Arsenal 7-0 Barcelona. You read it right.

Anushree Nande

18th March 2013 | 7:21 PM

The statement that Arsenal are the most successful football club in England would be met by incredulous looks and claims of delusion and incorrectness. Even more so would be the statement that they beat Barcelona 4-0 (Home) and 3-0 (Away) in the Champions League last season. It’s the omission of a few select words that turns it from false to factual. Arsenal Ladies Football Club are in fact that most successful club in English Women’s Football with 38 major trophies till now – 2 FA WSL (Women Super League formerly the Premier League) titles, 12 FA Women’s Premier League titles, 11 FA Women’s Cups, 10 Women’s Premier League Cups, 2 FA WSL Continental Cups and 1 UEFA Women’s Champions League. And they did beat Barcelona 7-0 on aggregate in the past season. Isn’t that something?

Women's Super League Winners 2012: Arsenal Ladies.

 

The team has gained a lot more prominence since the stupendously successful 2006-07 season, but it is nowhere near what they deserve. Arsenal Ladies Football Club is unique in every sense of the word. Vic Akers (still the current Arsenal Men’s kit man) was the Head of Arsenal’s Community section and set up the women’s club in 1987. He and David Dein are the reasons that Arsenal Ladies Football Club are one of the few women’s clubs to be affiliated with and truly a part of the club that holds their male counterparts. Akers (who remained manager until his retirement in 2009) has always been and still remains a key figure for the ladies team, while Dein ensured that the Ladies side were well-funded, well-looked after, integrated into the club in the true sense without simply being a franchise. He also always supported their cause with the FA. This sort of support and back-up has definitely paid off, with Arsenal Ladies continuing to be a force to reckon with in women’s club-level football.

The short answer is that Arsenal FC threw their weight behind the Ladies from the start and since they have achieved a kind of “economies of scale” in terms of recruiting the best players. Their academy is sound and professionally run, just like the club has been at a time when most Ladies’ teams were a hobby for female supporters. Arsenal treat the girls well too (Tim Stillman).

Unlock this article and 1,000+ Football Paradise stories by logging in

Already a subscriber?

All rights reserved © Football Paradise