This season’s Vitality Women’s FA Cup has been suspended following this evening’s announcement by the UK Government that an English lockdown will be implemented.
The people of England are once again being asked to ‘stay at home to save lives’ just like they have been in the two previous lockdowns.
In-line with the November lockdown, elite sport will be permitted to continue meaning that the Barclays FA Women’s Super League and FA Women’s Championship will resume this coming weekend.
One competition which cannot continue in the current climate is the Vitality Women’s FA Cup with The Football Association confirming via their official website that the tournament has been suspended. Just one of the second round ties have been completed so far and with the 23 Barclays FA Women’s Super League and FA Women’s Championship clubs not set to join until the fourth round, the competition is currently classed as non-elite and is therefore not included in the English lockdown elite sport rules.
The lockdown regulations are set to stay in their entirety until at least mid-February meaning that the progression of the Vitality Women’s FA Cup is again going to be severely delayed just like it was last season.
The fourth round was pencilled in for 30/31 January but will no longer take place on that date while the fifth round ties were set to be played on 27/28 February. It now seems likely that the tournament will be playing catch up throughout the spring with the final at Wembley on Saturday 22 May potentially in doubt given the fact that there are six rounds to schedule in when the lockdown restrictions recede alongside rearranged league fixtures across the pyramid.