The National Football Museum is home to the oldest surviving Women’s FA Cup trophy – but did you know that the original silverware is missing?
Shortly after The FA’s de facto “ban” on women’s football, the WFA Cup was founded in 1970. The inaugural competition featured 71 different clubs – including some from Scotland and Wales. In fact, Scottish teams featured in the first three finals: Stewarton Thistle in ’71, Lee’s Ladies in ’72 and Westhorn United in ’73.
In all three finals, those teams from north of the border were beaten by England’s best: Southampton. In their formative years, the Sirens’ squad boasted some of the country’s top talents, including museum Hall of Famer Sue Lopez, prolific forward Pat Davies and shot stopper Sue Buckett.
From 1973 onwards, they could also call upon the talents of dangerous winger Pat Chapman. She scored ten goals across seven finals: remarkably, six of those came in just one game, an 8-2 drubbing of Queen’s Park Rangers. It is perhaps no surprise that this record number of goals still stands today.
The South Coast side would dominate the tournament early doors, winning seven of the first ten finals. They won their eighth and final WFA Cup in 1981, seeing off St Helens 4-2 at the latter town’s ground.
Despite their crushing dominance, there were notable upsets. In 1974, Fodens Ladies overcame the odds with a 2-1 win at The Eyrie (the former home of Bedford Town). Three years later, QPR achieved the same feat, a first-half goal from Carrie Slaley proving enough to topple the South Coast giants at London’s Champion Hill.
In 1979, the original Mitre Challenge Trophy was replaced by a new version, donated by The FA to commemorate the competition’s tenth anniversary. The first trophy has since disappeared: despite various campaigns to locate the silverware, it is yet to be found.
There have been various campaigns to try and recover the original silverware, but thus far, the story of the missing trophy remains a mystery.
In its stead, the museum is immensely proud to house its 1979 replacement in our Match Gallery trophy cabinet.