The 2017 FFA Cup preliminary rounds was the qualifying competition to decide 21 of the 32 teams which took part in the 2017 FFA Cup Round of 32, along with the 10 A-League clubs and reigning National Premier Leagues champion (Sydney United 58). The preliminary rounds operated within a consistent national structure whereby club entry into the competition is staggered in each federation, 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, are as follows.
Round Number of fixtures Clubs ACT NSW NNSW NT QLD SA TAS VIC WA First qualifying round 9 735 → 726 – – – – – – – 10–12 Feb – 28 726 → 698 – – – – – – – 17–18 Feb – First round 50 + 7 byes 698 → 648 – – 25–26 Feb – 8 Mar – – 25–28 Feb – Second round 128 + 6 byes 648 → 520 – 11–12 Mar 17 Feb–8 Apr – 9 Feb–5 Apr 11–13 Mar – 3–6 Mar 19 Mar Third round 191 + 11 byes 520 → 329 11–20 Apr 15 Mar–4 Apr 11 Mar–27 Apr 4–26 Apr 4 Mar–12 Apr 24–26 Mar 13 Mar 11–13 Mar 1–2 Apr Fourth round 151 329 → 178 9–20 May 29 Mar–2 May 2–13 May 2–16 May 18 Mar–19 Apr 13–17 Apr 17 Apr 17–19 Mar 17 Apr Fifth round 83 + 1 bye 178 → 95 30 May–3 Jun 19 Apr–10 May 17–20 May 26 Apr–30 May 8 Apr–10 May 13–15 May 29 Apr 28 Mar–13 Apr 25 Apr Sixth round 42 95 → 53 8 June 9–24 May 10 Jun 10 May–13 Jun 30 Apr–30 May 13–14 Jun 20–21 May 25 Apr–4 May 20–21 May Seventh round 21 53 → 32 17 Jun 30–31 May 12–13 Jun 24 Jun 9–10 Jun 24 Jun 12 Jun 23–24 May 5 Jun
Some round dates in respective Federations overlap due to separate scheduling of zones.
Format The preliminary rounds structures were as follows, and refer to the different levels in the unofficial Australian soccer league system :
First qualifying round: 18 Victorian clubs level 9 and below entered this stage. Second qualifying round: 56 Victorian clubs (9 from the previous round and 47 level 8) entered this stage. First round: 10 Northern NSW clubs level 4 and below entered this stage. 88 Victorian clubs (28 from the previous round and 60 level 6–7) entered this stage. Second round: 18 New South Wales clubs level 6 and below entered this stage. 52 Northern NSW clubs (5 from the previous round and 52 level 4 and below) entered this stage. Queensland: 38 Brisbane-based clubs level 4 and below entered this stage. 20 South Australian clubs level 3–5 entered this stage. 80 Victorian clubs (44 from the previous round and 36 level 5–6) entered this stage. 10 Western Australian clubs level 6 and below entered this stage. Third round: 11 Australian Capital Territory clubs level 3 and below entered this stage. 116 New South Wales clubs (9 from the previous round and 107 level 4 and below) entered this stage. 41 Northern NSW clubs (30 from the previous round and 11 level 3) entered this stage. 6 Northern Territory clubs level 2 and below entered this stage. Queensland: 39 Brisbane-based clubs (19 from the previous round and 20 level 3–4) entered this stage. 32 South Australian clubs (10 from the previous round and 22 level 2–3) 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. 32 Western Australian clubs (10 from the previous round and 28 level 3–5) entered this stage. Fourth round: 16 Australian Capital Territory clubs (7 from the previous round and 9 level 2) entered this stage. 80 New South Wales clubs (58 from the previous round and 22 level 2–3) entered this stage. 31 Northern NSW clubs (21 from the previous round and 10 level 2) entered this stage. 6 Northern Territory clubs (3 from the previous round and 3 level 2 and below) entered this stage. 42 Queensland clubs progressed to this stage. 16 South Australian clubs progressed to this stage. 16 Tasmanian clubs (4 from the previous round and 12 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 (19 from the previous round and 13 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. 16 Northern New South Wales clubs progressed to this stage. 7 Northern Territory clubs (3 from the previous round and 4 level 2–3) entered this stage. 32 Queensland clubs (22 from the previous round and 10 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 progressed to 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 was also 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 Sydney United 58 – 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 was also the Grand Final of the Federation Cup. 2 Tasmanian clubs progressed to this stage, which 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 also progressed to the Final of the Football West State Cup.
Other qualification issues A-League Youth teams playing in their respective federation leagues were specifically excluded from the preliminary rounds as their respective Senior A-League clubs are already part of the competition. Sydney United 58 did not participate in the New South Wales qualifying rounds, as they had already qualified for the FFA Cup as 2016 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 SW = South West
First qualifying round
Fed Zone Tie no Home team (Tier) Score Away team (Tier)Victoria VIC – 1 Twin City Wanderers (9) 15–0 Glen Eira FC (12) VIC – 2 Victoria Park (10) 3–0 Daylesford and Hepburn United (10) VIC – 3 Forest Rangers (9) 3–0 Warrnambool Wolves (9) VIC – 4 Tatura SC (9) 0–4 Cobram Roar (9)
Fed Zone Tie no Home team (Tier) Score Away team (Tier) VIC – 5 Myrtleford Savoy (9) 6–0 Phillip Island Breakers (9) VIC – 6 Falcons 2000 (9) 2–1 Ballarat North United (9) VIC – 7 Shepparton South (9) 1–4 Wangaratta City (9) VIC – 8 Waverley Victory (16) 0–12 Epsom FC (9) VIC – 9 Irymple Knights (9) w/o Warrnambool Rangers (9)
Notes w/o = Walkover
Second qualifying round
Fed Zone Tie no Home team (Tier) Score Away team (Tier)Victoria VIC – 1 Chelsea FC (8) w/o Reservoir Yeti (8)Walkover for Chelsea FC – Reservoir Yeti removed. VIC – 2 Wangaratta City (9) 2–3 Myrtleford Savoy (9) VIC – 3 Bundoora United (8) 0–2 Maidstone United (8) VIC – 4 Maribyrnong Greens (8) 3–5 Dandenong Warriors (8) VIC – 5 Lara United (8) 3–1 Heidelberg Eagles (8) VIC – 6 East Brighton United (8) 1–1† Deakin Ducks (8)East Brighton United advance 5–3 on penalties. VIC – 7 Old Trinity Grammarians (8) 3–3† Twin City Wanderers (9)Twin City Wanderers advance 4–1 on penalties. VIC – 8 Meadow Park (8) 1–2 Chisholm United (8) VIC – 9 Drouin Dragons (8) 1–3 White Star Dandenong (8) VIC – 10 Spring Hills (8) 1–2 Craigieburn City (8) VIC – 11 Kyneton District (8) 1–3 East Bentleigh (8) VIC – 12 Melbourne Lions (8) 1–1† Pakenham United (8) VIC – 13 Lyndale United (8) w/o Glen Waverley (8)Melbourne Lions advance 5–4 on penalties.
Fed Zone Tie no Home team (Tier) Score Away team (Tier) VIC – 14 Forest Rangers (9) w/o Moreland Eagles (8) VIC – 15 Keon Park (8) 0–6 Laverton Park (8) VIC – 16 Rowville Eagles (8) 2–4 Falcons 2000 (9) VIC – 17 Somerville Eagles (8) 5–2 Mitchell Rangers (8) VIC – 18 Epsom FC (9) 4–2 Gisborne SC (8) VIC – 19 Irymple Knights (9) w/o Bunyip and District Strikers (8) VIC – 20 Thornbury Athletic (8) 0–4 Uni Hill Eagles (8) VIC – 21 Plenty Valley Lions (8) w/o Cobram Roar (9) VIC – 22 Mt Lilydale Old Collegians (8) 1–2 Victoria Park (10) VIC – 23 Waverley Wanderers (8) 2–1† Albert Park (8) VIC – 24 Lilydale Eagles (8) w/o Casey Panthers (8) VIC – 25 Old Ivanhoe Grammarians (8) 1–6 Sandown Lions (8) VIC – 26 Old Mentonians (8) 0–0 Keilor Wolves (8)Keilor Wolves advance 8–7 on penalties. VIC – 27 Swinburne University (8) 1–2† Moonee Valley Knights (8) VIC – 28 Monash City (8) 1–1† Campbellfield Lions (8)Campbellfield Lions advance 4–3 on penalties.
Notes w/o = Walkover † = After Extra Time
First round
Fed Zone Tie no Home team (Tier) Score Away team (Tier)Northern New South Wales NNSW NC 1 Westlawn Tigers (4) 0–9 Urunga FC (4) NNSW NC 2 Coffs Coast Tigers (4) 5–1 Northern Storm Thunder (4) NNSW NC 3 Coffs City United (4) 10–0 Grafton United (5) NNSW NC 4 Orara Valley (4) 4–1 Maclean FC (4) NNSW NC 5 Boambee FC (4) 1–3 Sawtell Scorpions (4)Queensland QLD SC 6 Gympie United (3) 1–3 Buderim Wanderers (3)Victoria VIC – 7 Moonee Valley Knights (8) 0–3 North Melbourne Athletic (7) VIC – 8 Yarra Jets (7) 1–7 Bell Park (7) VIC – 9 Maidstone United (8) 2–2† White Star Dandenong (8)White Star Dandenong advance 4–2 on penalties. VIC – 10 Croydon City Arrows (7) 3–0 Kings Domain (7) VIC – 11 Point Cook (7) 0–1 FC Strathmore (6) VIC – 12 Golden Plains (7) 2–1 East Brighton United (8) VIC – 13 Brunswick Zebras (7) 1–4 Greenvale United (7) VIC – 14 Lara United (8) 1–0 Laverton Park (8) VIC – 15 Baxter SC (7) 1–3 Fawkner SC (6) VIC – 16 Harrisfield Hurricanes (7) 1–2 Collingwood City (6) VIC – 17 Boroondara Eagles Carey (7) 1–1† West Preston (7)Boroondara Eagles Carey advance 4–2 on penalties. VIC – 18 Uni Hill Eagles (8) 0–1 Bayside Argonauts (7) VIC – 19 Melbourne City (6) 1–2 Dandenong Warriors (8) VIC – 20 Darebin United (7) 2–2† Knox City (6)Knox City advance 4–2 on penalties. VIC – 21 Balmoral (7) 3–7 Brimbank Stallions (6) VIC – 22 Cobram Roar (9) 3–0 Middle Park (6)