A BRIEF HISTORY OF CUP COMPETITION IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA.
Organised football was being played in South Australia prior to the formation of the first formal league competition in 1905. One of the earliest recorded games was played on the Prince Alfred School Oval in 1891 between a state select side and the crew of the docked warship HMS Ringarooma. Incidentally, this game was won by the visitors 1-0 with a shot that struck the thin Manila rope used as a crossbar. The strike it was agreed, after great debate, to have passed under the string and the goal stood.
In 1907, Mr Charles Webb and Mr J. Harris presented and sponsored “a cup to be competed for by all senior clubs in the State on a knock-out basis”. Mr Webb was a dentist (at a time when Adelaide probably only had a few people in whose hands you would entrust the health of your teeth) from North Terrace and Mr J Harris was from Goodwood.
The proposal was that the competition would run annually and the first club to win it three times would retain it. Thus began what was then known as the Webb-Harris Cup and, after various name changes over the years, what we now know as the Federation Cup.
The now-defunct Cambridge club won the inaugural trophy in 1907 “with a team composed of ten Australian-born players and only one overseas man, Jock Wylde”. They beat the Hindmarsh club, 2-0, on Hindmarsh Oval where Coopers Stadium now stands.
Cambridge would go on to win the cup for the third time in 1911 but instead of holding on to it, as agreed, they presented it back to the association for the competition to continue and be known as the “Cambridge Cup”. The apparent benevolence of returning the trophy to the community perhaps undermined, in hindsight anyway, by renaming the competition after yourself and then inviting everyone else to compete to win it. If we were to follow suit in the current era then, this time next year, we may be we may be watching the finalists playing for the “FK Beograd Trophy” or the “Cumberland United Cup”.
In those formative years of knock-out competition in South Australia, many cups were competed for and this is explained in Denis Harlow’s book “A History of Soccer in South Australia 1902-2002” as “individuals and companies of the era wanted to be recognised in some way and of course none of the offers were rejected because it would have been detrimental to the game” .
However, the Federation Cup, the knock-out competition endorsed by South Australia’s governing bodies, for Association Football, over the last twelve decades has endured. Interrupted only by wars and pandemics.
THE 2026 MEN’S FINALISTS
CUMBERLAND UNITED
Cumberland United were formed in 1943 and used various grounds until a permanent move to AA Bailey Reserve, Clarence Gardens, in 1951 where they have played ever since. The club played in “chocolate and gold” until 1990 when they adopted the green and gold colours of Mitcham Council for the 1991 season onward. Cumberland United won a League and Cup double in 1978 and are three-times Federation Cup winners - 1947, 1978 and 2009.
First Cup Final Win:
Cumberland’s first Cup title, in 1947, came against the old Port Adelaide club at Rowley Park Speedway. Scores were tied at 2-2 after 90 minutes with the winner being scored after 20 minutes additional time (probably using the next-goal-wins / “Golden Goal” rule). Interestingly, Cumberland played almost all the game with 10 men as they lost Henry early with broken ribs. No substitutes were permitted in those days.
Last Cup Final Win:
The club’s last Federation Cup win, on 15th August 2009, went to penalties after the score was 0-0, versus Campbelltown City, after 120 minutes. Cumberland winning the game 5-4 on penalties. They have been runners-up on four occasions; the last being 1985 when they were beaten by Campbelltown City at Hindmarsh.
FK BEOGRAD
Established in 1949, as the Beograd Sports and Social Club, the side from Woodville West have won the Federation Cup on five occasions - 1980, 1983, 1993, 1996 and 2005.
They have called Woodville West Reserve (Frank Mitchell Park) their home since 1957.
Frank Mitchell, known as “Mr Beograd”, lived immediately next to the club ground and, according to Charles Sturt Council records, “in the early days club officials used his house to store club's essential equipment. He soon became totally involved, first with the ground improvements and maintenance, and then with organising junior teams within the club as well as with several schools in the surrounding areas”. For sponsorship reasons, the ground is currently known as “1Solution Park”.
First Cup Final Win:
A 4-0 win, 1980, for FK Beograd, listed simply as Beograd, against now-defunct club Enfield Victoria at Hindmarsh.
Last Cup Final Win:
FK Beograd’s last cup final win was on 20th August 2005 when they beat arch rivals Adelaide Croatia Raiders 2-1 at Hindmarsh
THE 2026 WOMENS NATIONAL PREMIER LEAGUE & STATE LEAGUE (WNPL/WSL) CUP.
The Women’s NPL and WSL Cup kicked off in April with four clubs having to play a preliminary round, to reduce the number of participants from 18 to 16.
Adelaide Jaguars lost 2-1 at home to Cove FC with Gracie Curtis scoring the winner, for Cove, with just minutes left on the clock. A Kaylee Wakeling brace in Sturt’s 3-2 home win over Modbury Jets was enough to see the team from Karinya Reserve into the second round.
There were no upsets in Round 2 but Flinders United, (struggling in the WNPL), did beat Elizabeth Grove (doing well in the WSL) by a scoreline of 7-0, Vicki Juma grabbing a hat-trick in that one. In another result that raised eyebrows but perhaps didn’t shock anyone, Sturt Lions, top of the WSL at the time, traveled to West Adelaide, top of the WNPL at the time, and scored three away goals at Kilburn. Sturt Lions may well have lost the match 6-3, (Bella Nelligan scoring a hat-trick for ‘Westies’), but scoring three goals at Kilburn was impressive. West Adelaide, at that point, had only conceded 4 league goal in 6 league games.
Into Round 3 we marched which, by now, was exclusively an all-WNPL affair. Modbury Vista overcame Adelaide Uni with a 90th minute strike by French player, Ariana Mondiri. A Chrissy Panagaris hat-trick was enough to win the game for Adelaide Comets at home to Salisbury Inter. Meanwhile, Nicole Blackett, Niina Yamada and Piper Cosgrove scored a goal each in West Adelaide’s 3-0 victory at Campbelltown City.
The semi-finals, played on Saturday 6th June at the neutral Summit Sport and Recreation Park in Mount Barker, saw West Adelaide thrash Modbury Vista 8-1 in the early game, before an intriguing match between Adelaide Comets and WT Birkalla kicked off at 2:30pm.
Malia Tarazon opened the scoring for WT Birkalla on 26 minutes before 2024 Shirley Brown Medalist, Anastasia Willoughby, restored parity in the 75th minute. From there, the game went to extra time and thence to penalties. Nicole Robertson missed her spot kick for WT Birkalla but then so did Comets’ Emily Heazlewood and Izzie Notridge. The game finished 6-5, on penalties, for WT Birkalla. Referee, Leigh Prior, would presumably have greatly anticipated a lie down after that.
