2026 Football Victoria Women's State Knockout Cup

The 2026 Football Victoria Women's State Knockout Cup was the 14th season of the Football Victoria Women's State Knockout Cup (known as the Nike F.C. Cup for sponsorship reasons), an Australian association football competition. The competition was open to all women's clubs in the state of Victoria.

South Melbourne were the defending champions, having beaten Heidelberg United to secure their 1st title in a row in the previous season's final.

Format Following South Melbourne's win over Heidelberg United in the 2025 final, 99 clubs from across Victoria competed for glory from March 22 through to when the 2026 Nike FC Cup Final was played and won on the weekend of August 1 at The Home of The Matildas. The 99 Teams would compete in the preliminary rounds to qualify for the quarter finals stage of the Football Victoria Women's State Knockout Cup. Over 5 rounds clubs would compete in knockout matches where teams from different tiers were introduced each round.

Round Dates RoundDatesTEAMS PARTICIPATINGRound 1Weekend of 22 March 2026SLW 2–8, Metropolitan & Regional AffiliateRound 2Weekend of 5 & 12 April 2026Round 1 Winners & SLW 1Round 3Weekend of 26 April 2026Round 2 Winners & VPLWRound 4Weekend of 17 May 2026Round 3 Winners & NPLWRound 5Weekend of 31 May 2026Round 4 Winners Quarter Finals Weekend of 14 June 2026Round 5 Winners Semi FinalsWeekend of 5 July 2026Quarter Final Winners Cup Final1 August 2026Semi Final Winners

Bracket

Quarter-finals The draw for the quarter-finals was made on 15 June 2023. FC Clifton Hill was the only non-NPL teams left in the draw.

Semi-finals The draw for the quarter-finals was made on 1 July 2023. After FC Clifton Hill's loss to Heidelberg United there was no more non-NPL teams left in the draw.

Grand Final The Nike FC Cup Final was hosted at the Home of the Matildas on 1 August 2026. Essendon Royals would beat Heidelberg United 4–1 to mark their firs Nike FC Cup Final win in the clubs history. Maggie Jenkins would also be awarded the Theresa Deas Medal after scoring two goals in the final.

References