Channel 9 in Darwin are getting keeeeeeeen for the FFA Cup, I think this is the most excited Channel 9 are ever going to get over it.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=849863145052659

Still refused to acknowledge AU. Or show any highlights from last years (Australian) competition. No matter who qualifies in Darwin, most likely, you can guess the whole village will turn out for it.

I think the Northern Territory turnout will be awesome. Although even if a non-Darwin team qualifies, it'll probably be held in Darwin. I daresay they're probably the only place in the NT with the suitable infrastructure.

When Sydney CBD FC takes to the field in the preliminary rounds of the Football Federation Australia (FFA) Cup, it will mark the incredible realisation of one man's dream to start a football club and the diverse mix of players who helped him make it happen.
By Scott McIntyre
30 MAR 2015 - 2:05 PM UPDATED YESTERDAY 3:11 PM
   
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There are two large bronze sculptures that flank the entrance to the Art Gallery of NSW, in what many would consider to be the heart of downtown Sydney.

Cast by British artist Gilbert Bayes in 1923, one is titled The Offerings Of War, the other The Offerings Of Peace and the pair of bronze equestrian statues stand with the city skyline on one side, and a grassy area roughly the size of two football fields known as the Domain grounds just below them.

It's an appropriate stage for the 'home ground' of one of Australia's newest football clubs and a fitting metaphor for the struggles they've gone through in building from scratch a team that barely a year after its formation will this week compete in the early rounds of the Football Federation Australia (FFA) Cup.

One of the reasons so few new clubs are born is the sheer cost and burden, both financially and in terms of time invested, of bringing to fruition what often starts as either a moment of frustration, inspiration or drunken impulse.

In the case of Sydney CBD FC it was a little bit of all the above, minus the drinking.

At least initially.

Sitting at his desk in the office of a finance company late on a Tuesday afternoon in November 2013, Scotsman Chris Paton suddenly decided that he had to take action immediately on the years of dreaming about starting a football club.

He headed straight down to his company's graphics department and within a week had the colours, logo and name settled.

The idea was to have a club smack-bang in the middle of the nation's largest city, right in the commercial heart of central Sydney.

It was perhaps unusual that no club already resided there given the sheer weight of people who live, work or travel through the region on a daily basis. Within a year the Ds, as they call themselves, have started to act as a magnet for new players who hail from all corners of the world.

The ambitious club now has three teams with 17 different nationalities represented. In the likely side this Wednesday there's a Danish goalkeeper, an English centre-back, a Belgian central midfielder, a Moroccan utility and an Argentinian No.10, coached by one of his countrymen. It's unlikely there's such a cosmopolitan team in the entire competition.

Moreover, the strides they've taken in barely a year of existence are nothing short of remarkable.

When Paton's light-bulb moment arrived he had to scramble together all the elements that usually take years to realise – a ground, a clubhouse (the character-filled Old Fitzroy Hotel in downtown Sydney), players and facilities – in the space of barely two months to compete in the 2014 season.

One of the main challenges, though, was to find an actual competition that the embryonic club could join. Step forward the Sydney Amateur Football League (SAFL).

The SAFL is a two-tiered league featuring amateur sides from the inner-city ring of Sydney that has been running in various forms and with variegated popularity since 1947. While regulated by Football New South Wales, it sits outside the traditional state associations umbrella meaning it was much easier to establish a new club and they were more than willing to accommodate Paton and his as yet non-existent team.

Ads were placed – in hope as much as anything else – on the ubiquitous Gumtree boards and within a couple of days Paton's email was overflowing with players keen to get on board with the new side.

A mate with a coaching background was roped in, trials hastily organised, and by January 2014 the club had two teams ready for action.

The next problem, though, was finding a place to train.

A nomadic couple of weeks ensued with the teams conducting what they termed 'guerrilla training' under whatever lights they could find in Sydney's Hyde Park – rocking up in gear ready to go and running through sessions with one eye cast to avoid roaming council rangers.

The Ds then shifted base to their present home at the Domain but were struck by the same problems facing footballers the world over: a lack of adequate lighting.

Not a problem. Someone came up with the idea of portable lights and in line with keeping costs down they even ran a cable almost a hundred metres down through a set of stairs to an underground carpark where they 'borrowed' the electricity from a subterranean vending machine.

The relationship is now a formal one and the club has ambitious plans to turn the Domain into a true home ground, for now though it has to rent Valentine Park in the western reaches of Sydney for its tilt at FFA Cup glory.

The Ds' first-up opponent is NSW south coast outfit Woonona, a club that last year celebrated its 125th anniversary.

These kind of fixtures are exactly why the FFA Cup was such a long overdue idea and while logic suggests the well-established visitor should prevail, don't discount this match as the first in a possible run of 'cupsets' for the boys from central Sydney.

Last year they won the SAFL Cup and finished runner-up in the league at the first time of asking. With a team bond forged over many a beer in the Old Fitzroy, they might just present more than nuisance value for any side in the second edition of the nationwide FFA Cup.

Goodbye APIA :cool:

Magique!!!!!
Absolutely keen to win this ffa cup. Looks interesting already and clubs look better for it.

Would like to hear if the FFA cup has had an affect at the state level.

Will be hopefully great high profile rd 32 games this year with Melbourne Victory, Melbourne City, Sydney FC & Adelaide United all playing away to NPL opponents.


Hope the derby gods pay a visit.

Edited by scott21: 14/5/2015 10:57:11 PM

Really looking forward to watching South Melbourne and Knights face off in early June.

Will be hopefully great high profile rd 32 games this year with Melbourne Victory, Melbourne City, Sydney FC & Adelaide United all playing away to NPL opponents.


Hope the derby gods pay a visit.

Edited by scott21: 14/5/2015 10:57:11 PM

Wouldn't mind another trip to Edensor.

Have updated the OP with the 2015 Qualifiers.

We have our first Member Federation club qualify for the 2015 Ro32.

CONGRATULATIONS TO Balmain Tigers FC who compete in the NSW State League Division 1 who tonight defeated fellow SL1 club Western NSW Mariners 3-0 (away from home) to qualify for the FFA Cup

Balmain Tigers FC Road to the cup:
Third Round: bye
Fourth Round: beat Glenmore Park FC (non-league) 5-0
Fifth Round: beat North Epping Rangers (non-league) 5-0
Sixth Round: beat Bankstown City Lions (NPL2) 3-0
Seventh Round beat Western NSW Mariners (SL1) 3-0

Balmain is my local club. This is phenomenal and amazing and I'm so happy. :lol: \:d/ \:d/ :lol:

Pretty awesome stuff to not have a single goal conceded either in the qualification stage. 16 goals for.

Great to see the FFA Cup advertised so much at the gf

Good exposure.

Needs FTA coverage though.

-PB

Great to see the FFA Cup advertised so much at the gf

Must say that was very pleasing.

Hopefully the FFA and Foxtel allow clubs to stream their games that aren't being televised for even a small fee. Would be amazing again. Foxtel could do worse than get Corndog and Gilly as FFA Cup commentators for all the games not involving A-League clubs.

Imagine Corndog, Gilly and Ned Zelic all in the comm box together.

The Fox Sports broadcast schedule will consist of 11 live full broadcast matches and single camera coverage of all other 20 matches from the Round of 32, with the full details as follows:

Round of 32 will feature 16 matches across four match days, with four of the matches live, while a single camera will be stationed at the other 12 matches
Round of 16 will feature eight matches across two match days, with two live full broadcast, while a single camera will be stationed at the six other matches
Quarter Finals will feature four matches across two match days – two live full broadcast, while a single camera will be stationed at the other two matches
Semi Finals will feature two matches to be broadcast live across two days
The final will have live coverage as a standalone fixture

Is there a date set for the live 32 draw?

I don't think so