The WFA tournament followed the rescindment of the English Football Association's 1921 ban on women's teams' use of FA member clubs' pitches.

From 1967 until 1972, a large annual summer tournament was held in Deal, Kent with women's clubs from throughout Great Britain, playing short-form matches.

[9] This was a catalyst in the formation of the Ladies Football Association of Great Britain[10][11] in November 1969 by forty-four clubs,[12] with its first AGM on 6 June 1970.

The FA voted to revoke the ban in January 1970,[17][18][7][19] but the men's Football League did not take similar action,[7] and did not permit its clubs to host the first WFA Cup Finals.

[20]In 1971, and in the next ten competitions, the WFA Cup Finals were not allowed to be held at Football League grounds, according to the History of the Women's Football Association, based on British Library records: "As the sport grew the WFA was reliant upon the generosity of smaller clubs".

[29] At this time, the Association was evidently open to all Irish and Welsh women's football clubs,[10] though how many competed in the Cup is unclear.

One of the eight zonal final matches in February was won by Nuneaton Wanderers (Warwickshire) 6–3 against Bantams Ladies (Coventry), at the Memorial Park;[30] another zonal winner was EMGALS (from Leicester, representing the East Midlands Gas Board, EMGAS), who won 5–3 at Hull.

As in the FA Cup at the time, a third-place playoff was held – Nuneaton Wanderers beat EMGALS on penalties after a 3–3 draw.

[36] Stewarton had considered withdrawing from the final over the issue, however Southampton were allowed to keep the trophy and went on to win eight WFA Cups.