DONNY DOUBLE THE FINAL TROPHY TRIUMPHS FOR ICONIC BELLES
The 1993-94 season was the campaign during which the takeover of the WFA National League by the Football Association was completed; and quite a season it was as an arch rivalry developed between reigning champions Arsenal and Doncaster Belles.
Doncaster had won the League in its 1991-92 debut season but in the following campaign they were undone by the Gunners, who not only pipped the Belles to the title but also beat them in the FA Cup final.
So a tussle for the League crown between what was now the ‘big two’ looked inevitable, and so it proved as both teams had fine starts to the campaign.
The turning point arrived at the turn of the year. Arsenal had already been surprisingly held to a 2-2 home draw by Derbyshire team Stanton Rangers, but it was a points-dropping three-match sequence in December and January that was to be key to the end of their title challenge.
Both Knowsley and Doncaster held them to 2-2 draws either side of the new year and then, most damagingly, they suffered a 3-2 home defeat by Wembley – who had been renamed from District Line after a merger in the close season.
The Gunners bounced back to win the rest of their games, including a 3-1 victory over Donny that left their rivals needing nine points from their last four outings to become champions for the second time in three seasons.
The Belles responded ultra-positively, cramming all four games into 12 days and winning each of them with an aggregate scoreline of 24-2.
Having lifted the FA Cup six weeks earlier, where a Karen Walker goal gave them a 1-0 win against Knowsley United in the final, the League success – with an incredible 110 goal haul from their 18 matches – was a doubly satisfying end to a memorable campaign.
Striker Gail Borman, a Belle from 1987 to 2003 and one of the club’s longest-ever serving players, recalls: “That 93-94 season was maybe even better than 91-92. Arsenal were getting stronger, so it was very satisfying to hold off their challenge.
“And to do the double again was just brilliant, a great feeling,” added the England international, who in that goal-filled campaign hit the net 28 times in all competitions while her prolific strike partner, Karen Walker, had a massive 54 goal-haul and attacking midfielder Jo Broadhurst bagged 26.
As great a season it was for the Belles, it was to prove their last as League and FA Cup champions. They were to finish no lower than third in the table in the following nine campaigns and also to contest two further FA Cup finals; but 1993-94’s double triumph brought them the last of their major trophies.
“Once Arsenal started beating us they were attracting the top players and getting stronger and stronger, and harder and harder to beat,” notes Borman, who sadly in the second game of the following season suffered a cruciate ligament injury that ruled her out of the 1995 World Cup.
“And when money started coming into the game,” she adds, “that made it harder for us as an independent club rather than being a team with the financial backing of a men’s club.
“But we stayed very competitive for a very long time and I’m proud we did that – and looking back I wouldn’t change a thing; we had great times as a team and I’ve got great memories from those days.”
While Donny were set to continue competing at the highest level for many years, both of 1993-94’s two relegated clubs – Ipswich Town and Wimbledon – were destined to remain playing below the top flight when the National League was re-structured following the 2011 formation of the Women’s Super League.
FINAL TABLE
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Doncaster Belles | 18 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 110 | 16 | 49 | +94 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 18 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 85 | 15 | 45 | +70 |
| 3 | Knowsley United | 18 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 63 | 30 | 41 | +33 |
| 4 | Wembley | 18 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 35 | 34 | 29 | +1 |
| 5 | Millwall Lionesses | 18 | 9 | 1 | 8 | 42 | 46 | 28 | +4 |
| 6 | Leasowe Pacific | 18 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 42 | 48 | 23 | +6 |
| 7 | Stanton Rangers | 18 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 32 | 38 | 23 | -6 |
| 8 | Red Star Southampton | 18 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 25 | 70 | 6* | -45 |
| 9 | Ipswich Town | 18 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 14 | 86 | 6 | -72 |
| 10 | Wimbledon | 18 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 23 | 65 | 3* | -65 |
*Red Star Southampton and Wimbledon each deducted 3 points
WFA NATIONAL LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION RESULTS 1993-94
12/9/1993
Arsenal 7-0 Ipswich Town
Leasowe Pacific 1-1 Wembley
Stanton Rangers 1-1 Millwall Lionesses
Wimbledon 0-3 Knowsley United
19/9/1993
Ipswich Town 0-3 Doncaster Belles
Leasowe Pacific 2-2 Stanton Rangers
Wembley 3-2 Red Star Southampton
26/9/1993
Stanton Rangers 1-3 Wembley
Ipswich Town 2-1 Wimbledon
Red Star Southampton 2-0 Leasowe Pacific
3/10/1993
Knowsley United 7-0 Red Star Southampton
Millwall Lionesses 4-1 Ipswich Town
Wembley 0-5 Arsenal
10/10/1993
Arsenal 4-0 Leasowe Pacific
Millwall Lionesses 2-5 Knowsley United
Wimbledon 1-2 Wembley
17/10/1993
Knowsley United 3-2 Stanton Rangers
Leasowe Pacific 4-2 Wimbledon
Millwall Lionesses 1-6 Doncaster Belles
Red Star Southampton 0-7 Arsenal
Wembley 2-1 Ipswich Town
24/10/1993
Arsenal 2-2 Stanton Rangers
Ipswich Town 2-8 Leasowe Pacific
Knowsley United 1-7 Doncaster Belles
Millwall Lionesses 2-1 Wembley
Wimbledon 0-4 Red Star Southampton
7/11/1993
Red Star Southampton 1-1 Ipswich Town
Stanton Rangers 2-0 Wimbledon
14/11/1993
Doncaster Belles 11-0 Leasowe Pacific
Ipswich Town 0-4 Stanton Rangers
Wimbledon 0-7 Arsenal
21/11/1993
Doncaster Belles 9-3 Red Star Southampton
Ipswich Town 1-11 Arsenal
Knowsley United 4-0 Wimbledon
Wembley 3-4 Leasowe Pacific
12/12/1993
Arsenal 2-2 Knowsley United
Red Star Southampton 1-4 Wembley
9/1/1994
Doncaster Belles 2-2 Arsenal
Wembley 0-0 Stanton Rangers
23/1/1994
Arsenal 2-3 Wembley
Ipswich Tow 2-5 Millwall Lionesses
Wimbledon 1-10 Doncaster Belles
30/1/1994
Doncaster Belles 3-0 Stanton Rangers
6/2/1994
Doncaster Belles 10—0 Ipswich Town
Knowsley United 2-1 Millwall Lionesses
Leasowe Pacific 1-2 Arsenal
Wembley 5-1 Wimbledon
13/2/1994
Red Star Southampton 0-3 Millwall Lionesses
20/2/1994
Arsenal 4-0 Red Star Southampton
Ipswich Town 2-4 Wembley
Wimbledon 1-4 Leasowe Pacific
27/2/1994
Stanton Rangers 0-4 Arsenal
Wembley 1-0 Millwall Lionesses
6/3/1994
Doncaster Belles 2-0 Wembley
Ipswich Town 1-1 Red Star Southampton
Knowsley United 0-5 Arsenal
Millwall Lionesses 2-0 Wimbledon
13/3/1994
Arsenal 9-2 Wimbledon
Wembley 0-1 Knowsley United
20/3/1994
Ipswich Town 1-1 Knowsley United
Red Star Southampton 2-2 Stanton Rangers
24/3/1994
Stanton Rangers 3-2 Leasowe Pacific
27/3/1994
Knowsley United 2-0 Wembley
Stanton Rangers 3-0 Red Star Southampton
Wimbledon 2-0 Ipswich Town
3/4/1994
Leasowe Pacific 2-3 Millwall Lionesses
Wembley 1-5 Doncaster Belles
6/4/1994
RS Southampton 3-4 Wimbledon
Wimbledon 0-3 Millwall Lionesses
17/4/1994
Leasowe Pacific 2-1 Red Star Southampton
Stanton Rangers 3-0 Ipswich Town
25/4/1994
Millwall Lionesses 0-6 Arsenal
1/5/1994
Doncaster Belles 6-1 Millwall Lionesses
7/5/1994
Leasowe Pacific 4-0 Ipswich Town
Wimbledon 0-4 Stanton Rangers
8/5/1994
Knowsley United 15-0 Ipswich Town
Leasowe Pacific 1-3 Doncaster Belles
Millwall Lionesses 5-2 Red Star Southampton
11/5/1994
Arsenal 3-1 Millwall Lionesses
Leasowe Pacific 0-2 Knowsley United
15/5/1994
Doncaster Belles 10-0 Wimbledon
Millwall Lionesses 2-6 Leasowe Pacific
Red Star Southampton 2-5 Knowsley United
22/5/1994
Arsenal 3-1 Doncaster Belles
25/5/1994
Stanton Rangers 1-5 Doncaster Belles
29/5/1994
Red Star Southampton 1-10 Doncaster Belles
Stanton Rangers 0-5 Knowsley United
1/6/1994
Doncaster Belles 7-0 Knowsley United
5/6/1994
Doncaster Belles 2-0 Wembley
Knowsley United 4-1 Leasowe Pacific
Date unknown for this fixture
