Fulham's Craven Cottage to stage women's final

Fulham FC's Craven Cottage will be the venue for the UEFA Women's Champions League final on Thursday 26 May 2011.

The showpiece match is held two nights before the men's UEFA Champions League final in the same city, and with Wembley staging that game, the women's equivalent was set for London. The announcement was made at Wembley today as the event designs for the two finals were revealed.

Arsenal LFC captain Faye White, whose side meet Linköpings FC in this season's quarter-finals, attended the announcement and said: "I'm extremely proud the final's in London. I think it's a massive opportunity to profile the game. With the men's at Wembley and the women's at Fulham, it hopefully gives this country the chance to get behind women's football."

Containing stands built by famed football architect Archibald Leitch, Craven Cottage is situated in the west of the English capital on the north bank of the River Thames, and has been the home of Fulham since 1896.

In the last few years the number of seats has been increased to more than 25,000 and the ground has recent experience of big continental matches following Fulham's run to the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League final. Previously the club played two UEFA Intertoto Cup games there. Craven Cottage has also hosted a number of neutral international friendly fixtures in recent years.

Craven Cottage follows in the footsteps of Getafe CF's Coliseum Alfonso Pérez, which held the first UEFA Women's Champions League final last season, won by 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam. The holders and London-based Arsenal LFC are among eight teams left in the competition when it resumes with the quarter-finals in March.