The showpiece event in the English women's footballing calender will feature the Vixens for the first time in either their current guise or the clubs former name, Bristol Rovers Ladies FC, though they have come close on numerous occasions beforehand.
In their short history the club have reached the semi final stage four times, losing out in three ties with Arsenal and once to Charlton, though they couldn't have picked a better year to make the final as, with the birth of the new FA Women's Super League, the FA have decided to award their Champions League places for 2011/12 to this years two finalists. Academy will hope that their luck against the Gunners will change this weekend, though they know that their more illustrious opponents will not be overcome by the size of the match as they are not facing anything new.
Arsenal Ladies are the most successful team not only in the FA Cup but also the women's game in England as a whole and have a superb cup pedigree behind them, having collected the trophy on no less than ten occasions, five of those victories coming in the last seven years. They do, however, have one final defeat to their name, that coming in last seasons 3-2 loss to Everton. This will be the sixth season in succession that Arsenal have made the final and they will be looking to fashion another victory to win back what must seem like 'their trophy'.
After an initially poor start to life in the Super League Bristol have pulled themselves together and are undefeated in their last five league games. A 4-0 thumping away to Birmingham, the side that currently top the table, left the side shaken but a slight improvement in their next game saw them fall by just a single, spectacular strike to Arsenal, Jennifer Beattie driving in a forty yarder that ended up winning April's goal of the month. A late equaliser at home to Liverpool was followed up by another last gasp goal, this time a Loren Dykes winner against Doncaster and the next game against Chelsea should have yielded another three points but for some profligate finishing, the biggest culprit being Helen Bleazard who blazed a penalty high over the bar.
Two further draws followed, a stalemate up at Everton before a thrilling 2-2 draw with Arsenal at the Stoke Gifford Stadium with the home side twice coming from behind to snatch a point, ex-Gunner and captain Corrine Yorston getting the second with no time to spare in front of over 1,000 fans, whetting their appetites for the FA Cup Final.
League favourites Arsenal have had a great start to the new Super League but despite that they will likely be dissappointed not to find themselves at the head of the table. Only five points have been dropped, two in the draw with Bristol and all three against Birmingham, their only domestic defeat of the season. They also made their way through to the Champions League semi finals, eventually falling short over two legs against Lyon. Prior to the last Academy game the Gunners had two good away wins against Lincoln, 2-0, and Doncaster, 3-0. Striker Ellen White has been the key figure in Arsenal's season, scoring eleven goals already this term and will need to kept quiet if Bristol goalkeeper Siobhan Chamberlain is to keep her sheets clean.
The Vixens run to the final started in spectacular style, crashing eight goals past Sheffield Wednesday at the Don Valley Stadium, Helen Bleazard, Jess Fishlock and Ann-Marie Heatherson getting on the scoresheet twice, Loren Dykes and Molly Clark supplying the other two. A fortnight later Bleazard and Fishlock put their scoring boots on again to see off Women's Premier League side Millwall in the quarter-finals and their place in the final was confirmed with a 3-0 win away to Liverpool at Skelmersdale.
Arsenal avenged their defeat in last seasons cup final with a 2-0 win over Everton before being taken to extra time by Premier League Sunderland, eventually coming out on top by three goals to two. They rounded off their trip to the final by thrashing another Premier League side, this time it was Barnet who fell to the Gunners, 5-0 the final score.
Academy boss Mark Sampson spoke to bristolacademywfc.fawsl.com pre-match and believes that the squad he possesses have the mental capabilities to cope with a game of such magnitude, saying:
"Our squad is well balanced with a great blend of experience and youth, we have players who have played in finals before and player’s who will be making their cup final debut. The pressure for us is positive, it brings us together, gives us strength, makes our objectives very clear. The reason players feel pressure is when they feel insecure within the group.
"Insecurity comes from not being clear with what is expected of you, every player in our group knows inside out our game plan and is ready to play their part so for us there is no negative pressure, we only have the pressure that gives you the strength to fight to win.
"...When people ask me about how we motivate the players I feel the answer is simple, you get the right people in the dressing room. How do you motivate players like Annie Heatherson, Jess Fishlock, Grace McCatty and Emma Jones? These are born winners, born competitors. It is impossible to give them any more motivation than they already have, my life is made easy with characters like I have in our dressing room."
Arsenal manager Laura Harvey, who will be making a 'home' appearance as a former Coventry City Ladies player, was interviewed by arsenal.com in her sides build up to the big day and talked about this seasons two games against Academy and what she believes will see her side take the glory.
There will be just one absentee for Bristol in the shape of central midfielder Katie Daley who picked up a knock after the Doncaster Rovers win."In both games, especially the two all draw, we could have had it 4-0 by half time and that is something we've worked on and looked at and to make sure that when we have a team under so much pressure, as we had at Bristol, that we've got to finish them off.
"We know that if we can perform at the levels we have in our ranks then we can beat anybody, we know that, we've just got to make sure we do that and we cut out the silly mistakes, we cut out the sloppy missed chances high up the pitch and anyone we play on our day, when we get everything right, needs to be wary of us."
Arsenal will have to make do without the services of their all-time record goalscorer Jayne Ludlow and experienced England international centre back Faye White.
With a crowd of nigh on 30,000 in attendance it is sure to be a day that will define the careers of many of the players out on the pitch and Bristol Academy will no doubt be keen to show their steel, throwing off their underdogs tag as they go.
Images sourced from bristolacademywfc.com, and coventrytelegraph.net. Mark Sampson quotes taken from bristolacademywfc.com. Laura Harvey quotes taken from her video interview on arsenal.com.
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