FFA Cup 2021 set for kick-off in Queensland

The FFA Cup will make a welcome return to the Australian sporting scene this weekend with the first Preliminary Round matches of the 2021 iteration of the competition to be held in Queensland.

Last year, the FFA Cup was unfortunately cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however in December Football Australia announced that the competition would return in 2021, with some key adjustments intended to improve and enhance the excitement associated with Australia’s largest annual club-based sporting competition.

This weekend will see 31 Preliminary Round matches played in Queensland, with one of the key ties on the opening weekend, Pine Hills FC vs. Robina City SC to be live streamed on the FFA Cup Facebook Page and My Football YouTube Channel at 7:00pm local time (8:00pm AEDT) on Saturday evening.

Football Australia Chief Executive Officer, James Johnson, said the enhancement of the FFA Cup throughout 2021 and beyond is a key focus for the game, with the unbundling of Australia’s Professional Leagues from Football Australia having occurred.

“Principle IV of the XI Principles for the future of Australian football outlines our intent to ensure that the Australian football pyramid is aligned and connected through optimised competition structures, and no competition in Australian sport does this better than the FFA Cup,” Johnson said.

“We are committed to implementing a series of enhancements to the FFA Cup this year, including awarding one of Australia’s preliminary round slots for the AFC Champions League to the winner of the competition. This weekend, the journey for an Australian community-based club to potentially earn the right to represent Australia on the continental stage will begin.

“Our target is to surpass 700 participating clubs in the FFA Cup in 2021, with community and National Premier Leagues (NPL) clubs joining clubs from the A-League in vying to become the seventh Champion of the FFA Cup in late October,” he said.

FFA Cup Brisbane Strikers celebration

Like in 2019, leading sports equipment brand Mitre® will be the ‘Official Ball Supplier’ for this year’s FFA Cup. This year’s official match ball, the Mitre® Delta Max, will be unveiled in due course.

Slot allocations for the FFA Cup 2021 Final Rounds will see the clubs that finish from 9th to 12th in the A-League 2020/21 Regular Season compete in play-off matches to reach the FFA Cup 2021 Round of 32.

For the FFA Cup 2021 Round of 32, Football NSW, Football Queensland and Football Victoria will receive four (4) slots, Northern NSW Football, Football South Australia and Football West two (2) slots, while Football Tasmania, Capital Football (ACT) and Football Northern Territory will each receive one (1) slot.

Ten A-League clubs will compete in the Round of 32, with the remaining Member Federation slot to be taken by Wollongong Wolves FC. Wollongong received automatic entry into the FFA Cup 2020 Round of 32 after being crowned NPL Champions of Australia in 2019.

The final number of registered clubs plus draws for the Preliminary Rounds in all States and Territories will be confirmed in due course.

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FFA Cup 2021 Additional Information:

  • In line with the recently released 2021 Australian Domestic Match Calendar, FFA Cup 2021 Round of 32 play-off matches between the A-League clubs ranked 9th to 12th in the A- League 2020/21 Regular Season are currently scheduled to be played between June 4-6 this year (9 v 12, 10 v 11).

  • FFA Cup 2021 club registration window information can be accessed here.

  • 2021 will mark the final year that the FFA Cup will be known as the ‘FFA Cup’ after Football

    Australia’s Members voted unanimously to change the name of Football Federation Australia to Football Australia last November. This organisation name change came into effect in December 2020. Throughout 2021, Football Australia will conduct a robust process regarding the renaming of the FFA Cup, with the full transition to occur in 2022.

  • Media and fans can keep up to date with the latest FFA Cup updates via www.theffacup.com.au.

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FFA Cup 2021 Preliminary Rounds – Start Dates:

Member Federation

Start Date

Number of allocated slots in the Round of 32

Football Queensland

12 February, 2021

4

Football West

20 February, 2021

2

Football Victoria

20 February, 2021

4

Capital Football

6 March, 2021

1

Football Tasmania

8 March, 2021

1

Northern New South Wales Football

8 March, 2021

2

Football New South Wales

13 March, 2021

4

Football Northern Territory

23 March, 2021

1

Football South Australia

26 March, 2021

2