Spots still available for 2021 FFA Cup Preliminary Rounds

With the FFA Cup Preliminary rounds set for kick off this weekend in Queensland, spots for association clubs in NSW are still available with expressions of interest entries set to be closed as of 5pm, Monday 22nd of February. 

Football NSW has been allocated 4 spots at this year’s FFA Cup Round of 32 but will be represented by a fifth being 2019 National Premier Leagues Champions Wollongong Wolves.

To be amongst the fun, excitement and journey that is the FFA Cup, now is the time to register your Association club today.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER AND PARTICIPATE IN THE 2021 FFA CUP NSW PRELIMINARY ROUNDS

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.

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.

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.

FFA Cup 2021 Preliminary Rounds – Start Dates: