Why is the Women's League Cup final not at Wembley?

A view of The Subway Women’s League Cup Trophy during the Subway Women's League Cup Draw 2024-2025 at Pride Park on December 16, 2024 in Derby, England.
The League Cup is the first silverware up for grabs for English clubs (Image credit: Getty Images)

The Women's League Cup final is taking place on Saturday and it will see Chelsea and Manchester City vie for silverware.

The final is the first of four matches the two clubs will play against each other in a row. They are also facing each other in two legs of the Women's Champions League quarter-final and a Women's Super League game.

But the final is not taking place at Wembley, instead it will happen at Derby County's Pride Park Stadium.

Women's League Cup final: Has it ever been held at Wembley?

Millie Bright celebrates

Chelsea captain Millie Bright will attempt to guide her team to victory (Image credit: Getty Images)

The final is not held at the home of English football because organisers want to bring the match to different areas of the country.

The final is held at a different stadium every year. Last year's final, where Arsenal beat Chelsea 1-0, took place at Wolves' Molineux Stadium.

Jess Park on the pitch for Manchester City

Jess Park is in good form this season (Image credit: Getty Images)

And while the final does travel the country, it has been held at Wembley once before.

In the 1992/93 season Wembley was the location for the final between Arsenal and Knowsley United, with The Gunners defeating their opponents 3-0.

There has been discussion around moving it to Wembley amongst fans and FourFourTwo believes it should in order to bring the game to as many fans as possible.

Lucy Bronze with the ball at her feet

If Chelsea win on Saturday, Lucy Bronze will win her first silverware with the Blues (Image credit: Getty Images)

In 2023 former Chelsea boss Emma Hayes added her opinion. Before her Blues side took on Arsenal at Crystal Palace's Selhurst Park, which Chelsea went on to lose 3-0, Hayes said the final should be moved to Wembley.

She said at the time: "Next time maybe it could be at Wembley and we could do even better and sell Wembley out next year as well. Because perhaps that's maybe where the League Cup should be."

Organisers do not have plans to move the location of the final to Wembley in future.

Sarah Rendell
Women's football editor

Sarah joined the FourFourTwo team in September 2024 in a freelance role. She also writes for The Guardian, BBC and Rugby World where she specialises in women's football and rugby. Sarah has a bachelors degree in English and a master's in newspaper journalism.