WEMBLEY TRIUMPH SETS UP GUNNERS’ HISTORIC TREBLE
Arsenal 3 (Ball 2, Coulting)
Knowsley United 0
WFA National League Cup final
Wembley Stadium
29 April 1993
Following on from the 1992-93 season’s expansion of the National League from 24 teams to 30, the Cup competition had an extra round and kicked off earlier in the campaign.
Reigning champions Arsenal, now a top flight club after their promotion from the Southern Division, gave notice of their intention to retain the trophy with an 8-0 thrashing of Sussex team Hassocks in the first round and then enjoyed a goal-filled route to the final.
Their Wembley opponents Knowsley had to work their way through a more difficult passage to the big day at the twin towers, especially in a fiercely fought semi-final which they won 5-4 against their Merseyside neighbours Leasowe Pacific.
By the time the final came around on 29 April, Arsenal had already lifted the FA Cup and were in an excellent position to win the National League Premier Division at the first attempt.
So as they stepped out at the national stadium, which later on the same day would host the men’s Football League third division play-off final, the Gunners’ players knew that victory over Knowsley would put them on the brink of an historic treble.
They had comfortably beaten their opponents home and away in the league, but on this occasion it took until the second half for the match to move decisively in Arsenal’s favour.
Once they went ahead, however, there was no stopping them as two goals from Naz Ball and one from Chris Couling gave them a 3-0 win.
Recalling her bountiful brace on the hallowed turf, Ball said: “That final was the highlight of my career. I loved those old twin towers and the pitch was unbelievable - I played on great pitches in Germany and Italy, but Wembley was the best I ever played on.
“And to score a couple of goals there made it even better. Knowsley were a decent team and it was a tight game until we got our noses in front, but once we’d done that we were always going to win.”
Ten days after completing the Cup double the Gunners made it a treble, beating Red Star Southampton to finish two points ahead of Doncaster Belles to become the first team to collect all three major trophies in the same season.
RESULTS
First Round
18/10/1992
Brighton & Hove Albion 1-6 Leasowe Pacific
District Line 4-1 Villa Aztecs
Milton Keynes 0-8 Sunderland
Nottingham Argyle 3-2 Bristol Backwell
Oxford United 1-2 Epsom & Ewell
Town & County 1-2 Saltdean
Wolverhampton 3-1 Horsham
20/11/1992
Arsenal 8-0 Hassocks
29/11/1992
Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 Bronte
No first round stats found for these teams:
Red Star Southampton
Maidstone Tigresses
Wimbledon
Ipswich Town
Millwall Lionesses
Knowsley United
Stanton Rangers
No first round stats found for these teams:
Doncaster Belles
Abbeydale Alvechurch
Cowgate Kestrels
St Helens
Hemel Hempstead
Second Round
22/11/1992
Red Star Southampton 0-1 Knowsley United
Sunderland 0-5 District Line
Wimbledon 4-0 Nottingham Argyle
3/1/1993
Arsenal 9-0 Saltdean
24/1/1993
Sheffield Wednesday 0-2 Wolverhampton
Maidstone Tigresses 2-2 Stanton Rangers (AET: Maidstone won 6-5 on penalties)
14/2/1993
Epsom & Ewell 1-3 Ipswich Town
7/3/1993
Leasowe Pacific 7-0 Millwall Lionesses
Quarter-finals
21/3/1993
Ipswich Town 1-2 Wimbledon
Knowsley United 2-0 Maidstone Tigresses
24/3/1993
District Line 1-5 Arsenal
28/3/1993
Wolverhampton 1-3 Leasowe Pacific
Semi-finals
1/4/1993
Wimbledon 2-4 Arsenal
18/4/1993
Knowsley United 5-4 Leasowe Pacific
Final
29/4/1993
Arsenal 3-0 Knowsley United
