Arsenal Ladies win FA Women’s Super League

Published: September 1, 2011
by STEVE BARNETT

TWO-GOAL hero Rachel Yankey said the Gunners had fired the best possible answer to their critics after helping Arsenal Ladies win the inaugural FA Women’s Super League (WSL) title.

The former Hampstead schoolgirl bagged a brace on Sunday as Laura Harvey’s side beat Liverpool 3-1 at Skelmersdale United FC to finish three points ahead of closest rivals Birmingham at the top of the table.

The WSL presented the north Londoners with arguably their toughest ever domestic challenge as they went up against stronger teams with more competitive games than ever before, leaving many questioning whether Arsenal were strong enough to prevail.

The Gunners, however, showed just why they have been the dominant force in the women’s game over the last decade as they again rose to the challenge.

After being crowned champions Yankey told Arsenal.com “Everyone wrote us off and said that it wasn’t going to be Arsenal’s year, but we’ve battled on and won it. It feels fantastic to lift the trophy.

“It’s been a tough season. It feels like we’ve been playing throughout the whole year. But we have so much quality and character in our squad and it has shown this season.

“We’ve had to deal with injuries and setbacks but we have bounced back every time so it feels great to pick up another league title.”

Arsenal went into the game against Liverpool on Sunday knowing that they had to take all three points to be sure of the title. And it was the experienced Yankey who stepped into the limelight once again as she opened the scoring after only nine minutes.

The 31-year-old was at the heart of everything and doubled the lead on 39 minutes when she met a cross from Ellen White to poke the ball home from close range.

Liverpool pulled a goal back on the hour mark through Katie Brussell. But Kim Little wrapped up a 3-1 win from the penalty spot in the 73rd minute after White was pulled down.

Match-winner Yankey added: “Finding the back of the net is not my strong point so it was fantastic to get two goals. The goals gave us a cushion and settled us down so we could start to play our football.”