BLACK CATS COMPLETE TITLE HAT-TRICK IN LAST NATIONAL DIVISION SEASON

A five-match winning streak at the start of the season set Sunderland up to make it three Premier League titles in succession. But with Watford and Leeds United on their heels throughout what was the National Division’s final campaign before several of its teams moved up to the newly created FA WSL2, it took the Black Cats until their penultimate outing to make certain of completing the hat-trick. 

Watford ended Sunderland’s 100 per cent start, the Hornets drawing home and away with Mick Mulhern’s team in a mid-season sequence of results that also saw Leeds hold the pacesetters.  

Those three stalemates represented the only points the Black Cats had dropped until suffering a shock 2-1 defeat at lowly Charlton Athletic on 14 April. Meanwhile, the consistent Hornets had not just kept on the Cats’ tail but had gone ahead of them by a point at the top of the table.

Still, Sunderland had a game in hand and so had Leeds - and when the Yorkshire outfit beat Watford 3-0 on the following weekend that critically changed the shape of the title battle.

Mulhern’s girls took full advantage, winning their following four games to clinch the title with a 2-0 home victory over Cardiff City on 19 May. 

That left them with just one match remaining. That match, ironically, was against Leeds, who had drawn level on points with a Watford team that had now finished its fixtures though with a better goal difference than their rivals for second place.

So when Leeds travelled up to the North East on the last day of the campaign, they knew that a draw would be enough to earn them the runners-up spot.

They had won six of their seven games since drawing with Sunderland, so confidence was high. But the Black Cats gave no quarter, winning 3-1 and so finishing the season as they had started - with a run of five straight victories.

At the other end of the table Barnet finished bottom with just four points from their 18-match schedule. The Bees were not, however, confined to another season in the Premier League as they were one of four clubs from the National Division whose applications for a place in the FA WSL2 were successful

Re-branded as London Bees, they would be joined in WSL2 by Sunderland, Watford and Aston Villa while Manchester City - who had finished fourth in the National Division table - were placed in WSL1 at the expense of Doncaster Rovers Belles due to the stipulations of the FA licence criteria.

The remaining five teams that constituted the 2012-13 National Division would in 2013-14 be members of what became a two-division top tier - Leeds were to step into the Northern Premier Division while Coventry City, Charlton, Cardiff and Portsmouth went on to play in the Southern Premier Division.

FINAL TABLE

RESULTS

19/8/2012
Aston Villa 1-2 Watford
Barnet 0-3 Manchester City
Coventry City 2-0 Charlton Athletic
Leeds 1-2 Cardiff City
Portsmouth 1-4 Sunderland

26/8/2012
Charlton Athletic 4-4 Manchester City
Leeds 1-0 Coventry City
Portsmouth Ladies 3-0 Aston Villa
Sunderland 7-0 Barnet
Watford 2-1 Cardiff City

9/9/2012
Aston Villa 2-1 Charlton Athletic
Cardiff City 0-0 Barnet
Coventry City 1-4 Sunderland
Manchester City 2-3 Portsmouth 
Watford 1-2 Leeds

16/9/2012
Charlton Athletic 2-3 Leeds
Portsmouth 0-1 Coventry City
Sunderland 2-1 Aston Villa

30/9/2012
Aston Villa 0-4 Cardiff City
Charlton Athletic 7-2 Portsmouth Ladies
Coventry City 0-2 Watford
Leeds 2-0 Barnet
Manchester City 2-3 Sunderland

7/10/2012
Barnet 2-2 Portsmouth Ladies
Cardiff City 0-1 Charlton Athletic
Leeds 1-2 Aston Villa
Manchester City 2-1 Coventry City
Watford 2-2 Sunderland

21/10/2012
Coventry City 1-3 Aston Villa
Portsmouth 3-3 Cardiff City
Watford 1-1 Manchester City

28/10/2012
Aston Villa 1-0 Manchester City
Barnet 0-2 Coventry City
Leeds 3-0 Portsmouth Ladies

11/11/2012
Barnet 0-2 Aston Villa
Coventry City 2-1 Cardiff City
Manchester City 3-0 Leeds
Sunderland 4-1 Charlton Athletic

18/11/2012
Manchester City 1-0 Barnet
Sunderland 2-2 Watford

2/12/2012
Cardiff City 1-2 Watford
Manchester City 1-2 Charlton Athletic

9/12/2012
Barnet 0-0 Cardiff City

16/12/2012
Sunderland 7-0 Portsmouth Ladies
Watford 3-0 Barnet

6/1/2013
Watford 1-0 Coventry City
Barnet 1-4 Leeds
Cardiff City 1-1 Aston Villa

10/2/2013
Manchester City 1-1 Watford

17/2/2013
Leeds 1-1 Sunderland

24/2/2013
Charlton Athletic 1-1 Barnet

3/3/2013
Leeds 2-0 Charlton Athletic
Sunderland 3-2 Coventry City
Watford 4-0 Aston Villa

10/3/2013
Portsmouth Ladies 0-0 Charlton Athletic
Barnet 0-1 Sunderland

24/3/2013
Cardiff City 3-2 Manchester City

31/3/2013
Barnet 0-1 Watford
Cardiff City 2-0 Portsmouth Ladies
Charlton Athletic 1-0 Aston Villa
Coventry City 0-3 Manchester City

7/4/2013
Aston Villa 3-0 Barnet
Charlton Athletic 0-1 Coventry City
Manchester City 3-1 Cardiff City
Portsmouth Ladies 1-2 Watford

14/4/2013
Cardiff City 0-1 Leeds
Charlton Athletic 2-1 Sunderland
Coventry City 3-2 Barnet

21/4/2013
Aston Villa 2-0 Portsmouth Ladies
Barnet 0-2 Charlton Athletic
Cardiff City 0-2 Coventry City
Leeds 3-0 Watford
Sunderland 1-0 Manchester City

28/4/2013
Aston Villa 1-1 Leeds
Cardiff City 0-4 Sunderland
Portsmouth Ladies 2-1 Barnet
Watford 3-0 Charlton Athletic

2/5/2013
Leeds 2-1 Manchester City

5/5/2013
Watford 2-1 Portsmouth Ladies

8/5/2013
Charlton Athletic 1-1 Watford

12/5/2013
Aston Villa 0-3 Sunderland
Charlton Athletic 0-4 Cardiff City
Coventry City 1-2 Leeds
Portsmouth Ladies 1-2 Manchester City

14/5/2013
Aston Villa 1-4 Coventry City

19/5/2013
Manchester City 1-1 Aston Villa
Portsmouth Ladies 1-2 Leeds
Sunderland 2-0 Cardiff City

26/5/2013
Coventry City 2-2 Portsmouth Ladies
Sunderland 3-1 Leeds

NOTE OF NAME CHANGES:
Coventry City became Coventry City in 2015