The match was held at Crystal Palace FC's Selhurst Park for the third year in a row in front of 10,389 vociferous fans.

Paul Barber, The FA's Director of Marketing and Communications, said: "It was encouraging to gain a third successive 10,000+ attendance at The FA Women's Cup Final and the further 1.9 million who watched the game live on BBC Television proves that women's football has great potential as a spectator sport.

"New figures have shown a 38 per cent increase in the number of women and girls playing the game, which is another great achievement as The FA celebrates its 10th anniversary of running the women's game this summer."

The FA took over the running of women's football in June 1993, when there was limited media coverage and just 80 girls teams. New FA figures show that in the 2002-03 season there were 4,200 registered girls teams and overall 85,000 players - an increase of 38 per cent season-on-season.

The dramatic rise in figures over the past year can be put down to a number of factors, including the FA-led Active Sports programme, which gains funding from Sport England and the Football Foundation. Active Sports, now in its second year, is investing £11 million over a five-year period to provide out-of-school opportunities. 

In July 2001 The FA launched a hotline number, which girls could ring to find out their local playing opportunities. In its first year, the Get Involved hotline launch received 6,000 calls. Women's football also enjoyed a bigger profile through the smash hit movie Bend It Like Beckham and 2.5 million people tuned into BBC1 to watch the 2002 FA Women's Cup Final.

The FA yesterday relaunched the 'Get Involved' hotline - 0845 310 8555 - with help from the victorious Fulham players to encourage even more girls to take up the sport. The hotline was flooded with calls on Tuesday, following the Final.