Arsenal And Academy Set For Eastern Adventures

The UEFA Women's Champions League draw, held in Nyon, Switzerland, has thrown up two journeys into Eastern Europe for England's representatives in the continental showpiece for the women's game.

Unseeded Bristol Academy were the first of the pair to be drawn out of the bowl by UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino, only to be made to wait just a little longer as Arsenal were initially pulled out for the tie. The competition rules, however, prevent two clubs from the same country facing each other in the round of 32, meaning that Arsenal were placed into the next bracket.

Soon, though, there was to be an opponent picked for the West Country side, qualifiers for the competition after finishing runners up to Arsenal in the 2011 Women's FA Cup final, and it was to produce a daunting trip for the continental first timers. FC Energiya Voronezh, second place finishers in the 2010 Russian Premier League, were the seeded rivals drawn to face Academy, a trip of just under 1,800 miles for the vixens to face.

Having been shunted straight into the next fixture Arsenal were drawn alongside opponents from Belarus by the name of FC Bobruchanka. Based in the Belarussian town of Babruysk Bobruchanka were champions of their domestic Premier League in 2010, thus entering the Champions League at the qualifying stage where they travelled to Croatia for their round robin group. The team finished second in that group, beating Northern Ireland's Newtownabbey and NSA Sofia of Bulgaria and losing to eventual winners Osijek, but were one of two runners up to take a place in the next stage.

The other side to make it into the first knockout phase via the runners up spot were Peamount United of Ireland, coming second behind Spaniards Rayo Vallecano. It will be their debut in the first round proper and they will be taking a Parisian trip as they face PSG who placed second in the Division 1 Féminine earlier this year.

The champions from the north of the border in 2010 were the all-conquering Glasgow City, winners of the last four Scottish Premier League crowns and currently top this term. Making their debut outside of the qualifiers City will face two legs against a team with similar domestic dominance, Valur Reykjavik of Iceland, 10 times champions of their country and 13 time cup winners.

In the other ties holders Lyon will play Olimpia Cluj of Romania while finalists from the 2010/11 competition Turbine Potsdam will face off with Thór/KA of Iceland. 1. FFC Frankfurt, the most successful club in the tournaments history, were drawn against Norwegian side Stabæk.

If Bristol Academy get past Energiya they could play either FC Twente or Rossiyanka while Arsenal would be paired with the winner of Vantaa and Rayo Vallecano in the next stage.

First legs will be played on the 28th/29th of September with the second legs a week later on the 5th/6th of October. Round of 16 ties will be played over the first two weeks of November.

The full draws are as follows:

Round of 32
CFF Olimpia Cluj (ROU) v Olympique Lyonnais (FRA)
Peamount United (IRL) v Paris Saint-Germain FC (FRA)
CSHVSM (KAZ) v SV Neulengbach (AUT)
Apollon Limassol LFC (CYP) v AC Sparta Praha (CZE)
PK-35 Vantaa (FIN) v Rayo Vallecano de Madrid (ESP)
UPC Tavagnacco (ITA) v WFC Malmö (SWE)
WFC Osijek (CRO) v Göteborg FC (SWE)
Glasgow City FC (SCO) v Valur Reykjavík (ISL)
BSC Young Boys (SUI) v Fortuna Hjørring (DEN)
Thór/KA (ISL) v 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam (GER)
ASA Tel-Aviv FC (ISR) v ASD Torres CF (ITA)
FC Twente (NED) v FC Rossiyanka (RUS)
Bristol Academy WFC (ENG) v FC Energiya Voronezh (RUS)
FC Bobruchanka (BLR) v Arsenal LFC (ENG)
Standard Fémina de Liège (BEL) v Brøndby IF (DEN)
Stabæk Football (NOR) v 1. FFC Frankfurt (GER)
 
Round of 16
Stabæk/Frankfurt v Peamount/PSG
Olimpia Cluj/Lyon v Apollon/Sparta
CSHVSM/Neulengbach v Tavagnacco/Malmö
Young Boys/Fortuna v Osijek/Göteborg
Bristol/Energiya v Twente/Rossiyanka
Vantaa/Rayo v Bobruchanka/Arsenal
Thór/Potsdam v Glasgow/Valur
Standard/Brøndby v Tel-Aviv/Torres

FA Cup Final Gives The Women's Game A Showcase

The Ricoh Arena was the venue for this years showpiece event in the women's footballing calender as the stadium played magnificent hosts to a 2-0 triump for Arsenal Ladies over their Bristol Academy counterparts.

Over 13,000 fans filled the sky blue seats of Coventry City's stadium on a day that saw the sun peer over the clouds just in time for the last few minutes to tick by as Arsenal regained the trophy that they had given up 12 months ago.

Much of the noise in the ground came from the South Stand where a group of young, enthusiastic and vocal fans voiced their support for Bristol Academy, faces painted blue all the while, and not even the two first half Gunners strikes could dampen their fanaticism.

A tuneful pre-match build up started with X-Factor finalist Paije Richardson giving the crowd a rendition of 'I'm A Believer' and continued on in a similar vein, eventually ending with the crowd standing for the national anthem, the fan next to me taking great pride in belting out the lyrics.

The game kicked off with Academy winning an early corner, but that was about as good as it got for the West Country side as the Gunners kicked themselves into life. They were given a helping hand by some wasteful passing and control from Bristol but their own movement and slick distribution of the ball wreaked havoc upon their opponents back line, Vixen's full backs Grace McCatty and Alex Culvin being given a torrid time by the pace of Arsenal wingers Rachel Yankey and Ellen White.

Arsenal were contesting everything in the centre of the park, often getting to all the loose balls first and it was one aerial battle inside the Bristol half that lead to the ball breaking to Kim Little on the edge of the area. She moved forward, jinked inside one defender and slammed the ball past England international goalkeeper Siobhan Chamberlain, and Bristol's hope of putting in a quick reply were hampered when the lead was doubled thirteen minutes later.

Rachel Yankey took a quick throw-in to the feet of full back Niamh Fahey who whipped in a superb cross that found the head of the on-rushing Julie Fleeting to bullet the ball into the back of the net and at that moment, on the first half displays alone, the game looked as good as over. The nerves seemed to have gotten to the Bristol side as they struggled to retain the ball in the centre of the park for any substantial amount of time but the application of the Gunners was top notch, pressing all over the pitch and working hard to win the ball back. A head injury to Academy's instinctive midfielder Jess Fishlock did little to change the flagging morale of her team mates, the Welsh capped player being substituted at half time with what was later confirmed as a concussion.

Her replacement was striker Lillie Billson and the former Arsenal player gave a fine account of herself in the second half, chasing every ball and working both channels but there was still little in the way of end product from the girls in blue. Winger Helen Bleazard almost produced what would have been a superb goal, crashing a free kick back off of Emma Byrne's crossbar and with that rebounded effort went any real hope of an Academy comeback.

Despite the Vixen's spirited second half performance Arsenal continued to press into the later stages and could have had another goal if it weren't for some excellent shot stopping by Chamberlain but all in all they deserved their win, their eleventh in the final of the Women's Cup. The victory will send the Gunners into the WSL mid-season break on a high and they will look to carry that into the second half of the inaugural championship to take the fight to table topping Birmingham.

Bristol Academy meanwhile can look back on a proud day in their clubs history, a first ever FA Cup final, hopefully one of many, and the chance to showcase themselves on national television. Many of the players found themselves in the media spotlight during the games build up and they will certainly not want to drop out of the public eye, though with a Champions League spot being won for reaching the final they will certainly be names to follow during the coming months. They will look to continue their good WSL form and consolidate that into a commendable top half finish.

Though the final attendance of 13,000 wasn't as good as was expected by The FA, it was hoped that the game would see the largest ever attendance for a modern women's game in England, the fans inside the ground were certainly entertained and Sky Sports live coverage will do women's football the world of good. Both 'Arsenal Ladies' and 'Bristol Academy' were trending on Twitter, a testimony to the potential the game has to take off nationwide.

Atmospherically the game is very different to the typical men's affair. There are no verbal barrages aimed in the direction of the referee, the players are not berated every time they take a step out of line and there is no need for segregation. Invariably a few chants were struck up by the fans, mainly the girls supporting Bristol Academy, and there was an overall family friendly feel to the game, the crowd being made up of young children and their parents, the odd die hard supporter of each side and a splattering of inquisitive local fans and with the most expensive ticket on offer being £5 there was excellent value to be had for a game of excellent technical quality.

This summer provides an excellent platform for the women's game in England to take off. The Super League is up and running, England are in this years World Cup, all their games being broadcasted live by the BBC, and a showpiece FA Cup Final that highlighted the quality of the women's game. This is just the beginning.

Academy Face Arsenal In Cup Final Preview

Thursday night sees a dress rehearsal of the forthcoming Women's FA Cup final take place as Bristol Academy host Arsenal Ladies at the Stoke Gifford Stadium, though that's not to say that the two teams will be taking it at all easy.

The home side have turned around a difficult start to life in the FA WSL with a four game unbeaten run that has seen them collect all of their six points thus far. The only win of the league season came with a late Loren Dykes goal against Doncaster Rovers Belles, that coming after an even later goal arrived to grab a draw against Liverpool, defender Grace McCatty the source of that strike. Those are the only two goals scored by the Vixens this season as they have found Super League goals hard to come by and it will be no easier against a determined Arsenal defence that has leaked only two goals.

Pre-season league favourites Arsenal are currently sat second in the table, four points behind leaders Birmingham City with a game in hand. Birmingham remain the only team to take points off of Arsenal this term after ex-Gunner Karen Carney netted the winning goal in her sides away win at Borehamwood. If Bristol are to get anything out of the game then they will have to keep tabs on the Gunners top scorer Ellen White. England international striker White has already got on the scoresheet ten times this season in the Super League, FA Cup and Champions League, including six in her last four against Barnet, Birmingham, Lincoln and Doncaster.

The sides have already met once this season, Jennifer Beattie hitting the goal of the month for April in a 1-0 Arsenal win which can be seen in the match highlights package below.



Academy will put their unbeaten home start up against Arsenal's 100% away record in this tasty tie and Bristol boss Mark Sampson is confident that his side can maintain their run, he told bristolacademywfc.fawsl.com:

"We showed Arsenal what we are about in our game earlier in the season and it will be the same come Thursday. They will be looking to assert their style on the game and we will be looking to assert ours so it will be a big battle early on to see who can get the upper hand.

"All over the pitch there are some great match ups and it will be up to us to make sure we get on top of our direct opponent early in the game and show them what we are about. We are confident our style of play will cause them problems and psychologically we are very strong and ready to do what we need to do.

"It is a home game so it is up to us to set the tempo and that is something we certainly intend to do with our pressing and tackling."

The game was changed from a 6:30 kick off to a 7:15 start at the WISE campus in Filton. Adults can purchase their match tickets for £6 while concessions and students can get in for £4. Tickets in the Bristol Academy end of Coventry's Ricoh Arena for the Women's FA Cup final will be available at this game at £5 for adults and £2.50 for concessions.

Picture and Mark Sampson quote sourced from http://www.bristolacademywfc.fawsl.com/. Highlights video taken from http://www.fawsl.com/.