Tag / Manchester City Women

by jo

SSE Women’s FA Cup Final 2019 – Man City v West Ham

It is now the fifth year of the Women’s FA Cup Final at Wembley, and we’ve been to all five. Things have changed, though it is still a fun, affordable day out.

The Women’s FA Cup Final 2019 was on Saturday 4th May 2019. We travelled to Wembley to soak in the atmosphere. Having gone all the other times we knew there would be lots of things to do outside, maybe a chance to meet a player or two and maybe some things to have a look at, just like the previous years.

The Women’s FA Cup Final 2019 was between Manchester City and West Ham United – both Women’s Super League clubs. It was West Ham’s first time in the final, but Man City were always the favourites.

Women's FA Cup Final 2019 - Wembley's a building site

So it was a bit heartbreaking to arrive at Wembley and find it currently resembles a building site. The pre-match entertainment was at a minimum too, the SSE Wildcats Funzone had three things to do. In the past I would have said allow a couple of hours to hang around Wembley. Could it be that those days are over? We got through the entertainment in a very short time.

There was no mention of the upcoming Women’s World Cup, other than advertisements for the game in Brighton next month. This would have been the perfect time to tie it in with something.

It felt like it was more about overpriced food and drink, unfortunately. Wembley publicised an event at Wembley Boxpark. That seemed to be a giant pub with a stage. I asked if anything was happening and was told “we’re showing the game” (umm…. we’re at the game?!) so we didn’t stick around.

Wembley - Bobby Moore statue taken at the Women's FA Cup Final 2019

Outside Wembley you need to allow more time now as well. There is a bag restriction; so nothing larger than A4 sized (so don’t bother shopping in the Wembley Outlet beforehand; although they have a Haribo shop). Then there are the queues. We were eventually routed from the main Club Wembley entrance to the Bobby Moore entrance, and got to our block. We had great views and lovely comfy padded seats too.

Women's FA Cup Final 2019

As neutrals (as usual), we watched the game cheering for football. This year’s attendance wasn’t as high as last year, but it still felt like there were more people there. Having said that, behind the goal nearest to us there were a lot of empty seats; lesser so the Man City end.

The elusive goal happened in the second half, and there was relief on our side – it was a good game, and it was great to see the players, but if things had gone into extra time it could have ended up being a long night. As it was, I commented to Shaun that I was sure the last couple of games ended up being won by a single goal – and Man City took that (I’m sure) as some kind of psychic command to score another couple! The game ended 3-0, Man City were presented with the FA Cup, and everyone left easily. Especially the West Ham Supporters who left pretty quickly, no longer blowing bubbles.

The Women’s FA Cup Final has become part of our annual routine, and so much of that was the build up. Maybe they couldn’t do as much because Wembley is a building site, and will soon disappear behind tower blocks. It’s a shame, I always enjoyed getting face paints, even the cardboard clapping things from last year were a nice touch. There were feeble attempts in the crowd at mexican waves, but the heart there this year.

We’ll still go – at only £7.50 for adults and kids going free it’s a great reasonable day out. I say reasonable as once you’re inside you’re paying Wembley prices. How much food or drink can you fit into an A4 bag? (answer: packs of Haribo and a bread roll, pretty much). The 2019 Women’s FA Cup Final cost us the grand total of £15 for the three of us so we can’t complain.

We had an added bonus of being sat by the boxes which Phil Neville (England Women’s Manager) and Kelly Smith (ex Arsenal Ladies) were sat, so H got a couple more autographs. Within the SSE Wildcats Funzone there was the chance to have photobooth photos taken, and the chance to score a goal and measure the speed. They also had a small unattended stand where you could make a small paper banner.

The 2019 Women’s FA Cup Final game itself was great, don’t get me wrong. That’s why we’ll always go back. It was great seeing West Ham there rather than the usual teams – and maybe one year Tottenham Women will get their chance too. That’s the beauty of the FA Cup. You never know who it will be from year to year, so there are always surprises along the way.

Women's FA Cup Final 2019 banner

2018’s review is here.

by jo

SSE Women’s FA Cup Final 2017 – Manchester City v Birmingham City

Yesterday was the SSE Women’s FA Cup Final 2017, the third time we’ve been and the third time it has been played at Wembley. If you want an afternoon of affordable football then a trip to the home of football is what you need.

Wembley FA Cup display

The SSE Women’s FA Cup Final 2017 happened yesterday, Manchester City Women v Birmingham City Ladies. We go every year, as I’ve found it’s a really affordable way to watch football at Wembley. Plus there is a great atmosphere!

This year the FA ran the Kids go Free promotion again, so we were able to buy tickets for the three of us for £20.00. One adult, one student and one child.

What a day it was! Last week we found out we will be working with the FA to help promote Women’s football and football for girls. If you’ve followed our footballing journey you may remember H was playing every Saturday at Carshalton Athletic (who let girls play for free). We stopped around the time we had our gas leak and we got out of the habit of going. Well, we’re starting again.. and there’ll be more on that in the future.

SSE Women's FA Cup Final 2017 tickets, FA Cup Final 2017

Back to Wembley and the SSE Women’s FA Cup Final 2017. We received hospitality tickets for the Bobby Moore Suite. The posh part of Wembley – and we were right next to the Man City Women bench. We were also right next to the steps the players ascend to be presented with the FA Cup and medals.

Comfy Wembley seats

The seats were AMAZING. Funnily enough, the ones we had bought were on the next block along, a row behind! But those were plastic seats, not padded comfort ones.

Manchester City Women are on a roll at the moment. In the Women’s Super League you have a lot of teams who don’t seem to get the support from their Men’s team and you can tell. This isn’t the case for Man City Women, who dominated the game. I’m happy that Birmingham City Ladies also got a goal as they deserved it.

H loved seeing England players Steph Houghton, Jill Scott, Lucy Bronze, Toni Duggan and Isabel Christansen play. It was great seeing Carli Lloyd play too – she’s playing for Man City Women until the end of the current FA WSL Spring Series. She’s one serious US Women’s footballer and the FIFA World Player of the Year.

Manchester City Women and the FA Cup, FA Cup Final 2017

The atmosphere in the ground made the game for me. We had mexican waves (of course) and noise. Teams weren’t too segregated, so you could watch as a neutral or for one of the teams and enjoy yourself. It’s a brilliant place to play and when the game ended you could see how much winning the FA Cup meant to Man City Women – it was their first time. They really deserved it.

For me, seeing the game gain in popularity can only be a good thing. Women’s football has always felt like it’s at the level of lower league football which is fine – but now things seem to be moving in a very positive way. In an interview I read recently Casey Stoney said, the opportunities are now there – you might not get to play for England but you get to play. Players like Casey and the teams we watched yesterday are making this happen for future generations of girls.

I find myself mellowing towards teams that I would never in a billion years follow the men’s version of. That has to be a positive thing!

It’s a really exciting time to follow Women’s football. We’ll be watching Tottenham against Blackburn Rovers in a couple of weeks. Tottenham recently completed the treble in their league, though are still an amateur side. We’re keeping everything crossed that they gain promotion to the Women’s Super League and become a dominant football team. So much of that is down to the support of the main club.

H at Wembley, FA Cup Final 2017

With a record attendance yesterday of 35,271 and them opening the upper levels of Wembley, Women’s football is so affordable, accessible and brilliant. Trust me when I say this, buy a ticket for the 2018 final when they go on sale around September-October time. You will not regret it.

Women’s football has been around for years. There’s a lot of information over at The FA’s site. Birmingham Ladies were formed in 1969.

We bought tickets and also received tickets for the SSE Women’s FA Cup Final 2017 from BritMums as part of the FA Project. This does not affect our opinion in any way. We will receive a fee for our work. Thank you to Britmums and the FA for yesterday, we had a wonderful day. 

The SSE Women's FA Cup Final 2017, FA Cup Final 2017

Our previous trips to Wembley for the Women’s FA Cup Final in 2015 and 2016.