive it forward and break new boundaries. This is certainly one of the most pleasing during my time with the organisation, because I know it means so much to so many.”
