2012 FA Women's Cup Final
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| Event | 2011–12 FA Women's Cup | ||||||
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| Birmingham City Ladies won 3–2 on penalties | |||||||
| Date | 26 May 2012 | ||||||
| Venue | Ashton Gate, Bristol | ||||||
| Player of the Match | Karen Carney (Birmingham City Ladies) | ||||||
| Referee | Natalie Walker (Lancashire) | ||||||
| Attendance | 8,723 | ||||||
The 2012 FA Women's Cup Final was the 42nd final of the FA Women's Cup. 276 clubs competed for the years trophy. The winners did not qualify for the UEFA Women's Champions League. The current holders Birmingham City Ladies, beat Chelsea Ladies 3–2 in a penalty shoot-out after a 2–2 draw in the final at Ashton Gate.
Chelsea failed to emulate their male counterparts who had already won the 2011–12 FA Cup and the 2011–12 FA Youth Cup, while the girls won the 2011–12 FA Girls' Youth Cup U17s. Birmingham City won the first major honour in their 44-year history.
The match was televised live by Sky Sports 2. The channel's decision to switch the transmission of the penalty shoot-out to behind the red button was criticised and described as embarrassing. The attendance of 8,723 was the lowest at the FA Women's Cup final since 2005. Entertainment at the final included a half time performance from The Risk, a boy band who had finished 10th in the previous year's edition of The X Factor.
As an FA WSL team, Birmingham City Ladies entered the competition in the fifth round, where they were drawn at home to Liverpool Ladies. They were rewarded for their first half performance on 26 minutes, when Jodie Taylor struck to put them a goal up. It was 2-0 just moments later after the half-time though, when Liverpool's goalie Aroon Clansey rushed from her line to deny Carney, only to see her header fall to Isobel Christiansen, who showed terrific instincts to volley into the unguarded net from around 35 yards out. With seconds left, the home side did increase their lead when a Chelsea Weston pass found its way to substitute Maz Ballard, who touched the ball past Clansey before poking the ball into the empty net from close range, to give Birmingham a 3-0 win.
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