PORTLAND Panthers Soccer Club has confirmed its place in the Australia Cup bracket for 2024, with the Panthers set to take on Melbourne club Fawkner SC at Friendly Societies Reserve.

The Australia Cup (formerly the FFA Cup) is the largest soccer knockout competition in the country, with close to 800 teams from across the country from the top flight A-League right down to local clubs competing for the honour of hoisting the trophy aloft at the end of the campaign.

Fawkner is a huge club in comparison with the Panthers, as they play in the Victorian State League Division Three, and while this could be seen as an unlucky draw for Portland, their coach Stephen Von Tunk is choosing to see it as an opportunity.

“We’re going to be coming into the game as underdogs, but to be honest that’s the way we like to play,” Von Tunk said.

“They’re a big club, they play and train at a multi-million-dollar facility in Brunswick, they’ll be expecting to go far in this tournament.

“It’s a chance for us to do something special on our home pitch and cause a huge upset… but one way or another it’s a huge opportunity for all involved… I’d argue it’s bigger than playing in a grand final in the local competition.”

The Panthers will take a squad of 16-18 players into the match, with one notable difference in rules between the Australia Cup and the Panthers’ usual games in the South West Victoria Football Association.

“Whereas in the SWVFA you’re allowed an interchange with as many rotations as you want, in this comp there’s a maximum of five substitutions for the match,” Von Tunk said.

“It’s going to be a new challenge for us, but that’s what we’re all about as a club, and I don’t think there could be a better advertisement for this club than us going out there and giving it a red-hot crack.

“Everyone at the club has been training hard since November last year, and we ended up doing eight sessions after initially planning for just four.”

The exact details for the kick off of the match are yet to be confirmed, although Von Tunk said it would likely be on February 10 at around 5-6pm.

Panthers “confident” of fielding women’s side

In more positive news at the Panthers, Von Tunk said the club is “very confident” of being able to field a women’s side in this year’s SWVFA season, with numbers picking up substantially over the past few months.

“A lot of it has to do with the summer comp we ran last year, there are a lot of players out there who are keen to give it a go,” Von Tunk said.

“It would be great to be able to field a full compliment of teams across juniors and seniors in the association, and I’d say it’s very likely we’ll be able to get a women’s team up and running.

“Numbers have been great across the board; we’ve had at least 20 at most trainings with a few of the women in the mix as well.”