Canadian set to play in Cup final at Wembley

Chelsea Ladies have triumphed in the FA Women’s Cup Final at Wembley, scoring a 1-0 victory against Notts County to win their first ever trophy.

The 38-year-old former Parliament Hill School pupil and Tottenham fan jokes that, as a young girl, she used to imagine herself walking out with a team at Wembley in the guise of Glenn Hoddle. I played at Wembley at the Olympics, when we packed it out against Brazil, and that atmosphere was something that I will never forget.

The team they will encounter in the final boast four of England’s medalists in their ranks, including Laura Bassett, who scored the own goal that put the Three Lionesses out of the World Cup semi-final, and former Arsenal Ladies striker Ellen White.

It’s the first time the women’s final has been held at England’s national stadium and a record crowd is already assured with more than 27,000 tickets sold.

“I think eventually most female clubs need to be professional – so players don’t have to work a 9-5 job – and that relies on financial support”.

“But you have to get the first one”. “Ultimately, it’s 90 minutes of football – all we can do is play our best and hopefully pick up that trophy at the end of it”.

I’d done a TV interview the night before and because my daughter was born in England and loved Gazza from Rangers she wanted it to be 3-3 with me and Gazza getting a hat-trick.

One of those came in 2007 as Vic Akers’s assistant when Arsenal Ladies clinched the Quadruple of domestic treble and European Cup. The two teams had not met since City ended Chelsea’s title hopes on the last day of the previous season, so the Londoners certainly felt they deserved a bit of revenge.

“She lifted the cup aloft alongside Claire Rafferty, who has been at Chelsea for nine years and played every minute of the victorious cup run”.

This season, however, Hayes is full-time at Chelsea and only helps out at the family business a couple of days a week.

The first of two risky corners fell to Desiree Scott on the edge of the area, but her sweetly-struck half volley was deflected just wide off the head of Gilly Flaherty. “It was a great chance created by Eni [Aluko] and I just knew I had to take the opportunity”, she says”. Had it not been for the form of both ‘keepers, Hedvig Lindahl and Alex Brooks, either team could have seen themselves take a comfortable lead.

Once more she drove in from the left and shuffled a pass inside from the incoming Ji. It’s just the way you bounce back from the mistakes, ‘ Flaherty said. “The last couple of cup finals in the men’s game have been pretty easy games for Arsenal”.