Football Australia tonight confirmed that from the 2022 edition onwards, Australia’s largest national knockout football competition will be played as the ‘Australia Cup’.
The transition from the FFA Cup, which was established in 2014, to the Australia Cup will take place over the coming weeks as the Preliminary Rounds of the 2022 competition get underway in States and Territories across the nation.
The change to the Australia Cup name heralds a new era for a competition that routinely attracts over 700 clubs from all divisions of football across Australia, uniting the grassroots, amateur, and professional levels of the sport.
However, the change in name also integrates and acknowledges Australian football’s storied past. Between 1962 and 1968 the original Australia Cup was contested between leading state league teams of the time.
Football Australia Chief Executive Officer, James Johnson, said the Australia Cup name was a popular option amongst the game’s stakeholders when research and consultation was conducted regarding changing the name of the competition following Football Australia’s own name change from Football Federation Australia (FFA) in December 2020.
“Through discussion with Australian football historians, and dialogue with fans and stakeholders of the competition, the consensus was that the name Australia Cup truly speaks to what this competition is and represents. We are pleased that through this process pioneering players, clubs, and officials can feel recognised and connected to the competition,” Johnson said.
“The research and consultation we have conducted regarding this name change indicates that people will be overwhelmingly happy with the shift to Australia Cup from 2022 onwards.
“We have really evolved the FFA Cup competition this year and changing the name of the competition to the Australia Cup is an exciting next step in this evolution. It was a year of many firsts – the first time the competition was played live and free-to-air via Network 10, giving it unprecedent exposure. We also scheduled matches in the final stages of the competition so that some were played on weekends, making it more friendly for the thousands of supporters across the country. The granting of one of Australia’s ‘half-spots’ in the AFC Champions League also meant that this year community clubs right up to Isuzu UTE A-League clubs could dream of representing their supporters, communities, and Australia on the international stage.
Our Cup competition has always been one which has connected and united Australia’s football community, and we believe the name change will ultimately serve to elevate the competition in the national and international consciousness, as clubs aspire to win a competition that represents our entire football ecosystem.
“As the Australia Cup in 2022, we want to see more clubs from right across the country join the competition. We will see a competition where every game matters. Being played in the winter months, we also anticipate that football will be fast-paced and exciting. We are very excited about the start of a new chapter for the Australia Cup in 2022,” he said.
The Australia Cup name was made official on Network 10’s live and free coverage of the last ever FFA Cup match, this evening’s FFA Cup Final 2021 between Melbourne Victory FC and Central Coast Mariners FC at Melbourne’s iconic AAMI Park (kick-off 8pm AEDT).
The broadcast included the airing of a video showcasing some of the origins of the Australia Cup (watch in the player above) and reflecting on its history, with comments from winners Joe Alagich, John McDaid, John Brown, Alistair Scott, Stan Ackerley, and Ray Baartz, as well as football historian George Cotsanis.
