The 2018 FFA Cup preliminary rounds was the qualifying competition to decide 21 of the 32 teams which took part in the 2018 FFA Cup Round of 32, along with the 10 A-League clubs and reigning National Premier Leagues champion, Heidelberg United. The preliminary rounds operated within a consistent national structure whereby club entry into the competition was 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, were as follows.

Round Number of fixtures Clubs ACT NSW NNSW NT QLD SA TAS VIC WA 32 + 11 byes 781 → 749 – – – – – – – 10–17 Feb – First round 57 + 16 byes 749 → 692 – – 24 Feb–14 Mar – 28 Feb–24 Mar – – 23–25 Feb – Second round 171 + 80 byes 692 → 521 – 9–13 Mar 23 Feb–15 Apr – 15 Feb–11 Apr 22–28 Mar – 2–6 Mar 11–18 Mar Third round 189 + 4 byes 521 → 332 18 Mar–3 Apr 14–28 Mar 24 Mar–21 Apr 27 Mar–17 Apr 10 Mar–22 Apr 9–14 Apr 3 Mar 8–11 Mar 23–29 Mar Fourth round 154 + 2 byes 332 → 178 18 Apr–1 May 3–11 Apr 1–12 May 1–8 May 17 Mar–25 Apr 25 Apr 2 Apr 17 Mar–2 Apr 2 Apr Fifth round 83 + 1 bye 178 → 95 15–31 May 2–9 May 13–16 May 9–22 May 24 Mar–22 May 5 May 28–29 Apr 11–24 Apr 25 Apr Sixth round 42 95 → 53 5–7 Jun 15–23 May 9 Jun 5 Jun 5 May–5 Jun 22–23 May 19 May 1–9 May 19–20 May Seventh round 21 53 → 32 16 Jun 30 May 13 Jun 23 Jun 9–10 Jun 11 Jun 11 Jun 23–30 May 4 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 :

Qualifying round: 9 Queensland clubs level 4 and below entered this stage. 66 Victorian clubs level 7 and below entered this stage. First round: 19 Northern NSW clubs level 4 and below entered this stage. 16 Queensland clubs (7 from the previous round and 9 level 4–5) entered this stage. 95 Victorian clubs (36 from the previous round and 59 level 6–7) entered this stage. Second round: 120 New South Wales clubs level 6 and below entered this stage. 60 Northern NSW clubs (16 from the previous round and 34 level 4 and below) entered this stage. 83 Queensland clubs (9 from the previous round and 74 level 4 and below) entered this stage. 42 South Australian clubs level 3 and below entered this stage. 84 Victorian clubs (48 from the previous round and 36 level 5–6) entered this stage. 32 Western Australian clubs level 5 and below entered this stage. For matches where the scores were equal at full-time, they went straight to penalties. Third round: 14 Australian Capital Territory clubs level 3 and below entered this stage. 114 New South Wales clubs (88 from the previous round and 26 level 4–5) entered this stage. 42 Northern NSW clubs (31 from the previous round and 11 level 3) entered this stage. 8 Northern Territory clubs level 2 and below entered this stage. 58 Queensland clubs (52 from the previous round and 6 level 4) entered this stage. 32 South Australian clubs (21 from the previous round and 11 level 2) entered this stage. 12 Tasmanian clubs level 3 entered this stage. 66 Victorian clubs (42 from the previous round and 24 level 4) entered this stage. 32 Western Australian clubs (16 from the previous round and 22 level 3–4) 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 (57 from the previous round and 23 level 2–3) entered this stage. 31 Northern NSW clubs (21 from the previous round and 10 level 2) entered this stage. 5 Northern Territory clubs progressed to this stage. 50 Queensland clubs (31 from the previous round and 19 level 2–3) entered this stage. 16 South Australian clubs progressed to this stage. 16 Tasmanian clubs (6 from the previous round and 10 level 2–3) entered this stage. 64 Victorian clubs (33 from the previous round and 31 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 clubs from the Alice Springs zone) entered this stage. 32 Queensland clubs (25 from the previous round and 7 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, and also got a home fixture when they entered the 2019 FFA Cup preliminary rounds. 20 New South Wales 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 also participated in the final rounds of 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, plus Heidelberg United, also qualified to the final rounds of the Dockerty Cup. 4 Western Australian clubs progressed to this stage. The 2 winners also played in the Final of the Football West State Cup.

Other qualification issues A-League Youth teams playing in their respective federation leagues are specifically excluded from the preliminary rounds as their respective Senior A-League clubs are already part of the competition. Heidelberg United did not participate in the Victorian qualifying rounds, as they already qualified into the FFA Cup as 2017 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

Qualifying round

Fed Zone Tie no Home team (Tier) Score Away team (Tier)Queensland QLD SC 1 Beerwah Glasshouse United (4) 0–1 Buderim Wanderers (4) QLD SC 2 Caloundra FC (4) 6–3 Noosa Lions (4)Victoria VIC – 3 Old Trinity Grammarians (8) 3–0 Meadow Park (8) VIC – 4 White Star Dandenong (8) 0–7 Chelsea FC (8) VIC – 5 Thornbury Athletic (8) 3–2 Casey Panthers (8) VIC – 6 Rowville Eagles (8) 0–2 Glenroy Lions (8) VIC – 7 Victoria Park (10) 0–5 Knox United (8) VIC – 8 Mildura City (10) 3–4 Yarra Jets (8) VIC – 9 Endeavour Hills (8) w/o Buninyong Redbacks (10) VIC – 10 Cobram Roar (9) 1–5 Boronia SC (8) VIC – 11 Pakenham United (8) 0–4 Keilor Wolves (8) VIC – 12 Bundoora United (8) 2–0 East Kew (8) VIC – 13 Barwon SC (8) 2–1 Mitchell Rangers (8) VIC – 14 West Point (8) 2–1 Maidstone United (8)West Point removed for fielding ineligible players. VIC – 15 Deakin Ducks (8) 1–3 Tatura SC (9) VIC – 16 Drouin Dragons (8) 0–5 Heidelberg Eagles (8)

Fed Zone Tie no Home team (Tier) Score Away team (Tier) VIC – 17 Reservoir Yeti (8) 3–2† Alphington SC (8) VIC – 18 Bunyip District (8) 4–3† East Bentleigh (8) VIC – 19 Keon Park (8) 1–7 Gisborne SC (8) VIC – 20 Myrtleford Savoy (9) w/o Westside Strikers (8) VIC – 21 Melbourne Lions (8) w/o Monash SC (9) VIC – 22 Old Mentonians (8) 2–3 Somerville Eagles (8) VIC – 23 Wangaratta City (9) 17–0 Swinburne FC (8) VIC – 24 Falcons 2000 (9) 2–3 Mount Waverley City (8) VIC – 25 Maribyrnong Greens (8) 1–0 Forest Rangers (9) VIC – 26 Brunswick Zebras (7) w/o Fortuna 60 (9) VIC – 27 Twin City Wanderers (9) 8–2 Old Ivanhoe Grammarians (8) VIC – 28 Aspendale SC (8) 4–0 Warrnambool Wolves (9) VIC – 29 Glen Eira FC (12) 1–7 Melton Phoenix (8) VIC – 30 Waverley Wanderers (8) w/o Campbellfield Lions (8) VIC – 31 Glen Waverley (8) 2–0 Monash City (8) VIC – 32 Lara United (8) 8–3 Kensington City (8)

Notes w/o = Walkover † = After Extra Time QLD Byes – Bribie Island Tigers (5), Gympie United (4), Kawana Force (4), Maroochydore Swans (4) and Woombye Snakes (4). VIC Byes – Albert Park (8), Ballarat North United (10), Lyndale United (8), Moonee Valley Knights (8), Mt Lilydale Old Collegians (8) and Uni Hill Eagles (8).

First round

Fed Zone Tie no Home team (Tier) Score Away team (Tier)Northern New South Wales NNSW MNC 1 Wallis Lake (4) 4–1 Tuncurry Forster (4) NNSW NC 2 Maclean FC (4) 0–1 Northern Storm Thunder (4) NNSW NC 3 Grafton United (5) 0–6 Coffs Coast Tigers (4)Queensland QLD FNQ 4 Leichhardt Lions (4) 6–2 Douglas United (5) QLD FNQ 5 Mareeba United (4) 3–3† Marlin Coast Rangers (4)Marlin Coast Rangers advance 5–4 on penalties. QLD FNQ 6 Innisfail United (4) 5–2 Edge Hill United (4) QLD FNQ 7 Southside Comets (4) 15–0 JCU Cairns FC (5) QLD SC 8 Bribie Island Tigers (5) 0–8 Woombye Snakes (4) QLD SC 9 Caloundra FC (4) 5–2 Gympie United (4) QLD SC 10 Kawana Force (4) 0–1† Maroochydore Swans (4)Victoria VIC – 11 Point Cook (6) 4–1 Bundoora United (8) VIC – 12 East Brighton United (7) 7–3 Surf Coast (7) VIC – 13 Upfield (6) 2–3 Sebastopol Vikings (6) VIC – 14 Waverley Wanderers (8) 2–0 Middle Park (6) VIC – 15 Sandown Lions (7) 3–2 Knox United (8) VIC – 16 Yarra Jets (8) 6–1 Hampton Park United Sparrows (7) VIC – 17 Endeavour United (7) 0–2 Ashburton United (7) VIC – 18 Darebin United (7) 5–3 Barwon (8) VIC – 19 Lara United (8) w/o Keysborough SC (7) VIC – 20 RMIT (7) 2–1 Aspendale SC (8) VIC – 21 Chisholm United (7) 0–3 Noble Park United (6) VIC – 22 Fawkner SC (6) 2–5 Brunswick Zebras (7) VIC – 23 Myrtleford Savoy (9) w/o Riversdale SC (7) VIC – 24 Altona North (7) 0–1 Monash University (7) VIC – 25 Sandringham (7) 1–2 Melton Phoenix (8) VIC – 26 Bell Park (7) 1–0 Dandenong South (7) VIC – 27 Chelsea FC (8) 3–4 Old Xaverians (7) VIC – 28 Healesville SC (7) 4–2 Bunyip District (8)