Heroines of 2012 chasing Women’s FA Cup glory again – on opposing teams

A new name will be etched onto the Women’s FA Cup this Sunday, but there are players on both teams who know what it is like to lift the coveted trophy.

Manchester United’s Rachel Williams, 36, and Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Becky Spencer, 33, played key roles in one of the competition’s greatest finals in 2012, helping Birmingham City win the tournament for the first time, and both have made crucial contributions to their respective teams’ journeys to Wembley this season.

Former England and Team GB striker Williams, who could play in her fourth Women’s FA Cup final on Sunday, headed in Manchester United’s winning goal in their 2-1 semi-final victory over holders Chelsea in April, and says: “We all just had a never-die attitude for that semi-final. I just thought, ‘If there’s ever a time to beat them, it’s now’. The girls know here that I’ll throw my head at anything. Ella Toone actually came up to me in the changing room just before we went out for the semi-final and said, ‘Rach, if I get into a decent position to cross it, where do you want it?’. I said, ‘Tooney, all you’ve got to do is beat the first centre-half and I’ll find it’ and she did. I let it hit my head and it was in!

“I’ve been in a few more finals since 2012 but I still haven’t won it again yet, so 12 years I’ve been waiting now, maybe this is my chance!”

Asked if she ever imagined, 12 years ago, that she would still be in major finals in 2024, Williams adds: “Well, I never thought the women’s game would be where it is now. The real turning point was the Olympics [in 2012]. It put women’s football on the map. That was just ‘wow’. For me to be here now, 36, still playing, but running around like I’m in my early 20s, I never dreamt of it. That’s why I don’t take any days for granted.”

Reflecting on how the scale of the occasion has changed, with Wembley sold out for Sunday’s showdown compared to the 8,700 at Ashton Gate 12 years ago, Spencer says: “There was a little bit of media [covering the final in 2012], but nothing compared to what it is now. The finals weren’t even at Wembley back then. It’s the journey women’s football has taken. I’m really proud that I was amongst that and I feel like I’ve had two different careers in football, because I’ve been playing for so long.”

In March, Spencer saved two penalties in a shootout as Tottenham beat Manchester City in the quarter-finals, denying Alex Greenwood and Chloe Kelly to send the Londoners into the last four for the first time. Now the Jamaica international Spencer is preparing for her tenth FA Cup final, albeit she has been an unused substitute in eight of them.

Crucially, she was the saviour between the sticks for Birmingham against Chelsea in 2012 during the most recent cup final shoot-out. If this season’s final is half as dramatic as that showpiece game, neutrals will be in for a treat. Spencer says: “I remember the game being very topsy-turvy, there was no control in some moments. It was roasting hot. There was so much drama for a cup final.”

Helen Ward (née Lander) put Chelsea ahead with 20 minutes to go with a left-footed strike but they were denied by a side-footed volley from Williams as the ball fell to the striker in the penalty area in the 91st minute. “We kept chasing,” Williams recalls. “I looked around at my team-mates and thought, ‘No, this can’t slip’.”

United fought back again in extra time, too. Kate Longhurst had put Chelsea 2-1 up, before a quickly taken free-kick from Karen Carney found the top corner, sending the contest into a shootout. After Williams’s spot-kick was saved by Carly Telford, Spencer became the heroine, saving from Chelsea’s 18-year-old Drew Spence. Claire Rafferty and Gemma Bonner went on to miss the target with their Chelsea penalties to start Birmingham’s party.

“We got back on the coach, all singing, drinking, then we got back to Birmingham and went out,” Williams says. “We’d already said, ‘Win or lose, we’re on the booze’. All I remember is being in the curry house at four in the morning with the whole team. We couldn’t believe we’d done it.”

Winning the shootout 3-2 had come as an extra relief for Spencer, who was set to take Birmingham’s fifth kick if it had been required. Looking ahead to Sunday’s final, she says: “Just to get to our first cup final is a big thing. I’m really proud of everyone who has anything to do with Tottenham at this moment. It’s been an amazing journey for us.

“If we play how we know we can, anything can happen. It’ll be a great spectacle. I hope it’s a really good game for everyone to watch. I hope both teams put on a good performance to keep the flow of women’s football up there and give the fans something to talk about afterwards.”

United are also looking to lift the women’s trophy for the first time, having lost to Chelsea in their inaugural final 12 months ago. Williams says: “We had a lot of heartache from last year. We’re absolutely over the moon to be going back. But we have to go into this game fully knowing that Spurs are also there because of what they’ve done this year and we’ve got to be at the top of our game. You can’t take anything for granted.

“Stay patient [is the message to fans]. We’re doing our best. We’re going to bring trophies and it’ll click. Maybe the FA Cup will be our first trophy, maybe it won’t, but what I can guarantee again is that next year we’ll learn from the highs and lows and be back ready to go again.”