Emma Hayes called for next season’s League Cup final to be played at Wembley ahead of Sunday’s meeting between Chelsea and Arsenal at a sold-out Selhurst Park.
The Blues manager is aiming to win her 13th major honour and what could be the first trophy of a record-breaking season for the club, who are chasing an unprecedented quadruple.
Her side will be almost at full strength when they take on the Gunners in south London, with just Katerina Svitkova unavailable after undergoing surgery, with the team looking to win back the trophy they last collected in 2021.
Second-placed Chelsea lead fourth-placed Arsenal by five points in the Women’s Super League table as they chase down a fourth consecutive title, and beat Sunday’s opponents to claim a place in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup in February. They face holders Lyon in the last eight of the Champions League later this month.
Selhurst Park will be at 25,000-seat capacity on Sunday to see if Hayes’ side can complete step one of their tilt at making history, but after the success of the Lionesses selling out the national stadium for their Euro 2022 final victory, she questioned whether it was time for domestic matches to move also.
“I want to be in the finals,” said Hayes. “For me, being in these positions is why I do this. So, the fact we have a final that is sold out – next time maybe it could be at Wembley and we could do even better and sell Wembley out next year, because perhaps that’s where the League Cup should be.”
Victory over Arsenal would further cement Chelsea’s already firm position as England’s leading club.
Ready Blues #ContiCupFinal #CFCW pic.twitter.com/OvAflbERic
— Chelsea FC Women | Database (@chelsea_women) March 4, 2023
They have lost only four WSL matches since January 2019 and have long since eclipsed the dominance that Arsenal enjoyed during the 90s and 00s.
The pair are England’s only representatives left in this season’s Champions League – Arsenal face Bayern Munich in the quarter-final – and despite the emergence of Manchester United and Manchester City in recent years, no club has come close to matching the London sides’ honour roll.
Hayes was asked whether Chelsea’s dominance of domestic prizes could be considered bad news for the game.
“Do you think Man City and Man United and Arsenal have spent a lot of money?” she said. “If the answer to that is yes then there’s not a competitive imbalance.
“There’s an imbalance in terms of spend between us and maybe Reading, but the top teams in this league are all spending money. There should be no reason why there is an imbalance, and there isn’t.
“If you ask any dressing room across the league, they’ll all say the same thing. Every game is hard in this league. We’ve got a game on Sunday and turn around and play Brighton on Wednesday then United next weekend. Trust me, that’s not easy.
“There’s no competitive advantage for a team like Chelsea. In fact, everything works against a team that’s competing for four titles because being able to do it every three days? It’s different if you’ve got one game a week, the same 11.”
