Double Delight: Chelsea Ladies win FA WSL1 league and cup double

Chelsea Ladies secured the league and cup double with a 4-0 win over Sunderland in front of 2,710 at Staines Town’s Wheatsheaf Park on 4 October, an occasion that fell on the 23rd anniversary of the side’s first ever game and finally laid to rest the agony of missing out on the title on the final day a year earlier. Manager Emma Hayes reflects that she can barely remember the previous 12 months, describing a response rehearsed on the training ground and the motto she has drilled into the squad: “Do it once: it’s a mistake, do it twice: it’s a choice.” Joking that she expects a chauffeur and a champagne breakfast, Hayes says Chelsea Ladies are no longer just second class citizens in women’s football. Co-captain Gilly Flaherty adds that the hurt of the previous season had been their fuel every single game.