The formidable Megan Feringa, of The Athletic, has this week revealed a number of startling FA proposals in a huge shake up of the historic cup competition, known today as the Adobe Women’s FA Cup.
Unsurprisingly, according to sources, the driving factor is money with the FA looking to make the latter stages of the competition ‘more marketable’. The proposals also include an entry fee increase from £25 to £75 plus seeding four teams from the previous Women’s Super League (WSL) season and replacing the draw with a World Cup-style bracket.
So what has this got to do with Football in Berkshire you might ask?
Well, perhaps the most damning of the proposals is that Tier 7 teams would no longer be permitted to enter into the cup competition. Despite it being an incredible opportunity for teams of the lowest tier of the pyramid to face off against big name oppositions and earn enough money to sustain their club for the season.
We’ve delved back through our archives where we’ve spoken with many of our Tier 7 teams about the prospect of being part of the FA Cup and we want to use this opportunity to highlight exactly what they’ve said over the years about the chance to compete in the FA’s flagship women’s competition.
Caversham United – Division One, Thames Valley Counties Women’s Football League
We heard from Caversham United chairman, Paul Gutteridge, on starting up a women’s team and the prospect of entering the competition back in the 2021/22 season.
“As Caversham United chairman, I am so proud of what the women’s team achieved in the Women’s FA Cup. Whilst ultimately we didn’t get the result on Sunday against QPR, the fight was so good and they did amazingly to even get to that round and play against a really good side!” During the 21/22 season, Queens Park Rangers were a side three tiers above Caversham so to have gone two to two with the team would’ve be nigh on impossible without the FA Cup affording them such an opportunity.
Paul continued on “When club captain Emma Hopkins approached me to ask about entering the FA Cup this season, I was delighted to support the request. Overall, I throughly enjoyed being part of the campaign and I’m thrilled the club could help with the journey and support The Goats along the way.”
The Goats went on a Qualifying Round run in their debut season where they ultimately lost to Queens Park Rangers, but were able to win £1000 which is monumental for a club at the bottom of the pyramid.
Slough Town – Division One, Thames Valley Counties Women’s Football League
Abi Canvin, Slough Town Ladies Photo: Andrew Batt / contentello.smugmug.com
Slough Town re-entered the FA Cup in the 2022/23 season having not applied for entry for several seasons and we once again took the opportunity to speak with the manager at the time, Craig Gareppo about what it meant to them to be entering the cup.
He began by highlighting the esteemed nature of the 50 year old competition, “we’re hoping for a better result than the previous two years, but for me it’s exciting to manage a team playing in such a prestigious tournament”.
“Cup competitions are a totally different kind of buzz to league football” Craig Gareppo, former Slough Town manager
Ashridge Park – Division One, Thames Valley Counties Women’s Football League
Friendly action as Ashridge Park took on Sandhurst Town. Photo: Andrew Batt.
And finally, Ashridge Park made their competition debut in the 2024/25 season and we spoke to their manager Duncan Owen about the chance to be a part of an FA Cup run.
“The players and coaching staff are an ambitious bunch and were keen to keep progressing and having the opportunity to take part in the FA Cup was the natural next step for the group”.
“It’s also a great step in the right direction for us as a club – the development of our pathway for girls and women’s football at Ashridge Park has been important to us for some time, so for the players in our junior age groups to have something like this to aspire to is hugely important and something we’re all really excited about”. Duncan Owen, Ashridge Park Manager
“The girls are absolutely buzzing. We’re very fortunate to have a great mix of experienced players who’ve played in the competition before and young players experiencing the competition for the first time but everyone is extremely excited and can’t wait to get cracking”.
Ashridge Park did much the same this season again making it to the Third Round Qualifying, but the prize money this time had increased to £2,470. Again, a game-changing amount of money for a club at Tier 7.
