The tournament Australia loves is back! With the first preliminary round game in Queensland kicking off tomorrow night (Thursday) the magic of the Westfield FFA Cup returns for its fourth year.
The historic opening game will be played at Narangba Sporting Complex when when Narangba United host Pine Rivers.
In all, there will be 19 Cup matches this weekend played across the state as 38 teams look to take their first step towards making the draw for the Round of 32.
Teams such as Tarragindi Tigers, Brighton Bulldogs and Kangaroo Point Rovers will be in action as they chase their Cup dreams.
Narangba – a town situated halfway between Caboolture and Northlakes - play in the Capital League 3 competition which is the sixth tier of football in the state.
But coach Allan Takken has assembled a strong squad, who not only believe they can progress deep in the Westfield FFA Cup but also improve on their seventh-place finish in CL3 last season.
Pine Rivers are likely to start favourites in this clash though, having played two tiers above Narangba in 2016, although they were relegated from Capital League 1 into the second division.
And they have some decent history when it comes to the Westfield FFA Cup.
Rivers – who are celebrating their 50th birthday this year - were just 90 minutes away from reaching the last 32 of the competition in 2015 as they made it all the way through to Queensland’s final preliminary round.
Unfortunately that ended in a 5-0 defeat to Lions FC, who went on make the Round of 16 before losing 1-0 in extra-time to Perth Glory.
So it looms as a huge task for Narangba to topple Pine Rivers but as the likes of Redlands United and Green Gully proved last year, anything is possible in the Westfield FFA Cup.
Could we see our first Cup shock for 2017 on opening night?
The other 18 games to be played in Queensland from February 10 to 12 are:
- Brighton Bulldogs v Bethania Rams
- Moggill v Annerley
- Kangaroo Point Rovers v Pine Hills
- Newmarket v The Gap
- Ipswich City v AC Carina
- Caboolture v Centenary Stormers
- New Farm United v Westside
- Toowong v Logan Metro
- Virginia United v Western Spirit
- North Brisbane v Redcliffe PCYC
- Clairvaux v Brisbane Force,
- Mount Gravatt v Slacks Creek
- Jimboomba United v Springfield United
- Mooroondu v Park Ridge
- Tarragindi Tigers v Oxley United
- Bardon Latrobe v St George Willawong
- The Lakes v Acacia Ridge
- Logan Village v Samford Rangers
For full times and venues of all those fixtures, head here: http://websites.sportstg.com/