IN FRONT of the biggest crowd at a football match anywhere in England yesterday, Chelsea Ladies retained the FA Women’s Cup, which they had lost to Arsenal two years previously, in an ultimately comfortable victory at Wembley Stadium. 

Twenty-one years on from her first FA Cup triumph, their captain Katie Chapman led her team up the steps for the second time in four years to claim a 10th winners medal for herself, a feat unprecedented in the English game.

It was Chapman’s calm and assured short passing which helped wrest control of the game from an Arsenal team who made a bright start but ultimately faded against the league leaders.