2014 FFA Cup

2014 FFA Cup

Tournament details
Country	Australia New Zealand
Teams	631
Final positions
Champions	Adelaide United (1st title)
Runners-up	Perth Glory
Tournament statistics
Matches played	31
Goals scored	94 (3.03 per match)
Attendance	93,820 (3,026 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	Sergio Cirio (6 goals)
2015  →

The 2014 FFA Cup was the inaugural season of the FFA Cup (now known as the Australia Cup), the main national soccer knockout cup competition in Australia. 631 teams in total from around Australia entered the competition. Only 32 teams competed in the competition proper (round of 32), including the 10 A-League teams and 22 Football Federation Australia (FFA) member federation teams determined through individual state-based preliminary rounds held in early 2014 (and 2013 in the case of the ACT). The FFA Cup competition proper commenced on 29 July 2014 and concluded with the FFA Cup Final on 16 December 2014. ^[1]

The final was brought forward from Australia Day in order to avoid a clash with the 2015 Asian Cup, which was hosted by Australia. ^[2]

The winner of the FFA Cup received $50,000 as part of a total prize money pool of $131,450. ^[3]

Round and dates

Round	Draw date	Match dates	Number of fixtures	Teams	New entries this round
Preliminary rounds	Various	6 April 2013 – 25 June 2014	616 + 34 byes	631 → 32	621
Round of 32	27 June 2014 [4]	29 July–20 August 2014	16	32 → 16	10
Round of 16	22 August 2014 [5]	16–23 September 2014	8	16 → 8	none
Quarter-finals	23 September 2014 [6]	14–29 October 2014	4	8 → 4	none
Semi-finals	31 October 2014 [7]	11–12 November 2014	2	4 → 2	none
Final	12 November 2014	16 December 2014	1	2 → 1	none

Prize fund

Round	No. of Clubs receive fund	Prize fund [3]
Round of 16	8	$1,800
Quarter-finalists	4	$4,800
Semi-finalists	2	$10,950
Final runners-up	1	$25,950
Final winner	1	$50,000
Total		$131,450

Preliminary rounds

Main article: 2014 FFA Cup preliminary rounds

621 FFA member federations teams competed in various state-based preliminary rounds to win one of 22 places in the competition proper (round of 32). Eight of the nine FFA member federations took part in the tournament, the exception being Northern Territory, whose participation commenced in 2015. ^[8] Player registration numbers in each jurisdiction was used to determine the number of qualifying teams for each member federation: ^[9]

• NSW have seven teams qualify.
• Queensland have four teams qualify.
• Victoria have four teams qualify.
• Northern NSW have two teams qualify.
• Western Australia have two teams qualify.
• ACT have one team qualify.
• South Australia have one team qualify.
• Tasmania have one team qualify.

The first of the preliminary rounds began on 6 April 2013 and the final of the preliminary rounds took place on 25 June 2014. Seven of the eight member federation preliminary rounds took place in 2014 (16 February–25 June). The exception was the ACT, whose competition took place during 2013 (6 April–28 August). ^[10]

Teams

A total of 32 teams participated in the 2014 FFA Cup competition proper, ten of which came from the A-League, the remaining 22 teams from FFA member federations, as determined by the preliminary rounds. ^[2] A-League clubs represent the highest level in the Australian league system, where as member federation clubs come from Level 2 and below. The current season tier of member federation clubs is shown in parentheses. ^[11]

A-League clubs
Adelaide United	Brisbane Roar	Central Coast Mariners	Melbourne City
Melbourne Victory	Newcastle Jets	Perth Glory	Sydney FC
Wellington Phoenix	Western Sydney Wanderers
Member federation clubs
Tuggeranong United (2)	Blacktown City (2)	Manly United (2)	South Coast Wolves (2)
Sydney Olympic (2)	Sydney United 58 (2)	Parramatta FC (3)	Hakoah Sydney City East (4)
Broadmeadow Magic (2)	South Cardiff (2)	Brisbane Strikers (2)	Far North Queensland (2)
Olympic FC (2)	Palm Beach (2)	Adelaide City (2)	South Hobart (2)
Bentleigh Greens (2)	Melbourne Knights (2)	South Springvale (4)	St Albans Saints (3)
Bayswater City (2)	Stirling Lions (2)

Draw

After the completion of the 2013–14 A-League season and the preliminary rounds by the respective member federations, the 32 teams were organised for the FFA Cup Round of 32 draw, the first of four draws in the competition proper. The draw for the round of 32 used three pots to arrange the teams: Pot A included the four A-League teams to reach the semi-finals in the 2013–14 A-League Finals series (Brisbane Roar, Central Coast Mariners, Melbourne Victory and Western Sydney Wanderers), Pot B included the remaining six A-League teams and Pot C contained the 22 member federation teams. Teams were drawn randomly into predetermined positions. From the round of 16, Quarter-finals and Semi-finals, teams will be allocated in one of two pots. The remaining A-League teams were allocated to Pot A and the remaining member federation teams into Pot B. In each draw, teams were again drawn randomly into predetermined positions. ^[1]

The positions into which teams were drawn into were structured to ensure that member federation teams have the best chance of advancing in the competition. The draw ensuresd a minimum of one non-A-League team reached the Semi-finals stage, a minimum of three in the Quarter-finals and a minimum of nine in the round of 16. ^[12] This structure was achieved by allocating randomly drawn teams into predetermined positions, with some A-League teams guaranteed to be drawn against one another. ^[13]

The draw for each round did not take place until after the scheduled completion of the previous round. Each draw also determined which teams will play at home; that is, if a member federation team drew an A-League team, the member federation team would host the fixture. However, where two A-League teams or two member federation teams were drawn together, the first team drawn would be the host, with the exception that Wellington Phoenix was required to play all of their matches in Australia, away from home. ^[2]

Bracket

	Round of 32				Round of 16				Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	Sydney United 58	4
	Far North Queensland	1			Sydney United 58	1
	Melbourne City	1			Sydney FC	3
	Sydney FC (a.e.t.)	3							Sydney FC	1
	Adelaide United	1							Adelaide United (a.e.t.)	3
	Wellington Phoenix	0			Adelaide United	2
	Stirling Lions	0			Brisbane Roar	0
	Brisbane Roar	4											Adelaide United	3
	Hakoah Sydney City East	1											Central Coast Mariners	2
	Palm Beach	2			Palm Beach	1
	South Springvale (pen.)	2 (4)			South Springvale	0
	South Cardiff	2 (3)							Palm Beach	0
	Olympic FC	3							Central Coast Mariners	5
	Melbourne Knights	1			Olympic FC	1
	South Coast Wolves	0			Central Coast Mariners	3
	Central Coast Mariners	1															Adelaide United	1
	Manly United	1															Perth Glory	0
	Sydney Olympic	3			Sydney Olympic	1
	Blacktown City	0			Bentleigh Greens	2
	Bentleigh Greens	1							Bentleigh Greens (a.e.t.)	2
	Adelaide City	1							Adelaide City	1
	Western Sydney Wanderers	0			Adelaide City	1
	Broadmeadow Magic	1			Brisbane Strikers	0
	Brisbane Strikers (a.e.t.)	2											Bentleigh Greens	0
	Parramatta FC	0											Perth Glory	3
	St Albans Saints	1			St Albans Saints	1
	Newcastle Jets	0			Perth Glory	4
	Perth Glory	2							Perth Glory (a.e.t.)	4
	South Hobart	1 (4)							Melbourne Victory	2
	Tuggeranong United (pen.)	1 (5)			Tuggeranong United	0
	Bayswater City	0			Melbourne Victory	6
	Melbourne Victory	2

Round of 32

The lowest ranked sides that qualified for this round were Hakoah Sydney City East and South Springvale. They were the only level 4 teams left in the competition.

All times listed below are at AEST

Broadmeadow Magic (2) v Brisbane Strikers (2)

29 July 2014	Broadmeadow Magic (2)	1–2 (a.e.t.)	Brisbane Strikers (2)	Wanderers Oval, Newcastle
19:30	Petitt 58'	Report	Thurtell 60' Coulson 103'	Attendance: 1,523 Referee: Tim McGilchrist

Manly United (2) v Sydney Olympic (2)

29 July 2014	Manly United (2)	1–3	Sydney Olympic (2)	Cromer Park, Sydney
19:30	Payne 10'	Report	M. Gaitatzis 58', 76' H. Gaitatzis 74'	Attendance: 1,800 Referee: Stephen Lucas

Olympic FC (2) v Melbourne Knights (2)

29 July 2014	Olympic FC (2)	3–1	Melbourne Knights (2)	Goodwin Park, Brisbane
19:30	McLean 17', 25' Jafari 86'	Report	O'Doherty 52'	Attendance: 2,195 Referee: Alex King

South Springvale (4) v South Cardiff (2)

29 July 2014	South Springvale (4)	2–2 (a.e.t.) (4–3 p)	South Cardiff (2)	Kingston Heath Soccer Complex, Melbourne
19:30	Florea 25' Dimitrakopoulos 78'	Report	Ashton 4' Wallace 41'	Attendance: 1,420 Referee: Alex Azcurra
	Penalties
	Diaco Drakos K. Fitzgerald Skledar		D. Johnson Gazzard Brynes Stevens J. Johnson

Newcastle Jets (1) v Perth Glory (1)

5 August 2014	Newcastle Jets (1)	0–2	Perth Glory (1)	Wanderers Oval, Newcastle
19:30		Report	Keogh 20', 88'	Attendance: 2,877 Referee: Kris Griffiths-Jones

Parramatta FC (3) v St Albans Saints (3)

5 August 2014	Parramatta FC (3)	0–1	St Albans Saints (3)	Melita Stadium, Sydney
19:30		Report	Devlin 34'	Attendance: 780 Referee: Chris Young

South Hobart (2) v Tuggeranong United (2)

5 August 2014	South Hobart (2)	1–1 (a.e.t.) (4–5 p)	Tuggeranong United (2)	KGV Park, Hobart
19:30	Kiddey 69' (o.g.)	Report	Z. Munster 85'	Attendance: 1,472 Referee: Patrick Chaplin
	Penalties
	Ludford Undy Mann Scott Brennan Ludlow		Stewart Z. Munster E. Munster Reis Menser Pettit

Adelaide United (1) v Wellington Phoenix (1)

5 August 2014	Adelaide United (1)	1–0	Wellington Phoenix (1)	Marden Sports Complex, Adelaide
20:00	Cirio 31'	Report		Attendance: 2,804 Referee: Shaun Evans

Blacktown City (2) v Bentleigh Greens (2)

12 August 2014	Blacktown City (2)	0–1	Bentleigh Greens (2)	Lily Homes Stadium, Sydney
19:30		Report	Stirton 40'	Attendance: 624 Referee: Stephen Lucas

Melbourne City (1) v Sydney FC (1)

12 August 2014	Melbourne City (1)	1–3 (a.e.t.)	Sydney FC (1)	Morshead Park Stadium, Ballarat
19:30	Kalmar 64'	Report	Gameiro 23' Abbas 111' (pen.), 115' (pen.)	Attendance: 2,801 Referee: Shaun Evans

Sydney United 58 (2) v Far North Queensland (2)

12 August 2014	Sydney United 58 (2)	4–1	Far North Queensland (2)	Sydney United Sports Centre, Sydney
19:30	Tomelic 14' Mileski 60' Pavlović 71', 78'	Report	Smith 90'	Attendance: 750 Referee: Jonathan Barreiro

Adelaide City (2) v Western Sydney Wanderers (1)

12 August 2014	Adelaide City (2)	1–0	Western Sydney Wanderers (1)	Marden Sports Complex, Adelaide
20:00	Love 75'	Report		Attendance: 2,701 Referee: Alan Milliner

Hakoah Sydney City East (4) v Palm Beach (2)

19 August 2014	Hakoah Sydney City East (4)	1–2	Palm Beach (2)	Hensley Athletic Field, Sydney
19:30	Owusu 68'	Report	Dragicevic 4' Rees 17'	Attendance: 1,158 Referee: Matthew Cropper

Stirling Lions (2) v Brisbane Roar (1)

19 August 2014	Stirling Lions (2)	0–4	Brisbane Roar (1)	Western Australian Athletics Stadium, Perth
21:30		Report	Henrique 30' Brown 55' Smith 63' Solórzano 68'	Attendance: 1,152 Referee: Lucien Laverdure

South Coast Wolves (2) v Central Coast Mariners (1)

20 August 2014	South Coast Wolves (2)	0–1	Central Coast Mariners (1)	WIN Stadium, Wollongong
19:30		Report	Trifiro 13'	Attendance: 5,238 Referee: Ben Williams

Bayswater City (2) v Melbourne Victory (1)

20 August 2014	Bayswater City (2)	0–2	Melbourne Victory (1)	Western Australian Athletics Stadium, Perth
21:30		Report	Barbarouses 23' Thompson 77'	Attendance: 1,650 Referee: Kris Griffiths-Jones

Round of 16

The lowest ranked side that qualified for this round was South Springvale. They were the only level 4 team left in the competition.

All times listed below are at AEST

Adelaide City (2) v Brisbane Strikers (2)

16 September 2014	Adelaide City (2)	1–0	Brisbane Strikers (2)	Marden Sports Complex, Adelaide
19:30	Costa 42'	Report		Attendance: 2,024 Referee: Rick Schneider

Olympic FC (2) v Central Coast Mariners (1)

16 September 2014	Olympic FC (2)	1–3	Central Coast Mariners (1)	QSAC, Brisbane
19:30	McLean 57'	Report	N. Fitzgerald 2' Sim 38' Trifiro 86'	Attendance: 1,374 Referee: Chris Beath

Sydney Olympic (2) v Bentleigh Greens (2)

16 September 2014	Sydney Olympic (2)	1–2	Bentleigh Greens (2)	Lambert Park, Sydney
19:30	Soeda 90+4'	Report	McCormick 7' (pen.) De Vries 11'	Attendance: 827 Referee: Strebre Delovski

Tuggeranong United (2) v Melbourne Victory (1)

16 September 2014	Tuggeranong United (2)	0–6	Melbourne Victory (1)	Viking Park, Canberra
19:30		Report	Berisha 11', 21', 86' Delpierre 14' Finkler 52' Pain 57'	Attendance: 5,150 Referee: Ben Williams

Adelaide United (1) v Brisbane Roar (1)

23 September 2014	Adelaide United (1)	2–0	Brisbane Roar (1)	Coopers Stadium, Adelaide
19:30	Djite 35' Cirio 47'	Report		Attendance: 4,053 Referee: Shaun Evans

Palm Beach (2) v South Springvale (4)

23 September 2014	Palm Beach (2)	1–0	South Springvale (4)	Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast
19:30	Boxell 81'	Report		Attendance: 2,370 Referee: Alan Milliner

St Albans Saints (3) v Perth Glory (1)

23 September 2014	St Albans Saints (3)	1–4	Perth Glory (1)	Knights Stadium, Melbourne
19:30	McGuffie 68' (pen.)	Report	Marinković 37', 90+4' Maclaren 62' Keogh 72'	Attendance: 3,500 Referee: Lucien Laverdure

Sydney United 58 (2) v Sydney FC (1)

23 September 2014	Sydney United 58 (2)	1–3	Sydney FC (1)	Sydney United Sports Centre, Sydney
19:30	Paric 45'	Report	Naumoff 23', 60' Abbas 90+1'	Attendance: 8,125 Referee: Kris Griffiths-Jones

Quarter-finals

The lowest ranked sides that qualified for this round were Adelaide City, Bentleigh Greens and Palm Beach. They were the only level 2 teams left in the competition.

All times listed below are at AEDT

Palm Beach (2) v Central Coast Mariners (1)

14 October 2014	Palm Beach (2)	0–5	Central Coast Mariners (1)	Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast
19:30		Report	Cernak 28' Sim 72', 75', 90', 90+2'	Attendance: 2,035 Referee: Jarred Gillett

Sydney FC (1) v Adelaide United (1)

21 October 2014	Sydney FC (1)	1–3 (a.e.t.)	Adelaide United (1)	Allianz Stadium, Sydney
19:30	Brosque 51'	Report	Cirio 28' Djite 99', 111'	Attendance: 3,536 Referee: Ben Williams

Bentleigh Greens (2) v Adelaide City (2)

29 October 2014	Bentleigh Greens (2)	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Adelaide City (2)	Kingston Heath Soccer Complex, Melbourne
19:30	Wallace 88' De Abreu 104'	Report	Rideout 48'	Attendance: 1,992 Referee: Lucien Laverdure

Perth Glory (1) v Melbourne Victory (1)

29 October 2014	Perth Glory (1)	4–2 (a.e.t.)	Melbourne Victory (1)	nib Stadium, Perth
22:00	Keogh 15' (pen.), 82' De Silva 103' Marinković 111'	Report	Ben Khalfallah 8' Finkler 90+2'	Attendance: 3,899 Referee: Alan Milliner

Semi-finals

The lowest ranked side that qualified for this round was Bentleigh Greens. They were the only level 2 team left in the competition.

All times listed below are at AEDT

Bentleigh Greens (2) v Perth Glory (1)

11 November 2014	Bentleigh Greens (2)	0–3	Perth Glory (1)	Kingston Heath Soccer Complex, Melbourne
19:30		Report	Marinković 29', 50' Harold 84'	Attendance: 3,300 Referee: Kris Griffiths-Jones

Adelaide United (1) v Central Coast Mariners (1)

12 November 2014	Adelaide United (1)	3–2	Central Coast Mariners (1)	Coopers Stadium, Adelaide
19:30	Cirio 39', 88' Mabil 44'	Report	Simon 48' J. Rose 90+3'	Attendance: 4,548 Referee: Chris Beath

Final

Further information: 2014 FFA Cup Final

16 December 2014

19:30 AEDT

Adelaide United (1)	1–0	Perth Glory (1)
Cirio 67'	Report

Coopers Stadium, Adelaide

Attendance: 16,142

Referee: Chris Beath

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Sergio Cirio	Adelaide United	6
2	Andy Keogh	Perth Glory	5
	Nebojša Marinković	Perth Glory
	Matt Sim	Central Coast Mariners
5	Ali Abbas	Sydney FC	3
	Besart Berisha	Melbourne Victory
	Bruce Djite	Adelaide United
	Jake McLean	Olympic FC
9	Guilherme Finkler	Melbourne Victory	2
	Michael Gaitatzis	Sydney Olympic
	Chris Naumoff	Sydney FC
	Mirjan Pavlović	Sydney United 58
	Glen Trifiro	Central Coast Mariners

Notes

• Goals scored in preliminary rounds not included.

Broadcasting rights

The live television rights for the competition were held by the subscription channel Fox Sports, who broadcast ten games live, including all games from the quarter-final stage onwards. ^[14]

Match ball

The official match ball for the 2014 competition was the Umbro Neo 150 Elite. ^[15]

References

1. "FFA Cup How Draw Works". Football Federation Australia. Archived from the original on 27 March 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
2. "2014 FFA Cup FAQs". Football Federation Australia. Archived from the original on 20 April 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
3. "FFA Cup 2014 Competition Regulations" (PDF). Football Federation Australia. p. 45. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 October 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
4. "All set for Round of 32 Draw". Football Federation Australia.
5. "Cup fever ramps up with Friday's draw". Football Federation Australia.
6. "Westfield FFA Cup Quarter Final Details". Football Federation Australia.
7. "Tuesday, Wednesday Cup Semis confirmed". Football Federation Australia.
8. "FFA Cup to kick off in 2014 – Announcement, live updates". The Roar.
9. "Football Federation Australia reveals new FFA Cup competition and trophy". foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
10. "Tuggeranong United gets nod for FFA Cup". The Canberra Times. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
11. "Round of 32 puzzle almost complete". footballaustralia.com.au. Archived from the original on 20 June 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
12. "Cup gives grassroots chance to be giant-killers". footballaustralia.com.au. Archived from the original on 28 March 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
13. "Perth Glory coach Kenny Lowe says the club doesn't fear a tough FFA Cup route". perthnow.com.au. Archived from the original on 23 June 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
14. "FAQS". FFA Cup. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
15. "Umbro launch official Westfield FFA Cup ball". Football Federation Australia. 4 June 2014.

External links

• Official website