YO-YO REDS ROUND OFF FIRST FAWPL ERA WITH ANOTHER TITLE
In the FAWPL’s final season before the 2011 launch of the Women’s Super League it was perhaps not too surprising that Liverpool should win the Northern Division - and that OOH Lincoln should finish runners-up!
Having spent the first 10 seasons of the league’s history in the top flight, finishing runners-up to Arsenal in 1994-95 – the season in which they had undergone their name-change from Knowsley United – Liverpool had been yo-yoing their way up and down the divisions.
Their relegations from the National Division had arrived in 2000-01, 2004-05 and 2008-09, while the Northern Division title had been captured in 2003-04, 2006-07 and now 2009-10.
Meanwhile, OOH Lincoln had been the ‘nearly’ women of the Northern Division, with this 2009-10 campaign incredibly being the fourth in succession that they had to settle for second place.
Back in 2006-07 Liverpool had pipped them by five points to take the title, but this time it was an emphatic 10-point margin as the Reds topped the table from the early days of the season.
Kicking off the campaign with a 4-1 home win against Lincoln, they completed the double over their nearest rivals with a 2-1 away victory in November as they continued a run that brought them maximum points from their first 13 outings before coasting to the title.
Wales international Cheryl Foster, in her sixth season with the Reds, netted 16 goals in the campaign and won the division’s Top Goalscorer award. The PE teacher and striker, who went on to be a highly-regarded FIFA referee, recalls: “We played some good football that year. We were very fluid with our movement - there was a lot of moving the ball around, moving around positions. I could end up on the right, Katie Brussell could be through the middle. Katie scored a few goals, Kelly Jones scored a few, it (goalscoring) was quite spread out.
“I was probably more competitive than I’d ever been before, because I’d been knocking on that (Top Goalscorer award) door for years. I think I'd scored more in other seasons and not won it, so to have only scored 16 and won it was a bit strange. I got to have a trip to London (for the FA Awards) and collected a little trophy - I’ve still got the bottle of champagne that came with it in the cabinet.”
Liverpool had won the division but that did not mean automatic entry into the new WSL, instead it was through an application process in which 16 clubs stated their cases for the eight places available.
Along with six top flight clubs, however, Liverpool and OOH Lincoln (who changed their name to Lincoln Ladies), made the cut and were to kick off the WSL in a summer format in 2011.
The only other Northern Division club who applied to join the new League were Leicester City, whose bid failed. And when the newly constituted National Division - which would now be the second tier of the women’s league structure - started in the autumn of 2010, there was not a single club that had competed in the 2009-10 FAWPL Northern Division.
Remembering her club’s successful application and the sense of everything about the club ramping up in its ‘professional’ approach around the women’s side, Foster says: “I was on the committee for Liverpool as the Welfare Officer. I was part of the initial conversations about the WSL, and there was an element of everything getting ready. I was really excited about the WSL, you know, finally it's going to be happening.”
FINAL TABLE
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 22 | 19 | 2 | 1 | 59 | 19 | 59 | +40 |
| 2 | OOH Lincoln | 20 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 46 | 22 | 49 | +24 |
| 3 | Leicester City Women | 22 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 53 | 35 | 39 | +18 |
| 4 | Manchester City | 21 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 36 | 25 | 36 | +11 |
| 5 | Curzon Ashton | 21 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 37 | 39 | 31 | -2 |
| 6 | Aston Villa | 22 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 37 | 35 | 29 | +2 |
| 7 | Leeds City Vixens | 22 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 41 | 48 | 27 | -10 |
| 8 | Newcastle United | 22 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 38 | 48 | 27 | -10 |
| 9 | Preston North End | 22 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 56 | 54 | 24 | +2 |
| 10 | Derby County | 22 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 30 | 51 | 20 | -21 |
| 11 | Sheffield Wednesday | 22 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 29 | 50 | 18 | -21 |
| 12 | Luton Town | 18 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 12 | 48 | 6 | -36 |
Luton failed to fulfil four fixtures: points awarded to opposition
RESULTS
16/8/2009Aston Villa 1-0 Leeds City Vixens
Curzon Ashton 0-3 Leicester City
Fylde 4-2 Derby County
Liverpool 4-1 OOH Lincoln
Manchester City 4-0 Sheffield Wednesday
Newcastle United 2-2 Luton Town
23/8/2009
Leeds City Vixens 3-0 Fylde
Luton Town 0-1 Manchester City
Sheffield Wednesday 1-1 Aston Villa
30/8/2009
Aston Villa 1-1 OOH Lincoln
Curzon Ashton 3-0 Derby County
Leicester City 5-0 Fylde
Liverpool 2-0 Luton Town
Manchester City 2-3 Leeds City Vixens
Sheffield Wednesday 1-1 Newcastle United
2/9/2009
Aston Villa 2-0 Luton Town
Fylde 2-3 Liverpool
Leeds City Vixens 2-6 Newcastle United
Leicester City 2-2 Derby County
OOH Lincoln 4-1 Sheffield Wednesday
3/9/2009
Manchester City 1-1 Curzon Ashton
6/9/2009
Derby County 1-4 Aston Villa
Leeds City Vixens 1-5 Liverpool
Leicester City 4-3 Newcastle United
Luton Town 0-6 Fylde
OOH Lincoln 1-0 Manchester City
Sheffield Wednesday 4-2 Curzon Ashton
20/9/2009
Derby County 3-1 Sheffield Wednesday
Fylde 1-3 Curzon Ashton
Leeds City Vixens 0-4 OOH Lincoln
Leicester City 5-0 Luton Town
Manchester City 3-3 Aston Villa
27/9/2009
Aston Villa 1-1 Leicester City
Fylde 4-1 Sheffield Wednesday
Liverpool 7-2 Derby County
Luton Town 1-2 Leeds City Vixens
Newcastle United 0-1 Manchester City
OOH Lincoln 2-0 Curzon Ashton
30/9/2009
Liverpool 4-0 Fylde
Luton Town 1-2 Aston Villa
1/10/2009
Newcastle United 3-0 Leeds City Vixens
Sheffield Wednesday 3-4 OOH Lincoln
Derby County 1-1 Leicester City
4/10/2009
Leeds City Vixens 2-3 Curzon Ashton
Derby County 0-2 Manchester City
Newcastle United 1-2 Liverpool
OOH Lincoln 2-2 Fylde
Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 Luton Town
7/10/2009
Curzon Ashton 0-2 Manchester City
11/10/2009
Aston Villa 3-1 Curzon Ashton
Derby County 3-0 Leeds City Vixens
Leicester City 0-3 Manchester City
Liverpool 1-0 Sheffield Wednesday
Newcastle United 2-2 Fylde
18/10/2009
Leeds City Vixens 1-3 Leicester City
Manchester City 2-0 Derby County
OOH Lincoln 3-1 Newcastle United
25/10/2009
Derby County 2-2 Luton Town
Fylde 3-1 Manchester City
Leicester City 2-2 OOH Lincoln
Newcastle United 2-1 Curzon Ashton
Sheffield Wednesday 1-5 Leeds City Vixens
1/11/2009
Aston Villa 0-2 Newcastle United
Leicester City 4-1 Sheffield Wednesday
Manchester City 1-2 Liverpool
8/11/2009
Derby County 3-2 Fylde
Leeds City Vixens 4-2 Aston Villa
Leicester City 5-2 Curzon Ashton
Luton Town 1-2 Newcastle United
OOH Lincoln 1-2 Liverpool
Sheffield Wednesday 1-1 Manchester City
15/11/2009
Newcastle United 2-2 Derby County
22/11/2009
Leeds City Vixens 1-1 Manchester City
Luton Town 0-2 Liverpool
OOH Lincoln 2-1 Aston Villa
29/11/2009
Fylde 7-1 Luton Town
Liverpool 5-3 Leeds City Vixens
Newcastle United 2-3 Leicester City
6/12/2009
Sheffield Wednesday 0-3 Derby County
7/2/2010
Fylde 1-3 Leeds City Vixens
Manchester City 1-2 Newcastle United
14/2/2010
Leeds City Vixens 3-0 Derby County
Leicester City 0-2 Liverpool
28/2/2010
Curzon Ashton 2-1 Leeds City Vixens
OOH Lincoln 4-0 Derby County
Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 Fylde
7/3/2010
Fylde 9-3 Newcastle United
Manchester City 3-4 Leicester City
14/3/2010
Derby County 1-2 Curzon Ashton
Fylde 0-3 OOH Lincoln
Leeds City Vixens 3-1 Luton Town
Liverpool 1-2 Manchester City
Newcastle United 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday
21/3/2010
Aston Villa 2-2 Sheffield Wednesday
Curzon Ashton 2-2 Fylde
Newcastle United 0-4 OOH Lincoln
28/3/2010
Liverpool 0-0 Newcastle United
Luton Town 1-1 Sheffield Wednesday
OOH Lincoln 2-1 Leicester City
4/4/2010
Aston Villa 1-2 Liverpool
Curzon Ashton 6-1 Newcastle United
Sheffield Wednesday 3-1 Leicester City
11/4/2010
Curzon Ashton 2-1 Sheffield Wednesday
Derby County 0-4 Liverpool
Fylde 4-4 Aston Villa
Luton Town 0-3 Leicester City
OOH Lincoln 1-2 Leeds City Vixens
14/4/2010
Curzon Ashton 1-1 Liverpool
18/4/2010
Curzon Ashton 1-1 Aston Villa
Derby County 1-1 Newcastle United
Fylde 3-3 Leicester City
Sheffield Wednesday 2-3 Liverpool
21/4/2010
Liverpool 3-1 Curzon Ashton
22/4/2010
Derby County 0-1 OOH Lincoln
25/4/2010
Aston Villa 2-1 Fylde
Leeds City Vixens 1-1 Sheffield Wednesday
Liverpool 2-0 Leicester City
Manchester City 1-1 OOH Lincoln
27/4/2010
Aston Villa 2-3 Derby County
29/4/2010
Curzon Ashton 1-3 OOH Lincoln
2/5/2010
Leicester City 2-1 Leeds City Vixens
Luton Town 0-3 Curzon Ashton
Newcastle United 0-3 Aston Villa
6/5/2010
Manchester City 2-2 Fylde
9/5/2010
Aston Villa 0-2 Manchester City
Luton Town 2-1 Derby County
13/5/2010
Leicester City 1-1 Aston Villa
16/5/2010
Liverpool 2-0 Aston Villa
