Foxtel Cup
 |
|
| Sport | Australian rules football |
|---|---|
| Inaugural season | 2011 |
| Ceased | 2014 |
| No. of teams | 16 (2011-12), 10 (2013), 9 (2014) |
| Country | Australia |
| Last champion(s) |
Williamstown |
| Most titles | Williamstown (2) |
| Qualification | Invitation |
The Leagues Championship Cup, officially branded under the sponsor's name as the Foxtel Cup, was an annual Australian rules football club knockout cup competition involving clubs from the various state league competitions from around Australia. The tournament was organised by the Australian Football League (AFL), and was held annually between 2011 and 2014.
The competition was first held in 2011, featuring sixteen teams from around the country who qualified based on their finishing positions in their previous state league season. 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; in 2013 and 2014, matches were mostly played as stand-alone games on Tuesday nights. In both cases, 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.
Williamstown was the inaugural Foxtel Cup champions when they defeated Claremont by 21 points in the 2011 Grand Final.Claremont went one better the following year to become 2012 Foxtel Cup Champions defeating Werribee by 44 points.West Adelaide defeated East Fremantle by four points in the 2013 Grand Final. Williamstown won its second Foxtel Cup championship in 2014 by beating West Perth by 63 points.
For the inaugural Foxtel Cup in 2011, the AFL invited the highest three ranked teams from the South Australian National Football League, the Victorian Football League and the West Australian Football League; the top two teams from the Queensland Australian Football League; and the top team from AFL Sydney and the Tasmanian Football League – based on those leagues' 2010 seasons. The Greater Western Sydney Giants (which was playing in the NEAFL in 2011 as preparation for entering the Australian Football League in 2012), and the Northern Territory Football Club received special invitations.
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