Football Wagga announce inaugural Riverina Cup knockout competition

Modelled on the FA Cup format, the knockout competition will be open to clubs from the Wagga, Griffith, South West Slopes, and Albury Wodonga Football Associations.

The brain child of Football Wagga development officer Liam Dedini and strategic manager Andy Heller, eligible clubs can nominate one men's and one women's open team for the tournament.

Hoping to get 16 teams in each competition, Dedini said the competition is an exciting way to open the year.

"There's been a lot of talk in the past few years about trying to grow the competition and lots of associations are doing awesome things, and I think one thing we enjoy is being able to play against other associations in a competitive environment," Dedini said.

"We had the idea of putting together a Riverina Cup, there are plenty of formats we were looking at but we thought we'd start nice and easy for the first year with a knockout format."

Not only are all local Wagga clubs eligible, but also those in the region that play at higher levels, including Wagga City Wanderers and Yoogali SC, who play in Capital Football leagues.

Dedini said the beauty of an FA Cup style competition is the chance to play against new teams.

"Obviously Wagga United, for example, every year they're playing against Tolland, but this gives them the opportunity to be in a competitive environment to potentially draw a game against an Albury side or they might get the opportunity to draw one of the Canberra teams such as Wanderers and it's exciting," he said.

"Because it's a knockout, every game is win at all costs, and realistically you want to go as far as you can.

"We've seen teams in competitions like this who might not be as strong as some other clubs, but they play the better game on that day and they get to progress through the next round.

"It just creates some exciting football."

With a live draw to come following the close of team nominations, Dedini said clubs will be supported in organising game times that work for both sides.

Teams will pay an entry fee to compete which will contribute to a monetary prize pool, which will increase depending on how many teams participate.

Dedini said running both women's and men's competitions in the Cup's inaugural year was important to capitalising on the boom in soccer over recent years.

"With the women's game being so strong at the moment, hopefully all clubs can enter both the men's and women's teams," he said.

"The format for both may be a little different depending on entries but we definitely are going to promote and get both competitions up and running."

Wagga Association club Hanwood competed in the Australia Cup, the national knockout competition, in 2023.

They progressed to the second round but were forced to forfeit due to unavailability of players travelling from Griffith to Sydney.

Nominations for the inaugural Riverina Cup are open until February 9. Clubs after further information can make contact with Football Wagga.