The 2018 FFA Cup was the fifth season of the

FFA Cup The Australia Cup, formerly known as the FFA Cup until the 2021 season, is the national football knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Football Australia, formerly known as Football Federation Australia ...

, the main national

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

cup competition in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. 32 teams contested the competition proper (from the Round of 32), including the 10

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

teams and 21

Football Federation Australia Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only esta ...

(FFA) member federation teams determined through individual state qualifying rounds, as well as the reigning

National Premier Leagues The National Premier Leagues (NPL) is a national association football competition in Australia which acts as the second tier of the sport in the country below the A-League. The NPL consists of the highest level state league in each state-based ...

Champion (

Heidelberg United Heidelberg United Alexander Football Club (founded as Alexander the Great-Melbourne Soccer Club) established in 1958 is a football (soccer) club based in the northern Melbourne suburb of Heidelberg West, Victoria, Australia. The team currently ...

from Victoria).

Round and dates

For the first time in the competition's history, the decision on the final venue will be conducted by a draw.

Teams

A total of 32 teams participated in the 2018 FFA Cup competition proper, ten of which were from the

, one the

2017 National Premier Leagues The 2017 National Premier Leagues was the fifth season of the Australian National Premier Leagues football competition. The league competition was played amongst eight separate divisions, divided by FFA state and territory member federations. ...

Champion (

), and the remaining 21 teams from FFA member federations, as determined by the qualifying rounds. A-League clubs represent the highest level in the Australian league system, whereas member federation clubs come from Level 2 and below. The current season tier of member federation clubs is shown in parentheses.

Prize fund

The prize fund was unchanged from the previous two years' events. In addition, a further $2,500 was awarded from sponsor NAB to Member Federation clubs for each goal scored by them against an A-League opposition. Clubs to receive these prizes were

APIA Leichhardt Tigers APIA Leichhardt Football Club, also known simply as APIA (Associazione Poli-sportiva Italo Australiana), is a semi-professional soccer club based in the suburb of Leichhardt in Sydney, Australia. The club was formed in 1954 as APIA Leichhardt, ...

($7,500),

Hellenic Athletic Hellenic Athletic Club, also commonly known as Hellenic Athletic, is an Australian association football, soccer club from Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin, the Northern Territory. Hellenic Athletic currently competes in the NorZone Premier Leag ...

($7,500),

Avondale FC Avondale FC is an Australian semi-professional association football club, with the men's and women's teams based in Parkville and the junior sides based in Avondale Heights, suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the National P ...

($5,000), Rockdale City ($5,000), Bentleigh Greens ($2,500),

Bonnyrigg White Eagles Bonnyrigg White Eagles FC is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in Bonnyrigg, Sydney, New South Wales, currently playing in the NSW League One. The club was founded in 1968 as Avala Sports Club and took its current name in 1992. H ...

($2,500) and

Cairns FC Cairns FC, previously known as FNQ FC Heat, was an Australian semi-professional Association football, soccer club based in the regional city of Cairns, in the Far North Queensland, far north of Queensland. Founded in 2012, the club was awarded ...

($2,500).

Preliminary rounds

FFA member federations teams competed in various state-based preliminary rounds to win one of 21 places in the competition proper (Round of 32). All Australian clubs were eligible to enter the qualifying process through their respective FFA member federation, however only one team per club is permitted entry in the competition. All nine FFA member federations took part in the tournament. The preliminary rounds will operate within a consistent national structure whereby club entry into the competition is staggered in each state/territory, ultimately leading to round 7 with the winning clubs from that round gaining direct entry into the round of 32. The first matches of the preliminary rounds began in February 2018, and the final matches of the preliminary rounds in June 2018.

Bracket

Round of 32

The Round of 32 draw took place on 26 June 2018, with match information confirmed on 2 July. The lowest ranked side that qualified for this round were

Gold Coast Knights Gold Coast Knights Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Carrara, Queensland, Australia. The Croatian Australian backed club play in the National Premier Leagues Queensland, the top flight of the Football Queensland administrativ ...

. They were the only level 4 team left in the competition. ''All times listed below are at

AEST Australia uses three main time zones: Australian Western Standard Time (AWST; UTC+08:00), Australian Central Standard Time (ACST; UTC+09:30), and Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST; UTC+10:00). Time is regulated by the individual state gov ...

Round of 16

The Round of 16 draw took place on 7 August 2018, with match details finalised two days later. The lowest ranked sides that qualified for this round were Adelaide Comets,

, Bentleigh Greens,

, Broadmeadow Magic,

, Devonport City,

and

Queensland Lions ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. They were the only level 2 teams left in the competition. ''All times listed below are at

Quarter-finals

The Quarter-finals draw took place on 29 August 2018, with match details announced the following day. The lowest ranked sides that qualified for this round were

, Bentleigh Greens and

. They were the only level 2 teams left in the competition. ''All times listed below are at

Semi-finals

The Semi-finals draw took place on 26 September 2018, with match details announced the next day. The lowest ranked side that qualified for this round were Bentleigh Greens. They were the only level 2 team left in the competition. ''All times listed below are at

AEDT Australia uses three main time zones: Australian Western Standard Time (AWST; UTC+08:00), Australian Central Standard Time (ACST; UTC+09:30), and Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST; UTC+10:00). Time is regulated by the individual state ...

Final

Individual honours

The Michael Cockerill Medal was introduced in 2018 to recognise the tournament's standout

performer, named after the late former journalist and broadcaster Michael Cockerill who died in August 2017. The inaugural recipient of the award was

Elvis Kamsoba Elvis Kamsoba (born 27 June 1996) is a Burundian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Sepahan and the Burundi national football team.

from

Craig Goodwin Craig Alexander Goodwin (born 16 December 1991) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays for Adelaide United and the Australian national team. He is Adelaide United's all-time leading goalscorer. Club career Early career He start ...

from

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional Association Football, soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under North American professional sports league organization#Systems ar ...

won the Mark Viduka Medal for the player of the match in the final.

Top goalscorers

Notes: * Goals scored in preliminary rounds not included.

Broadcasting rights

The live television rights for the competition were held by the subscription network

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...

. The matches were also broadcast online on the My Football Live app from the Round of 16 onwards. In addition to live updates and crosses at concurrent matches, the following matches were broadcast live:

References

External links

Official website
{{2018–19 in Australian soccer

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

2018 in Australian soccer