The 2002 FA Women's Cup Final was the 32nd final of the FA Women's Cup, England's primary cup competition for women's football teams. The final event was played between Doncaster Belles and Fulham on 6 May 2002 at Selhurst Park in London. Fulham made its second final appearance, after losing the 2001 final. Doncaster Belles entered a record 13th final having won the trophy on six previous occasions.

Fulham entered the competition at the third round stage and beat Newport County, Birmingham City, Coventry City, Everton and Charlton Athletic to reach the final. As a top-flight club, Doncaster Belles entered at the fourth round and faced Brighton & Hove Albion, Barry Town, Arsenal and Tranmere Rovers before reaching the final.

Fulham entered the match as favourites, in a contest billed as a contrast of styles. Watched by a crowd of 10,124 and a BBC television audience of two and a half million, Fulham won the match 2–1, with goals from Rachel Yankey and Katie Chapman. Jody Handley countered for Doncaster Belles.

As Doncaster Belles were an FA Women's Premier League National Division club, they entered the competition in the fourth round; one round later than Fulham. Doncaster Belles' cup run started with a rescheduled trip to the Withdean Stadium to face Brighton & Hove Albion. Despite Brighton taking the lead after only 10 minutes, Doncaster Belles mastered the wet and windy conditions and hit back strongly to win 5–2. In another delayed fixture in the fifth round, Doncaster Belles travelled to Wales to meet Barry Town. The match at Jenner Park was again played in wind and heavy rain. A goal from Jody Handley and a strong midfield performance from debutant Carly Hunt earned a 1–0 win and a quarter final meeting with Arsenal.

The subsequent 2–1 win over Cup holders Arsenal at Brodsworth Welfare Ground surprised many, who had predicted a repeat of the previous year's Arsenal–Fulham final. Doncaster Belles had gone two goals ahead within the first half hour through Handley and Karen Burke. Although Marieanne Spacey replied for Arsenal, a resilient second half display saw Doncaster Belles end a run of six successive defeats—stretching back almost two years—against their old rivals. The BBC reported that the final whistle was "joyously celebrated" by the Doncaster Belles players. In the semi-final against Tranmere Rovers at Prenton Park, defeat appeared likely when Tranmere went ahead through a 28th–minute penalty and Burke missed a penalty for Doncaster Belles. But Carly Hunt scored an equalising goal from close range, then Tranmere were reduced to ten players when Faye Dunn was shown the red card. England captain Karen Walker secured a 3–1 win and Doncaster Belles' place in the final with two late goals.

Fulham's competition began with a trip to fellow Southern Division outfit Newport County. Having already beaten Newport 14–0 in the league, Fulham this time ran 12 unanswered goals past their hapless opponents. "The final score was 12–0 and it could have been more," noted the match report on the Fulham website. In the fourth round Fulham faced a trickier assignment at Birmingham City. Under the leadership of Queens Park Rangers player Marcus Bignot, Birmingham City's young team were top of the Northern Division and had already beaten Doncaster Belles to qualify for the Premier League Cup final, where they would meet Fulham. One goal ahead at half time, Fulham's superior fitness and Marianne Pettersen's eighth hat-trick of the season resulted in a 5–0 win. Bignot lamented "our girls were overawed – they were waiting for Fulham to score."

In the fifth round Fulham routinely dispatched more Northern Division opposition, Coventry City, with an 11–0 win at Nuneaton's Pingles Stadium. The quarter final meeting with National Division Everton followed a similar pattern to the earlier win over Birmingham. A Margunn Haugenes penalty gave Fulham a one-goal advantage at the interval, before a second half increase in tempo saw them depart Merseyside with a 4–0 win and their place in the semi-finals. During the match with Charlton Athletic at Woking's Kingfield Stadium, Pettersen and Kristy Moore put Fulham two goals ahead in the first half, but Charlton reduced the deficit when Astrid Johannessen allowed Fara Williams' tame free kick through her legs. According to The Guardian report, "there was always going to come the time to ask a familiar question: how many would Fulham score?" Pettersen and Moore added another goal each to seal a 4–1 win. Charlton manager Keith Boanas praised the application of his side but admitted they were undone by Fulham's superior fitness.

The 2002 final represented a record 13th final appearance for Doncaster Belles and the first since 2000, when they lost 2–1 to Croydon. They had previously won the Women's Cup on six occasions in 1983, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1992, and 1994. The match was Fulham's second time in the final after they lost the previous season's event to Arsenal. A former incarnation of the club, known as Friends of Fulham, had competed in three finals; winning in 1985, but losing in 1989 and 1990. Although the competition had been run by the Women's Football Association (WFA) since 1970, the Football Association (FA) took over in 1993–94. The 2002 final was the 32nd final overall, the ninth to be played under FA control and the first to be shown live on BBC One.