1997–98 FA Women's Cup

1997–98 FA Women's Cup
Tournament details
Country	England & Wales
Final positions
Champions	Arsenal
Runners-up	Croydon

The 1997–98 FA Women's Cup was an association football knockout tournament for women's teams, held between 28 September 1997 and 4 May 1998. It was the 28th season of the FA Women's Cup and was won by Arsenal, who defeated Croydon in the final.^[1]

The tournament consisted of eight rounds of competition proper.

All match results and dates from the Women's FA Cup website.^[2]

First round proper

All games were scheduled for 28 September 1997.

Tie	Home team	Score	Away team
1	Basingstoke Town	4–2	Bristol City
2	Bedford Bells	0–1 (a.e.t.)	Derby County
3	Belper Town	3–5	Gorleston
4	Birmingham City	5–3	Leicester City
5	Blackburn Rovers	3–2	Chesterfield
6	Cable–Tel (Newport)	1–3	Binfield
7	Calverton MW	6–1	Mowbray Villa
8	Camberley Town	0–6	Welwyn Garden City
9	Cardiff County	15–1	Barnstaple Town
10	Charlton	3–0	Hassocks
11	Chelmsford City	3–0	Aylesbury Stocklake
12	Chesham United	4–5	Hendon
13	Chester City	3–2 (a.e.t.)	Trafford
14	Chester Le Street Town	3–8	Leeds United
15	Clacton	A–W	Mansfield Town
Walkover for Mansfield Town
16	Clapton	2–0	Barnet
17	Collier Row	1–2	Chelsea
18	Darlington	6–0	Wrexham
19	Doncaster Rovers	3–1	Wigan
20	Droylsden	11–3	York City
21	Dulwich Hamlet	6–1	Tesco Country Club
22	Elmore Eagles	7–3	Worcester City
23	Freeway	0–6	Swindon Town
24	Gillingham	12–0	Stevenage Borough
25	Hackney	9–1	Queens Park Rangers Ladies South
26	Hampton	11–0	Great Wakering Rovers
27	Harlow Town	3–7	Wembley Mill Hill
28	Hemsworth Town	3–2	Mond Rangers
29	Highfield Rangers	6–0	Cambridge United
30	Hull City	0–4	Bangor City
31	Ilkeston	3–6	Canary Racers
32	Leeds City Vixens	4–1	Barnsley
33	London Ladies	1–2 (a.e.t.)	Abbey Rangers
34	London Women	4–0	Leatherhead
35	Loughborough Students	3–1	Haverhill Rovers
36	Luton	4–0	Sawbridgeworth Town
Abandoned after 59 minutes as Sawbridgeworth Town withdrew due to player injury.

Tie	Home team	Score	Away team
37	Maidstone United	0–2	Fulham
38	Milton Keynes Athletic	H–W	Cambridge City
Walkover for Milton Keynes Athletic
39	Newcastle Town	4–0	Stockport County
40	Newton Abbot	0–4	Swindon Spitfires
41	Norton	2–2 (a.e.t.)	Scunthorpe Ironesses
replay	Scunthorpe Ironesses	3–1	Norton
42	Okeford United	H–W	Slough Town
Walkover for Okeford United
43	Oldham Athletic	2–1	Middlesbrough
44	Oxford United	14–0	Protel Super Strikers
45	Portsmouth	5–1	Wokingham Town
46	Preston North End	3–2	Manchester United
47	Queens Park Rangers	2–1	Enfield
48	Rea Valley Rovers	7–0	Pye
49	Reading Royals	H–W	Thame United
Walkover for Reading Royals
50	Redhill	2–8	Tottenham Hotspur
51	Risborough Rangers	3–1	Clevedon United
52	Rochdale	0–9	Liverpool Feds
53	Selby Town	1–6	Newcastle
54	Sheffield Hallam United	0–10	Stockport
55	Sherborne	3–4 (a.e.t.)	Saltash Pilgrims
56	Shrewsbury Town	3–1	Nettleham
57	Southwold Town	3–4	Derby City
58	St Georges (Eltham)	24–0	Egham Town
59	Stanway	1–2	Surbiton
60	Stockport Celtic	0–2	Haslingden
61	Sunderland	2–3	Bury
62	Teynham Gunners	4–2	Hastings Town
63	Thorpe Tigers	0–6	Newsham Park Hospital
64	Truro City	2–1	Exeter Rangers
65	Walkern	1–5	Malling
66	Warrington Grange	6–0	Kirklees
67	Watford	9–0	Newham
68	West Ham United	5–0	Redbridge Wanderers

Second round proper

All games were originally scheduled for 2 November 1997.

Tie	Home team	Score	Away team
1	Bangor City	1–2	Oldham Athletic
2	Basingstoke Town	0–8	Reading Royals
3	Binfield	1–0	Okeford United
4	Blackburn Rovers	6–1	Haslingden
5	Bloxwich Town	3–1	Shrewsbury Town
6	Blyth Spartans Kestrels	6–3	Leeds United
7	Brighton & Hove Albion	0–0 (a.e.t.)	Hampton
replay	Hampton	1–2	Brighton & Hove Albion
8	Bury	2–4	Liverpool Feds
9	Calverton MW	0–1	Arnold Town
10	Charlton	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Abbey Rangers
replay	Abbey Rangers	0–2	Charlton
11	Chester City	2–4	Huddersfield Town
12	Clapton	0–4	Tottenham Hotspur
13	Coventry City	2–1	Mansfield Town
14	Derby City	1–5	Canary Racers
15	Dulwich Hamlet	0–16	Wimbledon
16	Elmore Eagles	0–7	Barry Town
17	Fulham	7–1	Teynham Gunners
18	Garswood Saints	6–1	Droylsden
19	Gorleston	0–2	Birmingham City
20	Hemsworth Town	1–5	Leeds City Vixens
21	Hendon	5–5 (a.e.t.)	Hackney
replay	Hackney	0–3	Hendon
22	Ipswich Town	0–5	Ilkeston Town
23	Langford	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Chelmsford City
replay	Chelmsford City	0–4	Langford

Tie	Home team	Score	Away team
24	London Women	1–2	Leyton Orient
25	Loughborough Students	4–4 (a.e.t.)	Highfield Rangers
replay	Highfield Rangers	2–1	Loughborough Students
26	Luton	0–1	Queens Park Rangers
27	Milton Keynes Athletic	1–6	Derby County
28	Newcastle Town	2–1	Newcastle
29	Preston North End	14–1	Darlington
30	Rea Valley Rovers	0–8	Aston Villa
31	Saltash Pilgrims	2–5	Portsmouth
32	Scunthorpe Ironesses	1–4	Stockport
33	Sheffield Wednesday	3–2	Doncaster Rovers
34	Southampton Saints	3–1	Oxford United
35	St Georges (Eltham)	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Surbiton
replay	Surbiton	0–3	St Georges (Eltham)
36	Swindon Town	0–2 (a.e.t.)	Cardiff County
37	Three Bridges	4–2	Chelsea
38	Truro City	2–2 (a.e.t.)	Swindon Spitfires
replay	Swindon Spitfires	1–2	Truro City
39	Warrington Grange	1–0	Newsham Park Hospital
40	Watford & Evergreen	3–0	Malling
41	Welwyn Garden City	1–10	Whitehawk
42	Wembley Mill Hill	7–1	Gillingham
43	West Ham United	3–1	Risborough Rangers
44	Wolverhampton Wanderers	14–0	Rushden & Diamonds

Third round proper

All games were originally scheduled for 30 November and 7 and 14 December 1997.

Tie	Home team	Score	Away team
1	Aston Villa	1–0	Wolverhampton Wanderers
2	Binfield	0–6	Southampton Saints
3	Bloxwich Town	6–1	Highfield Rangers
4	Blyth Spartans Kestrels	1–3 (a.e.t.)	Garswood Saints
5	Brighton & Hove Albion	3–3 (a.e.t.)	Langford
replay	Langford	2–3 (a.e.t.)	Brighton & Hove Albion
6	Canary Racers	6–0	Arnold Town
7	Cardiff County	3–0	Portsmouth
8	Coventry City	4–4 (a.e.t.)	Birmingham City
replay	Birmingham City	0–5	Coventry City
9	Fulham	4–7 (a.e.t.)	Tottenham Hotspur
10	Hendon	0–6	St Georges (Eltham)
11	Huddersfield Town	4–2	Leeds City Vixens

Tie	Home team	Score	Away team
12	Ilkeston Town	6–0	Derby County
13	Leyton Orient	2–2 (a.e.t.)	Reading Royals
replay	Reading Royals	1–0	Leyton Orient
14	Liverpool Feds	1–5	Sheffield Wednesday
15	Oldham Athletic	0–2	Preston North End
16	Queens Park Rangers	3–4	Wimbledon
17	Stockport	4–2	Blackburn Rovers
18	Three Bridges	0–6	Watford & Evergreen
19	Truro City	0–4	Barry Town
20	Warrington Grange	3–5	Newcastle Town
21	Wembley Mill Hill	1–4	Whitehawk
22	West Ham United	0–7	Charlton

Fourth round proper

All games were originally scheduled for 11, 18 and 25 January and 1 February 1998.

Tie	Home team	Score	Away team
1	Bloxwich Town	0–2	Ilkeston Town
2	Bradford City	5–1	Aston Villa
3	Canary Racers	0–12	Arsenal
4	Cardiff County	0–6	Millwall Lionesses
5	Charlton	1–2	Stockport
6	Doncaster Belles	10–0	St Georges (Eltham)
7	Everton	0–1	Liverpool
8	Garswood Saints	4–1	Preston North End
9	Huddersfield Town	3–2	Wimbledon
10	Reading Royals	0–2	Barry Town
11	Sheffield Wednesday	3–2	Watford & Evergreen
12	Southampton Saints	2–1	Newcastle Town
13	Tottenham Hotspur	2–1	Brighton & Hove Albion
14	Tranmere Rovers	4–2	Berkhamsted Town
15	Wembley	0–10	Croydon
16	Whitehawk	5–0	Coventry City

Fifth round proper

All games were played on 1 February 1998.

Tie	Home team	Score	Away team
1	Barry Town	2–1	Stockport
2	Bradford City	4–1	Sheffield Wednesday
3	Croydon	4–1	Tottenham Hotspur
4	Doncaster Belles	6–0	Huddersfield Town
5	Liverpool	2–0	Ilkeston Town
6	Millwall Lionesses	2–0	Whitehawk
7	Southampton Saints	0–1	Arsenal
8	Tranmere Rovers	1–2	Garswood Saints

Quarter-finals

All games were played on 1 March 1998.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]

1 March 1998	Croydon	3–2	Bradford City	Croydon
	Powell 22' Broadhurst Davis 51'	Report	Moore 9' Haggerty-Crosse 90+3'	Stadium: Croydon Sports Arena

1 March 1998	Doncaster Belles	1–2 (a.e.t.)	Arsenal
	Jackson 90+1'	Report	Spacey 70' White 103'

1 March 1998	Garswood Saints	1–2 (a.e.t.)	Barry Town
		Report

1 March 1998	Millwall Lionesses	2–2 (a.e.t.)	Liverpool
	83' 92'	Report	Formston 47' Duffy

15 March 1998 Replay	Liverpool	3–1	Millwall Lionesses	Kirkby
	Oakford 13' Hewitt 80'	Report	Lindsay 30'	Stadium: Kirkby Leisure Centre
Note: Millwall Lionesses were reinstated into the competition after Liverpool fielded an ineligible player.^[9]

Semi-finals

29 March 1998	Arsenal	1–0	Millwall Lionesses	Norbiton
	Yankey 78'	Report		Stadium: Kingsmeadow

29 March 1998	Barry Town	0–1	Croydon	Nailsworth
13:00 GMT		Report	Proctor 33'	Stadium: The Lawn Ground Referee: K. Cartwright (Bristol)

Final

4 May 1998

14:00 BST

Arsenal	3–2	Croydon
Spacey 17' Yankey 52' Few 90+2'	Report	Broadhurst 10' (pen.) Powell 55'

The New Den, London

Attendance: 2,205

Referee: Alan Wiley (Staffordshire)

References

^ "Women's Football: Another trophy for the Gunners".
^ "Women's F.A. Cup - Results". womensfacup.co.uk. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
^ "CSI FA WOMEN'S CUP - 6th md:". Daily Express. 2 March 1998. p. 72.
^ Fernandes, Paul (6 March 1998). "Ready for another chance of cup glory". Croydon Advertiser and East Surrey Reporter. p. 21.
^ "Hurst is hot for Emley". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 2 March 1998. p. 24.
^ "Boro miss chance to go top". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 2 March 1998. p. 25.
^ "Unlucky Liverpool must play it again". Liverpool Echo. 7 March 1998. p. 47.
^ Gray, Claire (16 March 1998). "Super Reds tame Lionesses". Liverpool Echo. p. 39.
^ "Kicked out". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. 26 March 1998. p. 23.

[1] "Women's Football: Another trophy for the Gunners".

[2] "Women's F.A. Cup - Results". womensfacup.co.uk. Retrieved 23 April 2025.

[3] "CSI FA WOMEN'S CUP - 6th md:". Daily Express. 2 March 1998. p. 72.

[4] Fernandes, Paul (6 March 1998). "Ready for another chance of cup glory". Croydon Advertiser and East Surrey Reporter. p. 21.

[:0-5] "Hurst is hot for Emley". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 2 March 1998. p. 24.

[6] "Boro miss chance to go top". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 2 March 1998. p. 25.

[7] "Unlucky Liverpool must play it again". Liverpool Echo. 7 March 1998. p. 47.

[8] Gray, Claire (16 March 1998). "Super Reds tame Lionesses". Liverpool Echo. p. 39.

[9] "Kicked out". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. 26 March 1998. p. 23.

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1997–98 in European women's football (UEFA)
Domestic leagues	Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus '97 '98 Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark England Estonia '98 Faroe Islands '97 '98 Finland '97 '98 France Georgia '97 '98 Germany Gibraltar Greece Hungary Iceland '97 '98 Israel Italy Kazakhstan Latvia Lithuania '97 '98 Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Montenegro Netherlands Northern Ireland '97 '98 Norway '97 '98 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Russia '97 '98 San Marino Scotland Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden '97 '98 Switzerland Turkey Ukraine '97 '98 Wales
Domestic cups	Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus '97 '98 Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark England Estonia Faroe Islands '97 '98 Finland '97 '98 France Georgia Germany Gibraltar Greece Hungary Iceland '97 '98 Israel Italy Kazakhstan Latvia Lithuania '97 '98 Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Montenegro Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '97 '98 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland '97 '98 Romania Russia '97 '98 San Marino Scotland Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine Wales
League cups	England Scotland
International competitions	1999 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification