Foxtel Cup

Most recent season or competition: 2014
Sport	Australian rules football
Inaugural season	2011
Ceased	2014
No. of teams	16 (2011-12), 10 (2013), 9 (2014)
Country	Australia
Last champion(s)	Williamstown
Most titles	Williamstown (2)
Qualification	Invitation
TV partner(s)	Fox Sports Australia

The Leagues Championship Cup,^[1] officially branded under the sponsor's name as the Foxtel Cup,^[2] was an annual Australian rules football club knockout cup competition involving clubs from the various state league competitions from around Australia. The tournament was organised by the Australian Football League (AFL), and was held annually between 2011 and 2014.

The competition was first held in 2011, featuring sixteen teams from around the country who qualified based on their finishing positions in their previous state league season. In 2011 and 2012, matches were played mostly as curtain-raisers to AFL Saturday night games, or occasionally as a stand-alone game in the same timeslot;^[3] in 2013 and 2014, matches were mostly played as stand-alone games on Tuesday nights.^[4] In both cases, matches were televised on subscription television provider and competition naming rights sponsor Foxtel; and clubs played matches on or adjacent to bye weeks in their respective state league fixtures. Total annual prize money for the competition was about $250,000, with $40,000 going to the winner.^[5]

Williamstown was the inaugural Foxtel Cup champions when it defeated Claremont by 21 points in the 2011 Grand Final.^[6] Claremont went one better the following year to become 2012 Foxtel Cup Champions defeating Werribee by 44 points.^[7] West Adelaide defeated East Fremantle by four points in the 2013 Grand Final. Williamstown won its second Foxtel Cup championship in 2014 by beating West Perth by 63 points.

Qualification

For the inaugural Foxtel Cup in 2011, the AFL invited the highest three ranked teams from the South Australian National Football League, the Victorian Football League and the West Australian Football League; the top two teams from the Queensland Australian Football League; and the top team from AFL Sydney and the Tasmanian Football League – based on those leagues' 2010 seasons. The Greater Western Sydney Giants (which was playing in the NEAFL in 2011 as preparation for entering the Australian Football League in 2012), and the Northern Territory Football Club received special invitations.^[8][9]

However, despite the SANFL signing on to be part of the Cup competition, its top three clubs – Central District, Norwood and Woodville-West Torrens – all rejected their invitations to compete,^[10] citing lack of prize money, sponsorship conflicts, salary cap implications, schedule concerns and removing the focus from their SANFL premiership ambitions.^[11] Eventually, the SANFL positions in the competition were taken up by West Adelaide, North Adelaide and Port Adelaide Magpies, none of whom even reached the SANFL finals in 2010.^[12] In 2013 it was announced that the SANFL's top three teams of the 2012 season, Norwood, West Adelaide and North Adelaide, had committed to play in the Foxtel Cup in 2014. At the time of the announcement midway through the 2013 SANFL season the three teams were again the top three on the SANFL premiership ladder, showing that among South Australian clubs, the Foxtel Cup was gaining recognition.

In 2013 and 2014, the scale of the competition was reduced from sixteen teams to nine or ten. In those seasons, the WAFL, SANFL and VFL each contributed two teams to the competition, who entered the competition at the quarter-final stage; and the remaining teams came from the NEAFL and TFL, who contested pre-qualifying rounds before entering the quarter-finals.

The AFL announced on 1 August 2011 that public interest and television audiences well-supported the inaugural year of the Foxtel Cup and as a result the competition would continue for the next five years.^[13] However, following the heavy burden of playing mid-week games on the competing clubs, the decision was made to cease the Foxtel Cup after its fourth season, 2014.^[14]

Results

Coles Medal

The Coles Medal was awarded to the best player onfield in the Foxtel Cup Grand Final.

List of participants

Guernsey	Club	Nickname	Location	State League	Cup championships	Cup appearances
	Ainslie Football Club[16]	Tri-colours	Ainslie, Australian Capital Territory	NEAFL Eastern Conference	0	2011–2012
	Aspley Football Club[17]	Hornets	Carseldine, Queensland	NEAFL Northern Conference	0	2014
	Belconnen Football Club[18]	Magpies	Belconnen, Australian Capital Territory	NEAFL Eastern Conference	0	2014
	Box Hill Hawks Football Club[19]	Hawks	Box Hill, Victoria	Victorian Football League	0	2014
	Burnie Dockers Football Club[20]	Dockers	Burnie, Tasmania	Tasmanian Football League	0	2012–2013
	Claremont Football Club[21]	Tigers	Claremont, Western Australia	West Australian Football League	1	2011–2013
	Clarence Football Club[22]	Kangaroos	Clarence, Tasmania	Tasmanian Football League	0	2011
	East Fremantle Football Club[23]	Sharks	East Fremantle, Western Australia	West Australian Football League	0	2013
	East Perth Football Club[24]	Royals	Leederville, Western Australia	West Australian Football League	0	2011, 2014
	Greater Western Sydney Giants[25]	Giants	Blacktown, New South Wales	Australian Football League Expansion club	0	2011
	Labrador Australian Football Club[26]	Tigers	Labrador, Queensland	NEAFL Northern Conference	0	2011
	Launceston Football Club[27]	Blues	Launceston, Tasmania	Tasmanian Football League	0	2012
	Morningside Australian Football Club[28]	Panthers	Hawthorne, Queensland	NEAFL Northern Conference	0	2011–2012
	Mount Gravatt Football Club[29]	Vultures	Mount Gravatt, Queensland	NEAFL Northern Conference	0	2012
	North Adelaide Football Club[30]	Roosters	North Adelaide, South Australia	South Australian National Football League	0	2011
	North Ballarat Football Club[31]	Roosters	Ballarat, Victoria	Victorian Football League	0	2011
	Northern Bullants Football Club[32]	Bullants	Preston, Victoria	Victorian Football League	0	2011
	Northern Territory Football Club[33]	Thunder	Darwin, Northern Territory	NEAFL Northern Conference NT representative	0	2011–2013
	Norwood Football Club[34]	Redlegs	Norwood, South Australia	South Australian National Football League	0	2013–2014
	Port Adelaide Football Club[35]	Magpies	Alberton, South Australia	South Australian National Football League	0	2011–2012
	Port Melbourne Football Club[36]	Borough	Port Melbourne, Victoria	Victorian Football League	0	2012–2013
	Queanbeyan Football Club[37]	Tigers	Queanbeyan, New South Wales	NEAFL Eastern Conference	0	2013
	South Adelaide Football Club[38]	Panthers	Noarlunga Downs, South Australia	South Australian National Football League	0	2012
	Southport Australian Football Club[39]	Sharks	Southport, Queensland	NEAFL Northern Conference	0	2013
	Subiaco Football Club[40]	Lions	Subiaco, Western Australia	West Australian Football League	0	2012
	Swan Districts Football Club[41]	Swans	Bassendean, Western Australia	West Australian Football League	0	2011
	Sydney Hills Eagles Australian Football Club[42]	Eagles	Rouse Hill, New South Wales	NEAFL Eastern Conference Sydney AFL representative	0	2011–2012
	Werribee Football Club[43]	Tigers	Werribee, Victoria	Victorian Football League	0	2012–2013
	West Adelaide Football Club[44]	Bloods	Richmond, South Australia	South Australian National Football League	1	2011–2014
	West Perth Football Club[45]	Falcons	Joondalup, Western Australia	West Australian Football League	0	2012, 2014
	Western Storm Football Club[46]	Storm	Prospect, Tasmania	Tasmanian State League	0	2014
	Williamstown Football Club[47]	Seagulls	Williamstown, Victoria	Victorian Football League	2	2011 - 2012, 2014

Stadiums

Adelaide	Adelaide	Blacktown	Darwin
Football Park Capacity: 51,224	Adelaide Oval Capacity: 53,000	Blacktown ISP Oval Capacity: 10,000	Marrara Oval Capacity: 15,000
Geelong	Gold Coast	Hobart	Launceston
Kardinia Park Capacity: 33,500	Carrara Stadium Capacity: 25,000	Bellerive Oval Capacity: 16,200	York Park Capacity: 20,000
Melbourne	Melbourne	Perth	Sydney
Docklands Stadium Capacity: 56,347	Melbourne Cricket Ground Capacity: 100,018	Subiaco Oval Capacity: 43,500	Sydney Cricket Ground Capacity: 46,000

See also

• NFL Night Series and AFC Night Series, similar interstate Australian rules football club competitions which operated from 1976–1979 and from 1977–1987 respectively.

References

External links

• Official Foxtel Cup website
• Official AFL Canberra website
• AFL Northern Territory
• AFL Queensland State Site
• North East Australian Football League - official website
• South Australian National Football League – official website
• Official Sydney AFL Site
• Tasmanian Football League Website
• Victorian Football League – official website
• Western Australian Football League – official website