The Waratah Cup is a knockout cup competition in New South Wales, run by the governing body of soccer in NSW, Football NSW. Teams competing in the Waratah Cup come from the National Premier Leagues NSW, NSW League One, NSW League Two, and numerous other semi professional & amateur association clubs within New South Wales. The Cup is held during the NPL NSW seasons. Since 2014 preliminary rounds of the Waratah Cup have been used to determine the NSW entrants to the national FFA Cup competition, now known as the Australia Cup.
History Federation Cup (1957–1966) and original Waratah Cup / Rothmans Cup (1970s) When the federation began in 1957, it held its first member cup competition, called the NSW Federation Cup. Canterbury-Marrickville were the inaugural winners of the competition with a 4–2 victory over Gladesville-Ryde. They retained the title the following year when they defeated Prague in the final. The tournament garnered sponsorship the following season and was named the "Ascot Thousand" for two years and the "Craven A Cup" for the next years. Due to lack of sponsorship, the 1963 tournament returned to the Federation Cup naming but was also known as the Henry Seamonds Trophy from 1964, named after the late NSW and Australian Soccer Federation president. The competition continued to run for a further four years in this manner before finally dissolving due to lack of interest. After ten editions, the final tournament was held in 1966. The winners that year were APIA Leichhardt. During this period, teams competed mainly from the first division with the best placed second division clubs during the season also gaining entry into the competition to create equal numbers for the knockout tournament.
The NSW federation cup notion was re-introduced in 1971, under the banner of the Waratah Cup, with Sydney Hakoah winning the title. The 1972 edition was also held with 20 teams entering from across multiple levels of the soccer pyramid in NSW with four teams gaining entry from Northern NSW Football. There was no title held in 1973 but was re-introduced in 1974 sponsored by Rothmans. These tournaments garnered a lot of interest from many clubs with up to eight rounds being played before the quarter-finals in the 1976 edition.
With many influential clubs departing the federation with the introduction of the National Soccer League in 1977, the idea of federation wide cup tournaments were abandoned until the 1990s. However, the pre-season Ampol Cup continued during this time, often with the NSL clubs competing against the First Division clubs in the federation. In 1990, a State Challenge Cup was held by teams from the First Division, paving way for the re-introduction of the Waratah Cup.
Rebirth (1991–1997) and re-introduction (2004–2013) In 1991, the Challenge Cup and the first division pre-season cup were replaced by the NSW Waratah State Cup. Little is known of the original format of the fledgling editions but by 1995, 99 teams were competing and 94 in 1996. In 1997, Wollongong Wolves FC won the final Waratah Cup before it was resurrected after six years in 2004.
Since this time, the competition has continued uninterrupted, save for the 2020 and 2021 editions that were cancelled due to COVID-19. The initial edition in 2004 was won by Sydney Crescent Star with an extra time win over fellow NSW Premier League team, Bonnyrigg White Eagles. In the following nine years, Sutherland were the only club to win the cup on two occasions (in 2009 and 2012) and the 2010 final was the only edition to be decided on penalties, with Marconi defeating Spirit FC after the match was still scoreless after extra time.
Current format (since 2014) Since 2014 the Waratah Cup has become part of the qualifying competition for the FFA Cup, now known as the Australia Cup. In 2014, seven teams qualified for the Round of 32.
For 2015, the preliminary rounds of the 2015 FFA Cup replaced the early rounds of the competition; the 5 NSW qualifiers to the Round of 32 then competed for the 2015 Waratah Cup.
Starting in 2015, the reigning champions of the National Premier Leagues qualified directly for the FFA Cup proper (round of 32). Blacktown City, Sydney United, and Wollongong Wolves won the NPL national championships in 2015, 2016, and 2019 respectively. Therefore the three teams were not required to participate in FFA Cup preliminary rounds in 2016, 2017, and 2021. They were also seeded directly into final rounds of the Waratah Cup in the respective seasons, along with the other FFA Cup qualifiers from NSW.
From 2020 onwards, NSW qualification to the Round of 32 decreased to four slots instead of the previous five.
Format As the preliminary rounds form part of the Australia Cup, the final rounds occur after the Australia Cup Preliminary Seventh Round is completed. The example in the table relates to the 2023 season.
Phase Round Clubs remaining Clubs involved From previous round Entries in this round Teams entering at this round Australia Cup preliminary rounds Round 2 174 132 – 132 National Levels 6+ Round 3 108 88 66 22 National Levels 4–5 Round 4 64 64 44 20 National Levels 2–3 Round 5 32 32 32 none Round 6 16 16 16 Round 7 8 8 8 Finals Semi-finals 4 4 4 Final 2 2 2
Australia Cup qualifiers Since 2014, the Waratah Cup preliminary rounds have acted as qualifiers for the Australia Cup. Year Australia Cup (formerly FFA Cup) Qualifiers 2014 7 Blacktown City, Hakoah Sydney City East, Manly United, Parramatta FC, South Coast Wolves, Sydney Olympic, Sydney United 58 2015 5Balmain Tigers, Blacktown City, Rockdale City Suns, Sydney Olympic, Sydney United 58 2016 6Blacktown City, Bonnyrigg White Eagles, Manly United, Marconi Stallions, Sydney United 58, Wollongong Wolves 2017 5APIA Leichhardt, Bankstown Berries, Blacktown City, Hakoah Sydney City East, Hills Brumbies, Sydney United 58 2018 5APIA Leichhardt, Bonnyrigg White Eagles, Hakoah Sydney City East, Marconi Stallions, Rockdale City Suns 2019 5 Manly United, Marconi Stallions, Mt Druitt Town Rangers, Sydney United 58, St George FC 2020 –Waratah Cup and 2020 FFA Cup cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. 2021 5APIA Leichhardt, Blacktown City, Mt Druitt Town Rangers, Sydney Olympic, Wollongong Wolves 2022 4Bonnyrigg White Eagles, NWS Spirit, Sydney United 58, Wollongong United 2023 4APIA Leichhardt, Inter Lions, Mt Druitt Town Rangers, Sydney United 58 2024 4APIA Leichhardt, Blacktown City, NWS Spirit, Rockdale Ilinden 2025 4APIA Leichhardt, Northern Tigers, SD Raiders, Sydney United 58 2026 4APIA Leichhardt, SD Raiders, Sydney Olympic, Sydney United 58
Notes
Past finals Below is a list of all federation cup finals since the inaugural NSW Federation of Soccer Clubs season in 1957. Please note the name changes throughout the years, due to various reasons: Federation Cup (1957–1966): Also known as Ascot Thousand (1959–60), Craven A Cup (1961–62), Henry Seamonds Trophy (1964–66) Waratah State / Rothmans Cup (1971–1972, 1974–1976) and Challenge Cup (1990) Waratah Cup (1991–current): Also known as Continental Tyres Cup (2004–2006), Tiger Turf Cup (2007–2009), McDonald's Cup (2010), TAFE NSW (2018–2019)
Year Winners Score Runners-up 1957 Canterbury-Marrickville 4–2 Gladesville-Ryde 1958 Canterbury-Marrickville 3–2 Sydney Prague 1959 Hakoah 2–0 Sydney Prague 1960 Bankstown 1–0 Canterbury-Marrickville 1961 Hakoah 2–0 Canterbury-Marrickville 1962 APIA Leichhardt 5–1 Canterbury-Marrickville 1963 Hakoah Eastern Suburbs 2–1 South Coast United 1964 St. George Budapest 4–3 South Coast United 1965 Hakoah Eastern Suburbs 3–1 Pan Hellenic 1966 APIA Leichhardt 3–2 St. George Budapest1967–1970 No competition held 1971 Hakoah Eastern Suburbs 3–2 South Sydney-Croatia 1972 St. George-Budapest 3–2 Marconi-Fairfield 1973 No competition held 1974 South Sydney-Croatia 1–0 St. George-Budapest 1975 APIA Leichhardt 2–0 Western Suburbs 1976 Hakoah Eastern Suburbs 3–1 South Sydney-Croatia 1977–1989 No competition held 1990 Canberra Croatia 3–0 Sydney Macedonia 1991 Blacktown City 2–1 Avala 1992 Avala 4–1 Canberra Metro 1993 Blacktown City – unknown 1994 Bankstown City 2–1 Sydney Olympic 1995 Sydney United 2–1 Canterbury-Marrickville 1996 Sydney United 2–1 Parramatta Eagles 1997 Wollongong Wolves 2–0 Bankstown City 1998–2003 No competition held 2004 Sydney Crescent Star 2–1 Bonnyrigg White Eagles 2005 Sydney United 3–1 Belconnen Blue Devils 2006 Blacktown City 2–1 APIA Leichhardt 2007 Wollongong Wolves 3–2 Manly United 2008 Bankstown City 3–1 Sydney Olympic 2009 Sutherland Sharks 2–1 Manly United 2010 Marconi Stallions 0–0 (7–6) Spirit FC 2011 Manly United 4–0 Mounties Wanderers 2012 Sutherland Sharks 4–1 APIA Leichhardt 2013 APIA Leichhardt 3–0 Sutherland Sharks 2014 Blacktown City (4) 6–2 Manly United 2015 Sydney United 58 (5) 1–0 Blacktown City 2016 Sydney United 58 (6) 1–0 Manly United 2017 Hakoah Sydney City East (7) 3–1 APIA Leichhardt 2018 APIA Leichhardt (5) 3–0 Hakoah Sydney City East 2019 Marconi Stallions (2) 2–1 Sydney United 58 2020 Waratah Cup and 2020 FFA Cup cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. 2021 Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 2022 NWS Spirit 2–1 Sydney United 58 2023 Sydney United 58 (7) 3–1 APIA Leichhardt 2024 APIA Leichhardt (6) 3–0 Rockdale Ilinden 2025 Sydney United 58 (8) 1–0 Northern Tigers 2026 Sydney United 58 (9) 3–1 APIA Leichhardt
Performance by club All-time honour board This list includes all Waratah Cup champions and runners-up since the inaugural New South Wales Federation of Soccer Clubs in 1957. Club Titles Years Runners-up Years Sydney United 58 9 1974, 1995, 1996, 2005, 2015, 2016, 2023, 2025, 20264 1971, 1976, 2019, 2022 Hakoah Sydney City East 7 1959, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1971, 1976, 2017 1 2018 APIA Leichhardt 6 1962, 1966, 1975, 2013, 2018, 20245 2006, 2012, 2017, 2023, 2026 Blacktown City 4 1991, 1993, 2006, 20141 2015 Bankstown City 2 1994, 2008 2 1990, 1997 Canterbury Bankstown 2 1957, 1958 4 1960, 1961, 1962, 1995 St George FC 2 1964, 1972 2 1966, 1974 Sutherland Sharks 2 2009, 20121 2013 Marconi Stallions 2 2010, 2019 1 1972 Wollongong Wolves 2 1997, 2007 0 Manly United 1 2011 4 2007, 2009, 2014, 2016 Bonnyrigg White Eagles 1 1992 2 1991, 2004 Canberra FC 1 1990 1 1992 NWS Spirit 1 2022 1 2010 Sydney Crescent Stars 1 2004 0 Gladesville-Ryde 0 1 1957 Prague 0 2 1958, 1959 South Coast United 0 2 1963, 1964 Sydney Olympic 0 3 1965, 1994, 2008 Western Suburbs 0 1 1975 Parramatta FC 0 1 1996 Belconnen Blue Devils 0 1 2005 Mounties Wanderers 0 1 2011 Northern Tigers 0 1 2025
Earlier NSW State Cups This table consists of finals of state cup competitions held by the New South Wales Soccer Football Association from 1885.