NorthWest Cup

The NorthWest Cup is a North American knockout football cup competition held annually in Escambia, Lower Columbia, and Kingston and Boyce. Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the three primary leagues, as well the three best teams from the Escambian Second Division, the three best teams from the Second national Columbian Division and the two best teams from the Second KBS Division. The Cup is the second most important international club soccer competition after the AFA League competition for Northwestern American teams.

The Competition was founded in 1992 after an agreement to merge the three thus existing cup competitions into one competition. The first team to win the competition were the Seattle Sounders FC in 1992. In 1997, the Nyhaven Cruisers were the first team to win the double of national league championship and NorthWest Cup. A total of 12 teams have won the competition so far, most successful were Seattle Sounders FC and Manchester Soccer, both having won the competition 4 times. other notable Cup winners include the Vancouver Whitecaps FC (3 titles) and Sporting Glauchau (2 titles). Current Holders of the Competition are Manchester Soccer, who defeated the Nyhaven Cruisers 2-1 in overtime to claim their fourth title.

Participation
The NorthWest Cup begins with a round of 64 teams. This includes all 56 clubs from the primary national leagues. A total o six further slots are given to the three best clubs of each secondary national divisions, both Escambia and Lower Columbia. The last two spots are assigned to the top two teams from the KBS Secondary division.

Seeding
All 64 teams are split into two pots of 32 teams each. Depending on the final position in your national league, the team is put in the adequate pot. This way match-ups between the biggest teams are usually avoided for the first round. The twelve best teams from the Columbian Soccer League and the twelve best from the Escambian Premiership are in one pot as well as the 10 best teams from the Kingston Soccer League. All other teams are assigned to the second pot, which however guarantees for a home game. Generally speaking, the lower seeded team always enjoys home field advantage. The Final venue is being chosen in the first round's draw through a secondary draw.

Match Rules
Two legs of 15-minute Sudden-Death Overtime are to be played when a match has found no winner after 90 minutes. If that does not decide the game, a penalty shootout will do.