Dockerty Cup

The Dockerty Cup is an annual association football knock-out competition open to all Victorian clubs across the Victorian football league system. The tournament is named after the former president of Football Federation Victoria Harry Dockerty.[1]

Dockerty Cup
Organising bodyFootball Victoria
Founded1909 (1909)
Region Victoria
Number of teams218 (in 2023)
Qualifier forAustralia Cup,
FV Community Shield
Current champions2023: Oakleigh Cannons
(1st title)
Most successful club(s)Melbourne Knights
(9 titles)
Television broadcastersFacebook Live
WebsiteFootball Victoria
2023 Australia Cup preliminary rounds

Since 2014 the Cup is also a qualifying competition for the FFA Cup, now known as the Australia Cup, where the four finalists enter the competition proper at the round of 32. The Dockerty cup winner also qualifies to the next season's FV Community Shield, in a one-off match against the current NPL Victoria champion.

History

The competition was established in 1909 and held every season with the exception of 3 years during World War I (1916, 1917, 1918). Following the 1996 season, the Dockerty Cup was in recess before returning in 2004 as the "Crazy John's Cup", it would be run for three seasons before re-entering recess following the 2006 season. A Victorian cup competition was reintroduced in 2011 with a new trophy and known as the "Mirabella Cup" due to naming rights sponsorship. That arrangement lasted only one season, with the competition being named the "FFV State Knockout Cup" in 2012 and 2013. However, in both years, the winner was awarded with the Dockerty Cup trophy.[2][3] From the 2014 season onwards, it is once again known as the Dockerty Cup.

Format

Eligibility

Participation in the Dockerty Cup is mandatory for the senior men's team from every Victorian club within the National Premier Leagues and the State Leagues, and optional for teams from the Regional Leagues. Because the competition serves as the preliminary rounds for the Australia Cup competition, only one team per Club is eligible. This means that the youth sides of Melbourne Victory Youth and Melbourne City Youth and Western United FC Youth are excluded from the competition, as their parent A-League sides separately participate in the competition.

Additionally if a Victorian club wins the NPL Championship – as occurred with Heidelberg United in the 2018 Dockerty Cup – they are excluded from the preliminary rounds as they have also qualified for the FFA Cup at the round of 32. Instead they join the Dockerty Cup competition in a special playoff round match held the week prior to the semi-finals.[4]

Competition format

The competition acts a classic single-elimination knock-out tournament, with one team progressing from each tie to the next round. Fixtures for each round are determined by a random draw, with teams entering the tournament on a staggered basis, depending on their respective positions in the league hierarchy. The team drawn first hosts the match, with the final being held at a neutral venue. No replays are currently utilised in the Dockerty Cup, with a drawn match going to 30 minutes of extra time and eventually a penalty shoot-out if necessary.

Australia Cup

Since 2014, the Dockerty Cup has also served as preliminary competition for the FFA Cup, now known as the Australia Cup, from the first qualifying round to the Seventh Round. In 2022 five teams qualify as Victoria's representatives, at the round of 32.

In 2020, the FFA Cup competition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.[5]

FederationCompetitionTotal Australia Cup Victorian Entrants
2014201520162017201820192020202120222023
NationalA-League222222–33
NPL Champions––––1––––
Football VictoriaDockerty Cup190 → 4191 → 4202 → 4217 → 4217 → 4214 → 4223 → 0210 → 4211 → 5218 → 5
Total Victorian
Round of 32 Qualifiers		666676–78TBA

FV Community Shield

Since 2014 the Dockerty Cup winners also qualify for the following season's single-match FV Community Shield, the season opener played against the current NPL Victoria champions.

Prize fund

The prize fund for the 2018 Dockerty Cup is detailed below.[6]

RoundNo. of Clubs
receive fund		Prize fund
Play-off Loser1$2,500
Semi-finalists2$2,500
Runner-up1$5,000
Champion1$10,000
Total5$22,500

Media coverage

In 2019 it was announced that Football Victoria had signed a three-year broadcast arrangement with YouTube and Facebook that will see the Dockerty Cup's semi-finals and final broadcast live.[7]

Additionally each draw of the Dockerty Cup round's are broadcast live on Football Victoria's Facebook page, while a number of clubs will provide live score updates during each match either via the clubs official website, Facebook, or Twitter.

Records and honours

Dockerty Cup finals (current format since 2014)
Year Winner (Titles) Score Runner-up Total
clubs		 Australia Cup (FFA Cup) Qualifiers
2014 Melbourne Knights (9) 1–0 (a.e.t.) South Springvale 190 Bentleigh Greens Melbourne Knights South Springvale St Albans Saints
2015 South Melbourne (8) 3–0 Oakleigh Cannons 191 Heidelberg United Hume City Oakleigh Cannons South Melbourne
2016 Bentleigh Greens (1) 1–0 (a.e.t.) Green Gully 202 Bentleigh Greens Green Gully Hume City Melbourne Knights
2017 Heidelberg United (1) 1–1 (a.e.t.)
5–4 (p)		 Bentleigh Greens 217 Bentleigh Greens Heidelberg United Hume City South Melbourne
2018 Bentleigh Greens (2) 2–0 Heidelberg United 217 Avondale FC Bentleigh Greens Northcote City Port Melbourne Heidelberg United1
2019 Hume City (1) 1–0 Melbourne Knights 214 Bulleen Lions Hume City Melbourne Knights Moreland Zebras
2020 Dockerty Cup and 2020 FFA Cup cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.[5]
2021 Avondale FC (1) 1–0 Hume City 210 Avondale FC Hume City Port Melbourne South Melbourne
2022 Bentleigh Greens (3) 2–1 Oakleigh Cannons 211 Avondale FC Bentleigh Greens Green Gully Heidelberg United Oakleigh Cannons
2023 Oakleigh Cannons (1) 3–0 Heidelberg United 218 Goulburn Valley Suns Heidelberg United Melbourne Knights Northcote City Oakleigh Cannons
1 Heidelberg United qualified as the 2017 NPL Champions and entered the Cup via an additional playoff match.

List of Dockerty Cup winners (1909–2013)

Overall Honours
ClubWinnersRunners-upWinning Years
Melbourne Knights[lower-alpha 4]971968, 1969, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1985, 1990, 1996, 2014
Melbourne Hakoah[lower-alpha 5]871935, 1945, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1966, 1973
South Melbourne[lower-alpha 6]841974, 1975, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 2015
Brunswick Juventus[lower-alpha 7]671960, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1977, 1987
Footscray Thistle521919, 1927, 1929, 1930, 1932
Brighton531933, 1937, 1943, 1944, 1952
Green Gully Cavaliers[lower-alpha 8]511981, 1982, 1986, 2004, 2013

Notes
  1. Finalists : game abandoned
  2. won on replay, after original match was drawn.
  3. Awarded upon successful protest, after Melbourne Croatia had won the match 4–3, but had fielded an ineligible player.[8][9][10]
  4. formerly Croatia, Essendon Croatia, Melbourne Croatia
  5. formerly Moreland-Hakoah, Melbourne St. Kilda
  6. formerly South Melbourne Hellas
  7. formerly Juventus, Brunswick United Juventus
  8. formerly Green Gully Ajax

References
  1. Syson, Ian (2012-05-15). "Neos Osmos: Henry John Dockerty, 1882–1965". Neososmos.blogspot.com.au. Retrieved 2016-10-31.
  2. "Match Report Dandenong Thunder Win First State Knockout Cup Via Penalty Shootout". www.goalweekly.com. Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2016-10-31
  3. "Fleming, Symons claim first Silverware as coaches". www.greengully.com. Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2016-10-31
  4. "Dockerty Cup 2018 Competition Regulations" (PDF). Football Federation Victoria. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 May 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  5. "Coronavirus forces FFA Cup to be cancelled". The World Game. SBS. 7 July 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  6. "Dockerty Cup 2018 Competition Regulations" (PDF). Football Federation Victoria. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 May 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  7. "Football Victoria Announces Game-Changing Broadcast Deal For NPL Victoria in 2019". Football Victoria. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  8. "1988 Dockerty Cup - Results".
  9. "Dockerty Cup". Ozfootball.net. Retrieved 2016-10-31.
  10. Dockerty Cup
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