Holders Chelsea face Arsenal in the fifth round of the Women’s FA Cup on Sunday, in a repeat of last year’s final.
A Fran Kirby goal helped Double winners Chelsea to a 3-1 win at Wembley last May. The clubs are separated by just four points in the Super League table, although second-placed Arsenal have two games in hand.
The record 14-time FA Cup winners beat fourth-tier Crawley in the last round with a hat-trick by Ruby Grant, 16, while Chelsea won 2-0 at Everton.
In the other standout tie of the round, the WSL leaders play the Championship leaders when Manchester City visit Spurs. Like the men’s side, Tottenham Ladies are yet to draw a league game and they are on course for promotion to the top flight after 12 wins from 14 matches. City, cup winners in 2017, lead the WSL despite a frustrating 2-2 draw with Chelsea last weekend.
This week, Lewes FC formed a “small working group” of people within the Women’s game to draft a proposal calling for a “radical increase” in Women’s FA Cup prize money.
The winners of the women’s FA Cup collect £25,000, compared to the £3.6m given to the men’s holders. In addition, the total FA Cup prize fund for women’s teams is £250,000 — less than one per cent of the men’s £30.25m.
