The competition initially featured sixteen teams who qualified based on their finishing positions in their previous state league seasons. In 2011 and 2012, matches were played mostly as curtain-raisers to AFL Saturday night games, or occasionally as a stand-alone game in the same timeslot;[2] in 2013 and 2014, matches were mostly played as stand-alone games on Tuesday nights.[3] Matches were televised on subscription television provider and competition naming rights sponsor Foxtel; and clubs played matches on or adjacent to bye weeks in their respective state league fixtures. Total annual prize money for the competition was about $250,000, with $40,000 going to the winner.[4]
Victorian Football League club Williamstown won the Foxtel Cup twice, in 2011 and 2014.[5] West Australian Football League club Claremont won the 2012 competition,[6] and South Australian National Football League club West Adelaide won the 2013 competition.
Qualification
Announced in 2010 as the Leagues Championship Cup,[7] the competition was soon sponsored by subscription television service Foxtel as the Foxtel Cup, and was known by that name throughout its four-year history.
However, despite the SANFL signing on to be part of the Cup competition, its top three clubs – Central District, Norwood and Woodville-West Torrens – all rejected their invitations to compete,[10] citing lack of prize money, sponsorship conflicts, salary cap implications, schedule concerns and removing the focus from their SANFL premiership ambitions.[11] Eventually, the SANFL positions in the competition were taken up by West Adelaide, North Adelaide and Port Adelaide Magpies, none of which had reached the SANFL finals in 2010.[12] In 2013 it was announced that the SANFL's top three teams of the 2012 season, Norwood, West Adelaide and North Adelaide, had committed to play in the Foxtel Cup in 2014. At the time of the announcement midway through the 2013 SANFL season the three teams were again the top three on the SANFL premiership ladder, showing that among South Australian clubs, the Foxtel Cup was gaining recognition.
In 2013 and 2014, the scale of the competition was reduced from sixteen teams to nine or ten. In those seasons, the WAFL, SANFL and VFL each contributed two teams to the competition, who entered the competition at the quarter-final stage; and the remaining teams came from the NEAFL and TFL, who contested pre-qualifying rounds before entering the quarter-finals.
The AFL announced on 1 August 2011 that public interest and television audiences well-supported the inaugural year of the Foxtel Cup and as a result the competition would continue for the next five years.[13] However, following the heavy burden of playing mid-week games on the competing clubs, the decision was made to cease the Foxtel Cup after its fourth season, 2014.[14]
NFL Night Series and AFC Night Series, similar interstate Australian rules football club competitions which operated from 1976–1979 and from 1977–1987 respectively.
^Schmook, Nathan (6 August 2011). "Seagulls swoop". afl.com.au. Melbourne: Australian Football League. Archived from the original on 10 August 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
^Hope, Shayne (2 August 2011). "Foxtel Cup here to stay". Perth: The West Australian. Archived from the original on 30 September 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
