2019–20 FA Women's League Cup

The 2019–20 FA Women's League Cup was the ninth edition of the FA Women's Super League and FA Women's Championship's league cup competition. It was sponsored by Continental AG, who sponsored the competition since its creation, and is officially known as the FA Women's Continental League Cup for sponsorship reasons. All 23 teams from the FA Women's Super League and FA Women's Championship contested the competition - the largest field in the history of the cup and an increase of one from the previous year's competition.

2019–20 FA Women's League Cup
CountryEngland
Dates21 September 2019 –
29 February 2020
Teams23
Defending championsManchester City
ChampionsChelsea (1st title)
Runners-upArsenal
Matches played60
Goals scored242 (4.03 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)Bethany England (7)

Manchester City were the defending champions. As of the start the competition, only Manchester City and Arsenal had previously won the cup in the eight seasons it has previously been contested in.

Format changes

The 2019–20 Women's League Cup kept the same format including an initial group stage that has been used since the 2017–18 edition but expanded by one to accommodate the increase in teams in the top two divisions of women's football to 23. The season was intended to be the first in which the FA WSL and FA Championship both had twelve teams,[1] allowing for a league cup group stage with four equal groups of six teams. However, the demotion of Yeovil Town from the WSL to the third tier FA Women's National League[2] meant that, though the competition would have its highest ever number of participants, one group would still have to contain only five clubs.[3]

Group stage

Group A
Pos Team Pld W WPEN LPEN L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SHU AST LIV DUR COV BLB
1 Sheffield United 5 3 0 1 1 14 8 +6 10 Advance to Knock-out stage — — — — 2–2 4–1
2 Aston Villa 5 3 0 1 1 12 8 +4 10 3–1 — 2–0 — — 5–2
3 Liverpool 5 3 0 0 2 16 7 +9 9 2–3 — — 3–1 — —
4 Durham 5 3 0 0 2 11 8 +3 9 0–4 3–0 — — 4–0 —
5 Coventry United 5 0 3 0 2 6 14 −8 6 — 2–2 1–5 — — 1–1
6 Blackburn Rovers 5 0 0 1 4 5 19 −14 1 — — 0–6 1–3 — —
Updated to match(es) played on 11 December 2019. Source: thefa.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Number of wins; 5) Head-to-head record

Group B
Pos Team Pld W WPEN LPEN L GF GA GD Pts Qualification ARS BHA BRI LON CHA LCL
1 Arsenal 5 4 0 1 0 25 0 +25 13 Advance to Knock-out stage — — 7–0 9–0 4–0 —
2 Brighton & Hove Albion 5 3 1 0 1 13 4 +9 11 0–0 — 1–2 — — —
3 Bristol City 5 3 0 1 1 11 11 0 10 — — — 3–0 — 1–1
4 London Bees 5 1 1 0 3 3 17 −14 5 — 0–5 — — 0–0 —
5 Charlton Athletic 5 1 0 1 3 3 12 −9 4 — 0–3 2–5 — — 1–0
6 London City Lionesses 5 0 1 0 4 3 14 −11 2 0–5 2–4 — 0–3 — —
Updated to match(es) played on 11 December 2019. Source: thefa.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Number of wins; 5) Head-to-head record

Group C
Pos Team Pld W WPEN LPEN L GF GA GD Pts Qualification MNU MCI BIR EVE LEI
1 Manchester United 4 4 0 0 0 19 2 +17 12 Advance to Knock-out stage — 2–0 — — 11–1
2 Manchester City 4 3 0 0 1 11 4 +7 9 — — 2–1 — 5–0
3 Birmingham City 4 2 0 0 2 8 6 +2 6 1–3 — — 1–0 —
4 Everton 4 1 0 0 3 5 8 −3 3 0–3 1–4 — — —
5 Leicester City 4 0 0 0 4 2 25 −23 0 — — 1–5 0–4 —
Updated to match(es) played on 11 December 2019. Source: thefa.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Number of wins; 5) Head-to-head record

Group D
Pos Team Pld W WPEN LPEN L GF GA GD Pts Qualification CHE REA WHU TOT CRY LEW
1 Chelsea 5 4 0 1 0 13 3 +10 13 Advance to Knock-out stage — 1–1 2–0 5–1 — —
2 Reading 5 3 1 0 1 14 4 +10 11 — — 0–1 — 6–0 3–2
3 West Ham United 5 3 0 1 1 13 5 +8 10 — — — 2–2 7–0 3–1
4 Tottenham Hotspur 5 2 1 0 2 12 11 +1 8 — 0–4 — — — 6–0
5 Crystal Palace 5 1 0 0 4 3 21 −18 3 0–3 — — 0–3 — —
6 Lewes 5 0 0 0 5 6 17 −11 0 1–2 — — — 2–3 —
Updated to match(es) played on 11 December 2019. Source: thefa.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Number of wins; 5) Head-to-head record

Quarter-finals

The draw for this round was made live via Talksport 2 on 16 December 2019 with the winners of each group all receiving home advantage. The round took place on Wednesday 15 January 2020 and contained two FA Women's Championship teams, double the amount that reached the quarter-finals the previous season.

Chelsea3–1Aston Villa
 Report
  • Welsh  84'
Attendance: 1,799
Referee: Louise Saunders
Arsenal1–0Reading
 Report
Referee: Emily Heaslip
Sheffield United0–4Manchester City
Report
Attendance: 1,521
Referee: Jane Simms
Manchester United2–1Brighton & Hove Albion
 Report
Attendance: 642
Referee: Martin Woods

Semi-finals

The draw for this round took place on 18 January 2019 and was broadcast live on BT Sport Score. The round took place on 29 January 2020 and contained the same four semi-finalists as the previous season.

Arsenal2–1Manchester City
 Report
Referee: Abigail Byrne
Manchester United0–1Chelsea
Report
Attendance: 1,044
Referee: Elizabeth Sims

Final
Main article: 2020 FA Women's League Cup Final
Beth England scoring the winning goal.

On 16 January, it was announced the 2020 FA Women's League Cup Final would be held at the City Ground, the home of Nottingham Forest, for the first time.[4] The game was televised live domestically on BT Sport and internationally via the FA's own streaming service the FA Player.[5]

Arsenal1–2Chelsea
 Report
Attendance: 6,743
Referee: Helen Conley

See also

References
  1. "Women's Super League: New full-time, professional era - all you need to know". BBC Sport. 9 September 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  2. "Yeovil Town Ladies: Championship licence denied and club to go down two tiers". BBC Sport. 17 May 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  3. "Women's Continental League Cup: Manchester rivals to meet in group stage". BBC Sport. 26 July 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  4. "Conti Cup Final to be held at Forest". womenscompetitions.thefa.com.
  5. The Football Association. "League Cup final on FA Player". www.thefa.com.
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