BELLES RING OUT FOR NATIONAL LEAGUE

The historic inaugural year of England’s first nationwide league competition for women’s football was dominated by the all-conquering Doncaster Belles.

Having contested eight of the previous nine years’ Women’s FA Cup finals and enjoying huge success in regional leagues since their 1969 formation, the Belles headed into the WFA National League as clear favourites to take the title.

They had won the North East League in each of the previous two seasons after having already been Notts League champions eleven times in 13 campaigns.

So it was no big surprise that Donny hit the ground running in the National League, beating Millwall Lionesses 4-0 at home in their opening fixture and then winning 7-0 at Ipswich Town.

When their next two games were double-figure victories, 12-1 over Notts Rangers and 13-0 at Knowsley United, it was evident that – even after just a month of the season – Donny were champions elect.

Spearheaded by England striker Karen Walker, who chalked up an incredible 36-goal tally, they went on to end the season with a 100 per cent record of league wins, scoring 89 goals and conceding just four in the 14-match season.

The Belles’ nearest competitors, the eventual runners-up Red Star Southampton, were beaten 4-0 and 4-1 in the League and then, to top off a memorable campaign, they completed the first ever National League and FA Cup double with a 4-0 win in the Prenton Park final against Red Star.

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Match programme from Wimbledon 1-5 Doncaster Belles

In that final, Walker – already by some distance the league’s top scorer – hit a hat-trick that completed an amazing run by the England striker: her three goals meant that she had hit a hat-trick in every single round of the Cup competition

“It was just an incredible season for me and the team,” recalls Walker, aged 22 at the start of the campaign and unquestionably 1991/92’s outstanding player. 

“It was definitely the most memorable season of my career,” adds the former England star striker who hit 40 goals in 83 internationals during her illustrious 22-year-long playing career.

“Before the start of the National League we’d been playing local teams in regional leagues and winning games 10-0 and 15-0, which was no good for anybody.

“We needed to play against bigger and better teams, so we went into that first National League season so excited at being able to do just that. 

“You could feel it was different. We were having to work a lot harder for most of the wins, even though we ended up winning every league game.

“I was still very young but very confident, a bit cocky even, but I’d always scored goals and just knew I’d be able to carry on doing it.

“In that great team though, I was surrounded by wonderful players who would create lots of opportunities for me so that obviously helped my confidence.” 

Almost belying that confidence, Walker admits to having also been nervous. And she remembers well how the nerves got to her ahead of completing what was an unprecedented run of round-by-round FA Cup hat-tricks.

“I never really kept a count of the goals I scored,” she says. “Somebody told me I’d got a hat-trick in every round and said, ‘Do you realise this has never been done before?’ So I felt a bit of pressure before the final. 

“Once the reality hit me I was, ‘Oh, yeah…’ I was used to scoring hat-tricks, but it took a time to sink in. And I was always the most nervous player in the squad – I’d always gone out with fear in the Cup finals I’d played in before, so I had to get over that first before I could settle into the game.

“Once I’d done that though, I was okay. And once I’d got my first goal I could feel it, just knew in my head that I was going to score more.

“When the third one went in (to make the score 4-0 with just 12 minutes remaining) the Cup was won and it was such a fantastic feeling – for me obviously, but for the whole team as well because of the achievement.

“We’d won FA Cups before, but this was doing the double in the first season of the National League and that was absolutely massive for us as a club.”

Despite League and Cup glory for Walker and her team mates, the Belles were unable to complete an unprecedented treble. 

In the first edition of the WFA League Cup it was Southern Division Arsenal who lifted the trophy, beating top flight Millwall 2-0 in the final played at Alt Park, home of Knowsley United (later to become Liverpool).

WFA NATIONAL LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION RESULTS 1991-92

15/9/1991
Doncaster Belles 4-0 Millwall Lionesses     
Maidstone Tigresses 3-2 Ipswich Town           
Red Star Southampton 2-1 Knowsley United        
Wimbledon 5-2 Notts Rangers          

29/9/1991 
Ipswich Town 0-7 Doncaster Belles       
Knowsley United 1-1 Wimbledon             
Millwall Lionesses 0-3 Red Star Southampton        
Notts Rangers 2-2 Maidstone Tigresses  

6/10/1991
Doncaster Belles 12-1 Notts Rangers        
Ipswich Town 0-0 Millwall Lionesses    
Maidstone Tigresses 0-5 Knowsley United      
Wimbledon 3-1 Red Star Southampton        

13/10/1991
Knowsley United 0-13 Doncaster Belles      
Millwall Lionesses 2-3 Wimbledon             
Red Star Southampton 3-0 Maidstone Tigresses   

20/10/1991
Doncaster Belles 4-0 Red Star Southampton        
Ipswich Town 0-1 Knowsley United       
Maidstone Tigresses 1-4 Wimbledon             
Notts Rangers 0-2 Millwall Lionessses   

3/11/1991
Millwall Lionesses 1-0 Maidstone Tigresses   
Red Star Southampton 3-0 Ipswich Town          
Wimbledon 1-5 Doncaster Belles      

10/11/1991
Doncaster Belles 5-1 Maidstone Tigresses   
Ipswich Town 2-5 Wimbledon             
Knowsley United 4-1 Millwall Lionesses    
Notts Rangers 1-3 Red Star Southampton        

24/11/1991
Ipswich Town 0-0 Maidstone Tigresses   
Knowsley United 2-2 Red Star Southampton        
Millwall Lionesses 0-5 Doncaster Belles      
Notts Rangers 1-2 Wimbledon             

8/11/1991
Doncaster Belles 10-0 Ipswich Town         
RS Southampton 2-0 Millwall Lionesses    
Wimbledon 2-3 Knowsley United       

12/11/1992
Ipswich Town 4-2 Notts Rangers         
Maidstone Tigresses 0-1 Red Star Southampton         
Wimbledon 1-0 Millwall Lionesses    

19/1/1992
Knowsley United 2-2 Ipswich Town          
Millwall Lionesses 2-3 Notts Rangers         
Red Star Southampton 1-4 Doncaster Belles      
Wimbledon 2-2 Maidstone Tigresses   

26/1/1992
Millwall Lionesses 1-2 Ipswich Town          
Red Star Southampton 3-1 Wimbledon             

9/2/1992
Doncaster Belles 3-0 Wimbledon             
Ipswich Town 1-3 RS Southampton        

16/2/1992
Maidstone Tigresses 0-9 Doncaster Belles      
Millwall Lionesses 1-1 Knowsley United       
Red Star Southampton 5-1 Notts Rangers         

8/3/1992
Doncaster Belles 4-0 Knowsley United       
Maidstone Tigresses 2-0 Notts Rangers         

15/3/1992
Maidstone Tigresses 2-1 Millwall Lionesses    
Notts Rangers 2-2 Ipswich Town          

29/3/1992
Knowsley United 0-0 Maidstone Tigresses   
Notts Rangers 0-4 Doncaster Belles      
Wimbledon 4-1 Ipswich Town          

5/4/1992
Notts Rangers 0-5 Knowsley United          

10/5/1992
Knowsley United 6-2 Notts Rangers