Queens Park Rangers v Blackburn Rovers

HOOPS
Arsenal 3 Charlton Athletic 0
03.05.2004
Kick-off 1pm
Scotland international Julie
Fleeting was Arsenal’s hattrick
hero with strikes in the
22nd, 24th and 85th minutes.
Fleeting said afterwards: “I’ve
thoroughly enjoyed myself. It
was a big day for me and a big
day for all my teammates. My
hat-trick was all credit to the
girls behind me in the side.”
Charlton boss Keith
Boanas said: “I’m very proud
of my players for reaching this
final. But we just couldn’t deal
with Fleeting.
“We talked beforehand about
the repercussions of our
recent league game against
Arsenal where Fleeting
scored the winner. However,
we didn’t do all the things we
said we would and she was
the difference between the
two teams.”
The attendance of 12,244
was the second highest for a
Women’s FA Cup final at that
time. In fact, the heavy rain
on the day of the fixture at
Loftus Road probably stopped
the record crowd of 13,824
being surpassed.
The action was broadcast
live on BBC1 and attracted a
televised audience of 2.2m.
BBC Radio 5 Live also had live
commentary on the game.
A 24-page programme sold
at £2 with decent features on
the participating teams and
women’s football in general.
Football Association chairman
Geoff Thompson wrote: “I’d
like to thank Queens Park
Rangers for agreeing to host
the final and also the BBC for
showing their support with
their third successive televised
final on BBC1. I feel sure it will
further enhance the prestige
of women’s football, which is
now England’s fastest-growing
and biggest female sport.”
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