British Columbia FA Cup

The British Columbia Football Association Challenge Cup, or BC FA Cup for short, is an annual knockout competition in men's association football. Modelled on the British (specifically, English) competition of the same name, it was established in 1891 and is the oldest national sports competition in British Columbia. A concurrent event is held for women, the British Columbia FA Women's Cup.

= Format = The current competition format was introduced in 1929, with the formation of the British Columbia Football League. Beginning in February, the competition proceeds as a knockout tournament throughout, consisting of eight rounds, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and a final in October. A system of byes ensures Football League clubs enter the competition at later stages. There is no seeding, the fixtures in each round being determined by a random draw. In the fifth round and before, matches ending in a draw are replayed once, at the home stadium of the away team; if the replay also ends in a draw after 90 minutes, a penalty shootout determines the winner. In the quarter- and semi-finals, if the replay ends in a draw, a second replay is played at a neutral venue; if the second replay also ends in a draw after 90 minutes, a penalty shootout determines the winner. If the final is drawn after 90 minutes, 30 minutes of extra time are played, followed by a penalty shootout if necessary.

The first three rounds are known as the Qualifying Stage, the remainder - the Competition Proper.

Qualifying Stage
The previous season's top ten finishers in each of the six Regional Championship groups receive a bye through the Qualifying Stage. The remaining Regional Championship clubs who finished eleventh and lower are drawn into the Qualifying Stage, together with the winners of the previous season's ten regional amateur cup competitions.

Thirty-two clubs are drawn into the First Qualifying Round. As the number of Regional Championship clubs can vary from season to season, a number of other clubs are drawn by random lottery to ensure that there are a total of 32 teams in the pot; the draw for the First, Second, and Third Qualifying Rounds are held at the same time on New Year's Day. The sixteen winners proceed to the Second Qualifying Round, the winners of which advance to the Third Qualifying Round, after which there are four clubs remaining in contention.

Competition Proper
The four winning clubs in the Third Qualifying Round advance to the First Round, where they are joined by the sixty top-ten Regional Championship clubs who had received a bye through the Qualifying Stage. The thirty-two winners advance to the Second Round, which leaves sixteen clubs in the competition. These sixteen are joined by all forty-eight Football League clubs (Divisions One through Three), for a total of sixty-four teams in the Third Round. The competition proceeds through the Fourth Round, the Fifth Round, the Quarter Finals, and the Semi Finals through to the Final, which is held on the third Sunday of October at Centennial Stadium in Victoria.