Chelsea Women WILL complete this season’s interrupted FA Cup.

Hard on the heels of Chelsea’s men reaching the FA Cup final at Wembley on August 1 against Arsenal comes a decision by the Football Association to complete this season’s abandoned women’s FA Cup fixtures at the start of the new footballing year in September.

Chelsea FC Women, who play their home fixtures at Kingsmeadow in Kingston, were quarter-finalists in the competition when Covid-19 struck.

They had been due to travel to Walton Hall to play Everton on Merseyside in the quarter-final at noon on Sunday March 15… but the looming coronavirus lockdown forced an indefinite postponement.

Now the FA has been given the green light to conclude the quarters, semis and final of the 2019/20 Women’s FA Cup in the early part of the 2020/21 season, with the final to be played at Wembley Stadium on Halloween – Saturday October 31.

Throughout the pandemic, the FA has been exploring options to allow the competition to be completed.

Although the decision was taken to end the Barclays FA Women’s Super League and FA Women’s Championship campaigns in May, the hope was always to complete the Women’s FA Cup at the start of the new season and conclude the final three rounds.

An application was made to FIFA for special dispensation, with football’s world governing body giving its approval.

Holders Manchester City are among seven clubs from the Barclays FA Women’s Super League who remain in the competition, with Leicester City the sole representative from the championship.

The quarter-finals will be played three weeks into the new season, on the weekend of September 26 and 27, with the semis the following week and the final at Wembley Stadium on October 31.

News that the FA Cup is being revived and played to a conclusion is great news for the designated league champions Chelsea, who have now announced three new signings for the coming season – Canadian midfielder Jessie Fleming, German midfielder Melanie Leupolz and winger Niamh Charles.

Playmaker Fleming, 22, has a three-year contract and joins from a university football team in Los Angeles. She was the second-youngest player to make her senior debut for Canada, at just 15. Chelsea manager Emma Hayes said: “Jessie is one of the top young players in the world, so for us to be able to sign her is a testament to the work that has been done here for a number of years. She chose Chelsea, this was her priority, her first choice and we were over the moon to get her.”

“Jessie is one of the top young players in the world, so for us to be able to sign her is a testament to the work that has been done here for a number of years. She chose Chelsea, this was her priority, her first choice and we were over the moon to get her.”

Kelly Simmons, FA women’s director, said of the new twist in the FA Cup saga: “The Women’s FA Cup is a showpiece fixture in the football calendar and because of that there was huge appetite within the FA for the remaining rounds to be played. A significant amount of work has been going on behind the scenes to ensure cup can be completed and I am delighted that we have received the necessary approval.”

No one knows whether fans will be allowed back by then, but the signs are that rules on stadiums will be relaxed in time to allow Wembley to welcome back some supporters. The FA is, meanwhile, refunding fans for May’s postponed final. Payments will be made in the next fortnight.

The quarter-final matches are:

Brighton & Hove Albion v Birmingham City
Everton v Chelsea
Arsenal v Tottenham
Leicester City v Manchester City