The 2015 FFA Cup preliminary rounds were a qualifying football competition in Australia to decide 21 of the 32 teams which will take part in the 2015 FFA Cup Round of 32, along with the 10 A-League clubs and reigning National Premier Leagues champion (North Eastern MetroStars SC). The preliminary rounds operated within a consistent national structure whereby club entry into the competition was staggered in each state/territory, with the winning clubs from Round 7 of the preliminary rounds in each member federation gaining direct entry into the 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 was permitted entry in the competition. Teams from the Northern Territory competed in this competition for the first time.

Schedule

The number of fixtures for each round, and the match dates for each Federation, are as follows.

Round Clubs ACT NSW NNSW NT QLD SA TAS VIC WA Qualifying round 11 + 17 byes 648 → 637 – – – – – – – 14 Feb – First round 57 + 13 byes 637 → 580 – – 21 Feb–22 Mar – 28 Feb–11 Mar – – 20–25 Feb – Second round 106 + 15 byes 580 → 474 – – 13 Feb–29 Mar – 13 Feb–8 Apr – – 27 Feb–1 Mar 14–15 Mar Third round 153 + 54 byes 474 → 321 14–15 Apr 14–15 Mar 14 Feb–24 Apr 28 Mar–15 Apr 3 Mar–24 Apr 4 Apr 9 Mar 6–9 Mar 28–29 Mar Fourth round 147 + 1 byes 321 → 174 28 Apr–12 May 1–22 Apr 21 Feb–6 May 21–29 Apr 22 Feb–13 May 24–25 Apr 6 Apr 13–15 Mar 6 Apr Fifth round 80 + 4 byes 174 → 95 19–26 May 15–28 Apr 15 Apr–16 May 19–20 May 28 Mar–9 Jun 8–12 May 17–18 Apr 2 Apr–5 May 27 Apr Sixth round 42 95 → 53 3–10 Jun 29 Apr–6 May 20 Jun 16 Jun 19 May–20 Jun 26–27 May 2 May 5–8 Jun 1 Jun Seventh round 21 53 → 32 20 Jun 12–13 May 21 Jun 27 Jun 7–27 Jun 28 Jun 8 Jun 17–24 Jun 20–21 Jun

Updated from the FFA Cup Website. Round dates in the respective Federations overlapped due to separate scheduling of geographic zones.

Format

The preliminary rounds structure were as follows, and refer to the different levels in the unofficial Australian soccer league system :

Qualifying round: 39 Victorian clubs level 8 and below entered this stage. First round: 19 Northern New South Wales clubs level 3 and below (North Zone) entered this stage. For Northern NSW, the preliminary rounds would go straight to a penalty shootout in the event that the game is tied at the conclusion of the regular 90 minutes. 20 Queensland clubs level 3 and below entered this stage. 88 Victorian clubs (28 from the previous round and 60 level 6–7) entered this stage. Second round: 56 Northern New South Wales clubs (10 from the previous round and 46 level 3 and below) entered this stage. 68 Queensland clubs (16 from the previous round and 52 level 5–7 entered this stage. 80 Victorian clubs (44 from the previous round and 36 level 5–6) entered this stage. 23 Western Australian clubs level 6 and below entered this stage. Third round: 10 Australian Capital Territory clubs level 3 and below entered this stage. 80 New South Wales clubs level 4 and below entered this stage. 43 Northern New South Wales clubs (30 from the previous round and 13 level 2 and below) entered this stage. 10 Northern Territory clubs level 2 and below entered this stage. 74 Queensland clubs (36 from the previous round and 38 level 5–7 entered this stage. 28 South Australian clubs level 2 and below (plus North Eastern MetroStars as 2014 NPL Champion) entered this stage. 8 Tasmanian clubs level 3 entered this stage. 64 Victorian clubs (40 from the previous round and 24 level 4) entered this stage. 42 Western Australia clubs (15 from the previous round and 27 level 3–5) entered this stage. Fourth round: 14 Australian Capital Territory clubs (7 from the previous round and 7 level 2) entered this stage. 80 New South Wales clubs (56 from the previous round and 24 level 2–3) entered this stage. 23 Northern New South Wales clubs progressed to this stage. 8 Northern Territory clubs progressed to this stage. 42 Queensland clubs (38 from the previous round and 4 level 5–7 entered this stage. 15 South Australian clubs (plus North Eastern MetroStars) progressed to this stage. 16 Tasmanian clubs (6 from the previous round and 10 level 2–3) entered this stage. 64 Victorian clubs (32 from the previous round and 32 level 2–3) entered this stage. 32 Western Australian clubs (21 from the previous round and 11 level 2) entered this stage. Fifth round: 8 Australian Capital Territory clubs (7 from the previous round and 1 level 2) entered this stage. 40 New South Wales clubs progressed to this stage. 12 Northern New South Wales clubs progressed to this stage. 8 Northern Territory clubs (4 from the previous round and 4 level 2) entered this stage. 32 Queensland clubs (21 from the previous round and 11 level 2) entered this stage. 7 South Australian clubs (plus North Eastern MetroStars) progressed to this stage. 8 Tasmanian clubs progressed to this stage. 32 Victorian clubs progressed to this stage. 16 Western Australian clubs progressed to this stage. Byes – 4 NNSW clubs (4 from the South Zone) Sixth round: 4 Australian Capital Territory clubs progressed to this stage. 20 New South Wales clubs progressed to this stage. 8 Northern New South Wales clubs progressed to this stage. 4 Northern Territory clubs progressed to this stage. 4 South Australian clubs progressed to this stage. 16 Queensland clubs progressed to this stage. 4 Tasmanian clubs progressed to this stage. 16 Victorian clubs progressed to this stage. 8 Western Australian clubs progressed to this stage. Seventh round: 2 Australian Capital Territory clubs progressed to this stage. This was also the Final of the Federation Cup. 10 New South Wales clubs progressed to this stage. The 5 winners also participated in the Waratah Cup. 4 Northern New South Wales clubs progressed to this stage. 2 Northern Territory clubs progressed to this stage – the winners of the Darwin-based and Alice Springs-based knockout competitions. 8 Queensland clubs progressed to this stage. The 2 Brisbane zone teams (not including the NPL Queensland teams) also played in the Final of the Canale Cup. 2 South Australian clubs progressed to this stage. This was also the Grand Final of the Federation Cup. 2 Tasmanian clubs progressed to this stage. This was also the Grand Final of the Milan Lakoseljac Cup. 8 Victorian clubs progressed to this stage. The 4 winners also qualified to the semi-finals of the Dockerty Cup. 4 Western Australian clubs progressed to this stage. The 2 winners will also play in the Cool Ridge Cup Final.

Other qualification issues North Eastern MetroStars also participated in some of the South Australian qualifying rounds, which were also part of the FFSA Federation Cup competition. MetroStars were not counted as a qualifier, as they had already qualified into the FFA Cup as 2014 National Premier Leagues champions.

Key to abbreviations FederationZone ACT = Australian Capital Territory NSW = New South Wales NNSW = Northern New South Wales FNC = Far North Coast MNC = Mid North Coast NC = North Coast NI = Northern Inland NTH = North (generally)STH = South NT = Northern Territory ASP = Alice Springs DAR = Darwin QLD = Queensland BNE = BrisbaneCQ = Central Queensland FNQ = Far North Queensland GC = Gold Coast MRF = Mackay Regional Football NQ = North Queensland SC = Sunshine Coast SQL = South Queensland (generally) SWQ = South West QueenslandWB = Wide Bay SA = South Australia TAS = Tasmania VIC = Victoria WA = Western Australia GLD = Goldfields MW = Mid West

Qualifying round

Fed Zone Tie no Home team (Tier) Score Away team (Tier)Victoria VIC – 1 Marcellin Old Collegians (8) w/o Lilydale Eagles (8) VIC – 2 Mt Lilydale Old Collegians (8) 2–1 Baxter SC (8) VIC – 3 Sporting Carlton (8) w/o Parkmore SC (8) VIC – 4 Healesville (8) 3–5 Keon Park (8) VIC – 5 Mitchell Rangers (8) 2–1 Prahran City (8)

Fed Zone Tie no Home team (Tier) Score Away team (Tier) VIC – 6 Rosebud Heart (8) 4–3 Old Ivanhoe Grammarians (8) VIC – 7 Kyneton District (8) w/o Light United (8) VIC – 8 Cobram Roar (9) 2–1 Glen Waverley (8) VIC – 9 Balmoral (8) 0–5 Kings Domain (8) VIC – 10 Gisborne SC (8) 1–2 Old Trinity Grammarians (8) VIC – 11 Montrose SC (8) 0–3 Lara SC (8)

Notes: w/o = Walkover VIC Byes – Albert Park (8), Brandon Park (8), Casey Panthers (8), Chelsea FC (8), East Bentleigh (8), Harrisfield Hurricanes (8), Maidstone United (10), Melbourne Lions (8), Mill Park (8), Reservoir Yeti (8), RMIT FC (8), Spring Hills (8), Springvale City (8), St Kevins Old Boys (8), Swinburne University (8), White Star Dandenong (8) and Yarra Jets (8).

First round

Fed Zone Tie no Home team (Tier) Score Away team (Tier)Northern New South Wales NNSW NI 1 Gunnedah United (4) 2–3 North Armidale (4) NNSW NI 2 Inverell Joeys (4) 3–3† South Armidale United (4) South Armidale United advance 4–3 on penalties. NNSW NI 3 The Armidale School (5) 0–2 Tamworth (4) NNSW NI 4 East Armidale (4) 1–3 Oxley Vale Attunga (4) NNSW NI 5 North Companions (4) 2–1 Demon Knights (4) NNSW NC 6 Maclean (4) 1–0 Coffs Coast Tigers (4) NNSW NC 7 Boambee (4) 8–0 Woolgoolga United (4) NNSW NC 8 Coffs City United (4) 2–2† Northern Storm Thunder (4)Coffs City United advance 5–4 on penalties. NNSW NC 9 Nambucca Strikers (5) 6–3 Westlawn Tigers (4) Queensland QLD NQ 10 Rebels Gunners (3) 3–1 Burdekin FC (3) QLD NQ 11 Ross River (3) 0–2 Ingham FC (3) QLD SC 12 Maroochydore (3) 5–1 Woombye Snakes (3) QLD SC 13 Gympie Diggers (3) 1–9 Caboolture Sports (3)Victoria VIC – 14 Kyneton District (8) 0–8 Eltham Redbacks (7) VIC – 15 Cobram Roar (9) 5–1 St Kevins Old Boys (8) VIC – 16 Whitehorse United (7) 6–1 Old Mentonians (8) VIC – 17 Yarra Jets (8) 0–2 Mt Lilydale Old Collegians (8) VIC – 18 Sandown Lions (7) 3–4 Lyndale United (7) VIC – 19 Mill Park (8) 2–2† Rowville Eagles (7)Mill Park advance 4–3 on penalties. VIC – 20 Watsonia Heights (7) 1–2 Melton Phoenix (7) VIC – 21 Waverley Wanderers (7) 2–2† Altona North (7)Waverley Wanderers advance 4–2 on penalties. VIC – 22 Old Trinity Grammarians (8) 4–0 Maidstone United (10) VIC – 23 Dandenong Wolves (7) w/o Bundoora United (7) VIC – 24 Epping City (7) 7–2 Melbourne Lions (8) VIC – 25 Skye United (7) w/o Heidelberg Eagles (7) VIC – 26 Keon Park (8) w/o Springvale City (8) VIC – 27 Plenty Valley Lions (7) w/o Point Cook (7) VIC – 28 Old Camberwell Grammarians (7) 0–3 Melbourne City (7)