The 2016 FFA Cup preliminary rounds were the qualifying competition in Australia to decide 21 of the 32 teams which took part in the 2016 FFA Cup Round of 32, along with the 10 A-League clubs and reigning National Premier Leagues champion (Blacktown City FC). 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 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.

Schedule

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

Round Number of fixtures Clubs ACT NSW NNSW NT QLD SA TAS VIC WA 22 + 6 byes 704 → 682 – – – – – – – 20–21 Feb – First round 60 + 7 byes 682 → 622 – – 27–28 Feb – 27 Feb – – 27–29 Feb 27–28 Feb Second round 122 + 11 byes 622 → 500 – – 12 Feb–13 Mar – 12 Feb–12 Mar 18–20 Mar – 4–7 Mar 6–13 Mar Third round 180 + 24 byes 500 → 320 26–28 Apr 16–21 Mar 13 Feb–6 Apr – 26 Feb–29 Mar 1–6 Apr 5 Mar 11–14 Mar 19–20 Mar Fourth round 145 + 4 byes 320 → 175 10–19 May 3–13 Apr 5 Mar–4 May 19–27 Apr 24 Mar–12 Apr 25 Apr 12–14 Mar 18–21 Mar 28 Mar Fifth round 80 + 4 byes 175 → 95 31 May–2 Jun 19–25 Apr 2 Apr–21 May 3–4 May 16 Apr–4 May 28 May–1 Jun 28 Mar 19 Apr–4 May 25 Apr Sixth round 42 95 → 53 7–9 Jun 3–4 May 18 Jun 8 Jun 7–18 May 14–15 Jun 30 Apr 17 May–8 Jun 14 May Seventh round 21 53 → 32 18 Jun 18 May 19 Jun 18 Jun 3–11 Jun 25 Jun 13 Jun 7–15 Jun 6 Jun

Round dates in the respective Federations overlapped due to separate scheduling of geographic zones.

Format The preliminary rounds structures are as follows, and refer to the different levels in the unofficial Australian soccer league system :

Qualifying round: 50 Victorian clubs level 8 and below entered this stage. Byes – 6 VIC clubs. First round: 11 Northern New South Wales clubs level 4 and below entered this stage. 10 Queensland clubs entered this stage. 88 Victorian clubs (22 from the previous round and 66 level 6–8) entered this stage. 18 Western Australian level 6 and below entered this stage. Second round: 63 Northern New South Wales clubs (6 from the previous round and 57 level 3 and below) entered this stage. 71 Queensland clubs (8 from the previous round and 63 level 3 and below) entered this stage. The Brisbane-based losers from this round also qualified to the First Round of the linked Canale Cup competition. 16 South Australian clubs level 4 and below entered at this stage. 80 Victorian clubs (44 from the previous round and 36 level 5–6) entered this stage. 22 Western Australian clubs (9 from the previous round and 13 level 5 and below) entered this stage. Third round: 11 Australian Capital Territory clubs level 3–4 entered this stage. 108 New South Wales clubs level 4 and below entered this stage. 45 Northern New South Wales clubs (32 from the previous round and 13 level 2 and below) entered this stage. 75 Queensland clubs (38 from the previous round and 37 new teams) entered this stage. 9 Northern Territory clubs level 2 and below from the Norzone (DAR) entered at this stage. 32 South Australian clubs (9 from the previous round and 23 level 2–3) entered this stage. 6 Tasmanian clubs level 3 entered at this stage 64 Victorian clubs (40 from the previous round and 24 level 4) entered this stage. 34 Western Australian clubs (11 from the previous round and 23 level 3–4) entered this stage. Fourth round: 16 Australian Capital Territory clubs (8 from the previous round and 8 level 2) entered this stage. 80 New South Wales clubs (58 from the previous round and 22 level 2 and below) entered this stage. 24 Northern New South Wales clubs progressed to this stage. 13 Northern Territory clubs (8 from the previous round and 5 level 2 and below from the Southern Zone (ASP)) entered at this stage. 43 Queensland clubs (38 from the previous round and 5 new teams) entered this stage. The 10 Brisbane-based winners also qualify to the Fifth Round of the separate Canale Cup competition. 16 South Australian clubs progressed to this stage. 16 Tasmanian clubs (3 from the previous round and 13 level 2–3) entered at this stage. 64 Victorian clubs (32 from the previous round and 32 level 2–3) entered this stage. 24 Western Australian clubs (17 from the previous round and 7 level 2) entered this stage. Fifth round: 8 Australian Capital Territory clubs progressed to 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 will progress to this stage. 32 Queensland clubs (21 from the previous round and 11 level 2) entered this stage. 8 South Australian clubs progressed to this stage. 8 Tasmanian clubs progressed to this stage. 32 Victorian clubs progressed to this stage. 16 Western Australian clubs (12 from the previous round and 4 level 2) entered this stage. 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. 16 Queensland clubs progressed to this stage. 4 South Australian 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, which doubled as the Final of the Federation Cup. 10 New South Wales clubs progressed to this stage. The 5 winners – along with the reigning National Premier Leagues champion Blacktown City – 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 – which doubled as the final of the Sport Minister's Cup. 8 Queensland clubs progressed to this stage. 2 South Australian clubs progressed to this stage, which doubled as the Grand Final of the Federation Cup. 2 Tasmanian clubs progressed to this stage, which doubled as 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 also played in the Final of the Cool Ridge Cup.

Other qualification issues A-League Youth teams playing in their respective state leagues were specifically excluded from the preliminary rounds as their respective Senior A-League clubs were already part of the competition. Blacktown City did not participate in the New South Wales qualifying rounds, as they had already qualified into the FFA Cup as 2015 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 MW = Mid West SW = South West

Qualifying round

Fed Zone Tie no Home team (Tier) Score Away team (Tier)Victoria VIC – 1 Gisborne SC (8) 0–2 Cleeland United (9) VIC – 2 Albert Park (8) 4–1 Keon Park (8) VIC – 3 Meadow Park (8) 0–3 Laverton Park (8) VIC – 4 Glen Waverley (8) 0–4 Baxter SC (8) VIC – 5 White Star Dandenong (8) 2–1 Parkmore SC (8) VIC – 6 Cobram Roar (9) 1–2 Mitchell Rangers (8) VIC – 7 Melbourne Lions (8) w/o Montrose SC (8) VIC – 8 Golden Plains (8) 0–2 Wangaratta City (9) VIC – 9 Kyneton District (8) 1–3 RMIT FC (8) VIC – 10 Rosebud Heart (8) 5–1 Thornbury Athletic (8) VIC – 11 Lilydale Eagles (8) w/o Old Mentonians (8)

Fed Zone Tie no Home team (Tier) Score Away team (Tier) VIC – 12 Churchill United (9) 2–1† East Bentleigh (8) VIC – 13 Myrtleford Savoy (9) 3–2 Old Trinity Grammarians (8) VIC – 14 Forest Rangers (9) 1–9 Dandenong Warriors (8) VIC – 15 Monash City (8) 2–0 Chelsea FC (8) VIC – 16 Ballarat North United (9) 1–6 Swinburne University (8) VIC – 17 Heidelberg Eagles (8) 0–2 Lara United (8) VIC – 18 Twin City Wanderers (9) 4–0 Pakenham United (8) VIC – 19 Casey Panthers (8) 0–5 North Melbourne Athletic (8) VIC – 20 Sandown Lions (8) w/o Yarra Jets (8) VIC – 21 Keilor Wolves (8) w/o Healesville SC (8) VIC – 22 Mt Lilydale Old Collegians (8) 3–2 Greenvale United (8)

Notes: w/o = Walkover † = After Extra Time VIC Byes – Chisholm United (8), Craigieburn City (8), Moreland Eagles (8), Old Ivanhoe Grammarians (8), Reservoir Yeti (8) and Shepparton South (9).

First round

Fed Zone Tie no Home team (Tier) Score Away team (Tier)Northern New South Wales NNSW NC 1 Grafton United (5) 2–2† Nambucca Strikers (5)Nambucca Strikers advance 5–4 on penalties. NNSW NC 2 Boambee FC (4) 0–4 Urunga FC (4) NNSW NC 3 Maclean FC (4) 0–1 Coffs Coast Tigers (4) NNSW NC 4 Sawtell Scorpions (4) 0–5 Northern Storm Thunder (4) NNSW NC 5 Coffs City United (4) 11–0 Westlawn Tigers (4)Queensland QLD SC 6 Caloundra FC (3) 4–1 Noosa Lions (3) QLD SC 7 Buderim Wanderers (3) 6–4 Gympie Diggers (3)Victoria VIC – 8 Altona North (7) 0–0† Epping City (7)Epping City advance 5–4 on penalties. VIC – 9 Hampton Park United Sparrows (7) 5–3† Albert Park (8) VIC – 10 Dandenong South (7) 4–5† Myrtleford Savoy (9) VIC – 11 Moreland Eagles (8) 6–0 Melbourne Lions (8) VIC – 12 Balmoral FC (7) 1–7 Geelong Rangers (6) VIC – 13 Eltham Redbacks (6) 2–0 Monash University (7) VIC – 14 Shepparton South (9) 4–0 Monash City (8) VIC – 15 Upfield SC (6) 4–2 Harrisfield Hurricanes (7) VIC – 16 Endeavour United (7) 2–3 Middle Park (6) VIC – 17 Skye United (7) 3–1 Mt Lilydale Old Collegians (8) VIC – 18 Strathmore Split (7) 4–2 Springvale City (7) VIC – 19 Laverton Park (8) 0–2 Carey EFC (7) VIC – 20 Ashburton United (6) 0–7 Twin City Wanderers (9) VIC – 21 Point Cook (7) 7–0 Churchill United (-) VIC – 22 Noble Park (7) 0–9 Melton Phoenix (7) VIC – 23 Keysborough SC (7) 4–2 Darebin United (6) VIC – 24 Craigieburn City (8) 2–5 St Kevins Old Boys (7) VIC – 25 Lyndale United (7) 3–1 White Star Dandenong (8) VIC – 26 Riversdale SC (6) 3–1† Bayside Argonauts (7) VIC – 27 Dandenong Warriors (8) w/o Plenty Valley Lions (7) VIC – 28 Brunswick Zebras (7) 1–2 Bell Park (7) VIC – 29 Elwood City (7) 3–2† Mitchell Rangers (8)