Arsenal

4-1

Charlton Athletic

Smith 6, 81, Ludlow 14, 45

Holtham 2


The FA Women's Cup sponsored by E.ON
The Final 2007
1pm, Monday 7 May 2007
The City Ground, Nottingham Forest FC








The crowd at yesterday's FA Women's Cup Final between Arsenal and Charlton Athletic smashed the record for the competition.

A colossal 24,529 piled into Nottingham Forest's City Ground to see Vic Akers' Gunners win 4-1 and that dwarfed the previous record of 13,824, set when Arsenal edged home 1-0 against Fulham in the 2001 Final at Selhurst Park.

It bettered the crowds at two Premiership matches at the weekend, came within 25 of the Fulham v Liverpool fixture at Craven Cottage, and was higher than seven Championship matches.

It almost compares with the 29,092 who watched England's opening fixture of the Euro 2005 Finals against Finland at the City of Manchester Stadium, easily the record for an England women's match on home soil.

But was yesterday's massive attendance the best ever for a women's club match in England?

Well, not exactly. The famous Dick Kerr's Ladies team, based in Preston, played St Helens Ladies at Goodison Park in 1920 and, according to the history books, there were 53,000 spectators inside the ground and thousands locked outside.

With interest in the women's game going through the roof, who would bet against even that record falling within the next few years?

Teams:

Arsenal: 1 Emma Byrne, 4 Jayne Ludlow (c), 7 Ciara Grant, 8 Kelly Smith, 9 Lianne Sanderson (14 Karen Carney 64), 10 Julie Fleeting (20 Gemma Davison 79), 11 Rachel Yankey, 12 Alex Scott, 17 Katie Chapman, 18 Anita Asante, 23 Mary Phillip

Subs Not Used: 6 Faye White, 16 Sian Larkin, 24 Rebecca Spencer

Charlton Athletic: 13 Toni-Anne Wayne, 2 Casey Stoney (c), 4 Katie Holtham (15 Natasha Hughes 85), 5 Karen Hills, 6 Maria Bertelli, 7 Danielle Murphy, 9 Eniola Aluko, 10 Natasha Dowie (12 Anne-Marie Heatherson 85), 11 Jo Potter, 14 Jessica Smith (8 Ashlee Hincks 71), 17 Sinead Boyer

Subs Not Used: 1 Pauline Cope, 3 Michelle Hickmott

Referee: Anthony Bates

Attendance: 24,529