The Women’s FA Cup will make its return from March 31, the Football Association (FA) has announced.
The FA has been in talks with FIFA and the competition after the 5th round can go into next season if required. The competition was originally stopped in January after the suspension of ‘non-elite’ sport.
In a recent statement, the FA said:
“The Football Association is pleased to confirm that following the Government’s recent roadmap announcement which will see the safe return of grassroots football from 29 March, the 2020/2021 Vitality Women’s FA Cup will recommence at the end of this month.
“With the recent announcement that the suspension will be lifted in a few weeks, The FA is in a position to reschedule the first four rounds of the competition – with one tie still to be played in the first round and 17 in the second round, before the third and fourth rounds can be played.”
As a result, the remaining fixture in the first round will take place on March 31st, followed by the second round from April 4th, third round from April 11 and fourth round from April 18. Women’s Super League (WSL) and Women’s Championship sides enter the competition from the fourth round stage.
At the moment, Manchester City are the FA Cup holders, having beaten Everton 3-1 after extra-time in last November’s re-scheduled final. Now, only one question is on the air: Will a new contender be able to steal the Cup from its current holders?