Article reproduced courtesy of Football Federation Australia
FFA CEO David Gallop made the announcement at the launch of the PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues 2014 Final Series which was held at AAMI Park in Melbourne earlier today, the decision to award the PlayStation 4 NPL Champions a direct Westfield FFA Cup Round of 32 spot providing added weight to the achievement.
“The PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues Finals Champions qualifying for the Westfield FFA Cup Round of 32 is a fantastic motivator for clubs on top of the already distinguished achievement of being crowned the PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues Champions,” Gallop said.
“The Westfield FFA Cup has been a tremendous success capturing the imagination of everyone in the Australian football community and to now have it relevant to the PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues Finals Series provides yet another connection between the grassroots and professional tiers.”
Launched for the first time last year with clubs from Capital Football, Football NSW, Football Queensland, Football Federation South Australia (FFSA) and Football Federation Tasmania competing in the inaugural knockout finals series format, in 2014 the PlayStation 4 NPL Finals Series will feature eight teams with the addition of clubs from Northern NSW Football, Football Federation Victoria (FFV) and Football West.
Clubs qualify for the PlayStation 4 NPL Finals Series as the Premiers of each Member Federation’s respective NPL competition. The eight clubs to qualify for the PS4 NPL 2014 Finals Series are Cooma Tigers (Capital Football), Weston Workers (Northern NSW Football), Bonnyrigg White Eagles (Football NSW), Palm Beach Sharks (Football Queensland), MetroStars SC (FFSA), South Hobart (Football Federation Tasmania), South Melbourne (FFV) and Bayswater City (Football West).
The PlayStation 4 NPL Finals Series will begin with the four Elimination Finals to be played on the 20 September 2014 and culminate with the Final which will be held on either the 4 th or 5 th of October.
The PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues 2014 Finals Series schedule is as follows:
| PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues 2014 Elimination Finals | Venue | Kick-Off (local) | Kick-Off (AEST) | |||
| Game 1 – Saturday, 20 September 2014 | Weston Workers (Northern NSW Football) | vs | Palm Beach Sharks (Football Queensland) | Rockwell Automation Park, Weston | 7:00pm | 7:00pm |
| Game 2 – Saturday, 20 September 2014 | Cooma Tigers (Capital Football) | vs | Bonnyrigg White Eagles (Football NSW) | AIS Athletics Field, Bruce | 2:00pm | 2:00pm |
| Game 3 – Saturday, 20 September 2014 | South Hobart (Football Federation Tasmania) | vs | South Melbourne (Football Federation Victoria) | Wellesley Park, South Hobart | 1:30pm | 1:30pm |
| Game 4 – Saturday, 20 September 2014 | Bayswater City (Football West) | vs | MetroStars SC (Football Federation South Australia) | Frank Drago Reserve, Bayswater | 2:00pm | 4:00pm |
| PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues 2014 Semi Finals | ||||||
| Game 5 – 27/28 September 2014 | Winner of Game 1 | vs | Winner of Game 2 | |||
| Game 6 – 27/28 September 2014 | Winner of Game 3 | vs | Winner of Game 4 | |||
| PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues 2014 Grand Final | ||||||
| Game 7 – 4/5 October 2014 | Winner of Game 5 | vs | Winner of Game 6 | |||
*The club in the left column will host the match in their state
In order to determine the host Member Federation and clubs for the semi-finals and grand final, the following points system will be applied at the conclusion of each stage:
| Win within 90 minutes | 3 points |
| Win during extra time | 2 points |
| Win on penalties | 1 point |
| Goals For (excluding penalty shootouts) | 3 points |
| Goals Against (excluding penalty shootouts) | -1 point |
| Yellow Card | -1 point |
| Red Card | -3 points |
For further information about the PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues including links to the eight competing Member Federation websites, visit www.nationalpremierleagues.com.au