Man Utd humble Spurs to lift Women's FA Cup for the first time
Manchester United 4-0 Tottenham (Toone 45+3, Williams 54’, Garcia 57’, 74’)
WEMBLEY – There is an old black and white photo of Broxbourne Ladies, the side that would become Tottenham Hotspur Women, that tells a story of a club’s journey from grassroots minnows to Wembley finalists. Spurs will be back, but it is Manchester United who have secured immortality – those who eventually obliterated Robert Vilahamn’s side will forever be remembered as the club’s first ever Women’s FA Cup winners.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe might be content to miss the big moments, with the Ineos chief to be found 196 miles away at Old Trafford for the men’s game against Arsenal. Yet Ella Toone is not, and especially not at Wembley. Often dismissed, but never ignored. She is the ultimate clutch player.
The tale of the tape for Eveliina Summanen, was thus, and epitomised Spurs’ afternoon. Defending valiantly, the Finland international almost knocked heads with Lucia Garcia as she cleared a golden opportunity from her path – but later came Toone, marauding into the final third and skipping past Summanen before drifting a strike dreamily into the top corner past a powerless Becky Spencer. Protests that Rachel Williams had fouled Luana Buhler to prevent her from reaching Toone proved just as impotent.
While it was nothing less than United deserved, Marc Skinner will surely have noted the irony. Starting one of his former Birmingham allies in Williams, at the expense of top scorer Nikita Parris, was part of a scrappier plan of attack. It is not so long ago that United pelted Spurs with set pieces in a 2-2 draw and Skinner smelled blood, even as Williams missed two clear headers.
When her goal came, it was just as unspectacular as planned and all the same, it was a moment the 36-year-old cannot even have dreamed about on her run of one WSL start in two seasons. Against her old club, Williams saw Katie Zelem’s free kick floating into the box and knew she had the height to eclipse Ashleigh Neville. One bounce and it was in, Skinner celebrating with a simple high five, Vilahamn bowing his head in defeat. The worst was yet to come.
If there were any doubt remaining, Spurs banished it themselves. Spencer was almost tearful and held her hands up in apology after gifting the third to Garcia, passing straight into her path as she dispatched into an empty net.
Had Beth England’s header not ricocheted off the post, it would only have been a consolation on a gruelling day. The exhaustion of the heat was beginning to set in and when the cross came deeper than anyone was expecting, only Lisa Naalsund was alive to it; she touched it on and Garcia had a second and United’s fourth.
A bruising reality check for Spurs was not totally unexpected against a United outfit that began the day with three Champions League winners (Parris, Melvine Malard and Geyse Da Silva Ferreira) on the bench.
Though the searing gulf was apparent, that is not necessarily cause for concern. Spurs are ahead of schedule under Vilahamn, who has totally rejuvenated a team that narrowly avoided relegation last season and took them to within 90 minutes of silverware.
The process could yet prove to their advantage. Whereas United entered the Championship after re-forming, Spurs have worked their way up painstakingly from grassroots level. Nine years ago, they were playing in the Ryman League’s Boux Avenue Cup final, watched by just a smattering of supporters and Gary Mabbutt, who remains the last Spurs player to lift the FA Cup – and they certainly were not blasting trumpet sounds to Glory, Glory Hallelujah around Wembley. That history breeds a kind of perseverance that can withstand even the most crushing disappointments.
Some of those fans have been for the journey and some were here just for the day, but where navy blues blurred into white and faint hope petered into bitter acceptance, Spurs had at least dared to dream. From the thickness of the local mud, via the Hive and Brisbane Road, they made it all the way to Wembley – now to make sure it is not a one-off.
That they were here at all is testament to the work of Glenn Weaver, the former chairman without whose vision the club would not exist in its current form, and to Sue Sharples and Kay Lovelock, the founders who resurrected the ashes of the old East Herts College women’s team. As Vilahamn put it afterwards, “it was not the end today – it was actually just the beginning.”
As Mary Earps skipped down the steps after collecting her medal, it was clear that at United, the taste for silverware has been whetted – it will require a little help from Ratcliffe, on whom there will be more scrutiny than ever regarding his interest in the women’s team.
Either the face of United’s football operations or not, he cannot have it both ways. Regardless, United should have nothing to prove to the Ineos suits, or indeed to Avram Glaser, who did attend. They should be content to play their football, of which they did an exemplary job.
Skinner can revel in a moment of vindication too. Recently handed a new deal, he was not afraid to make the big calls and while questions remain over United’s longer term strategy, he got almost all of them right. For so long it looked as if this summer would be the end of his reign – in fact it may be just the beginning.
