Waratah Cup
The Waratah Cup is a knockout cup competition in New South Wales, run by the governing body of football in NSW, Football NSW. Teams competing in the Waratah Cup come from the NPL NSW, NPL NSW 2, NSW State League Division One, NSW State League Division Two and numerous other semi professional & amateur association clubs within New South Wales. The Cup is held during the NPL NSW and state league seasons. Since 2014 preliminary rounds of the Waratah Cup have been used to determine the NSW entrants to the national FFA Cup.
History
The Waratah Cup commenced in 1991 teams featuring clubs from the top 4 tiers of football in New South Wales, as well as teams from non-league associations.Hakoah Sydney City East have won the cup the most times with seven wins. Sydney Crescent Star are the only non-league team to win the competition in 2004.
Current cup competitions (since 2014)
Since 2014 the Waratah Cup has become part of the qualifying competition for the FFA Cup. In 2014, seven teams qualified for the Round of 32.For 2015, the preliminary rounds of the 2015 FFA Cup replaced the early rounds of the competition; the 5 NSW qualifiers to the Round of 32 then competed for the 2015 Waratah Cup.
Starting in 2015, the reigning champions of the National Premier Leagues qualified directly for the FFA Cup proper. Blacktown City and Sydney United won the NPL national championships in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Therefore the two teams were not required to participate in FFA Cup preliminary rounds in 2016 and 2017. The two teams were also seeded directly into final six of the Waratah Cup in the respective seasons, along with the other five FFA Cup qualifiers from NSW.
From 2020 onwards, NSW qualification to the Round of 32 decreased to four slots instead of the previous five.
Notes
Previous Waratah Cup competitions since Federation
- Note : Sydney United first win in 1974 as South Sydney-Croatia.
Honours since Federation
All-time honour boardThis list includes all Waratah Cup champions and runners-up since the inaugural New South Wales Federation of Soccer Clubs in 1957.
| Club | Champions | Years | Runners-Up | Years |
| Hakoah Sydney City East FC | 7 | 1959, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1971, 1976, 2017 | 1 | 2018 |
| Sydney United 58 FC | 6 | 1974, 1995, 1996, 2005, 2015, 2016 | 3 | 1971, 1976, 2019 |
| APIA Leichhardt Tigers FC | 5 | 1962, 1966, 1975, 2013, 2018 | 3 | 2006, 2012, 2017 |
| Blacktown City FC | 4 | 1991, 1993, 2006, 2014 | 1 | 2015 |
| Bankstown City FC | 3 | 1960, 1994, 2008 | 2 | 1990, 1997 |
| Bankstown Berries FC | 2 | 1957, 1958 | 4 | 1960, 1961, 1962, 1995 |
| St George FC | 2 | 1964, 1972 | 2 | 1966, 1974 |
| Sutherland Sharks FC | 2 | 2009, 2012 | 1 | 2013 |
| Marconi Stallions FC | 2 | 2010, 2019 | 1 | 1972 |
| Wollongong Wolves FC | 2 | 1997, 2007 | 0 | |
| Bonnyrigg White Eagles FC | 1 | 1992 | 2 | 1991, 2004 |
| Canberra FC | 1 | 1990 | 1 | 1992 |
| Manly United FC | 1 | 2011 | 4 | 2007, 2009, 2014, 2016 |
| Sydney Crescent Stars | 1 | 2004 | 0 | |
| Gladesville-Ryde | 0 | 1 | 1957 | |
| Sydney Prague | 0 | 2 | 1958, 1959 | |
| South Coast United | 0 | 2 | 1963, 1964 | |
| Sydney Olympic FC | 0 | 3 | 1965, 1994, 2008 | |
| Western Suburbs SC | 0 | 1 | 1975 | |
| Parramatta FC | 0 | 1 | 1996 | |
| Belconnen Blue Devils | 0 | 1 | 2005 | |
| Spirit FC | 0 | 1 | 2010 | |
| Mounties Wanderers FC | 0 | 1 | 2011 |