Looking back a decade, it was the last season in the FA Women’s Premier League before the formation of the FA WSL.
Few sides got in Arsenal’s way as the Gunners won 20 of their 22 National Division fixtures, finishing a big 11 points ahead of second-placed Everton.
Kim Little led the way with over a goal a game from her 25 matches in all competitions, which was also the joint top appearances figure shared with Gemma Davison, Ciara Grant and Helen Lander.
Everton did get the better of Arsenal in the cup competitions, defeating them in the E-On FA Cup Final and knocking them out of the Tesco FA WPL Cup.
There were 17,505 fans at the City Ground as the Toffees took the FA Cup 3-2 after extra-time, decided by Natasha Dowie’s second goal of the day. A Kim Little leveller had been quickly cancelled out by Faye White’s own-goal, although Julie Fleeting soon restored parity.
Everton earlier won through the WPL Cup semi-finals by beating the Gunners 2-1 with goals from Dowie and Emily Westwood only to lose out 3-1 in the final to Leeds Carnegie, who had come through the semis 2-0 away to Chelsea at Met Police FC.
The final was played in front of a 3,000 crowd at Rochdale, where Katie Holtham gave Leeds the advantage and Ellen White bagged a brace before Fara Williams pulled a goal back.
Chelsea were a point behind Everton in the league table, Leeds two points further back before a ten-point gap to Sunderland in fifth. Doncaster Rovers Belles were sixth, another double-figure space coming between them and Blackburn Rovers in seventh. Nottingham Forest and WSL-bound Bristol Academy occupied the bottom two positions.
National Division top scorers 2009-10
26 – Kim Little (Arsenal)
22 – Natasha Dowie (Everton)
18 – Ellen White (Leeds)
14 – Dunia Susi (Chelsea)
13 – Carla cantrell (Leeds) & Vicky Exley (Doncaster Rovers Belles)
12 – Katie Anderton (Blackburn Rovers), Gemma Davison (Arsenal) & Fara Williams (Everton)
11 – Lianne Snaderson (Chelsea)
10 – Emma Whitter (Chelsea / Millwall Lionesses)
Liverpool won the Northern Division by ten points from OOH Lincoln and were as much as 20 points ahead of third-placed Leicester City Women. Manchester City were fourth, while Sheffield Wednesday and Luton Town ended up in the bottom two.
The Reds’ Cheryl Foster got the most goals with 16, teammate Kelly Jones just a couple behind but Stacey Aisthorpe (Lincoln) and Courtney Sweetman-Kirk (Leicester) were sandwiched between.
Barnet were clear winners in the Southern Division – aided by Stacey Sowden’s 20-goal haul – by an eight-point margin from Reading. Keynsham Town took third spot, Kayleigh Sage and Leanne Lapham among the top four scorers in the division, QPR’s Cherelle Albert was joint third highest, although Rangers were only tenth in the table but well clear of both WFC Fulham and Crystal Palace.
