Rep boost but Cup is in doubt

A NEW representative football fixture has been given the green light for 2021, with more of the best players from Cairns and Townsville to go head to head in a new round robin over the May Day weekend.

But the future of the Frank Farina Cup – the annual clash between Cairns and Townsville – is unclear, with a chance the format could be sidelined.

A City versus Country concept was first proposed by the Football Queensland North board 12 months ago, but with the inclusion of FNQ Football clubs to the FQ North administrative body, it has expanded to become a four-team round robin. City and country teams from both regions will be selected based on their clubs, with crossover fixtures to be played over the long weekend.

Clubs like Mareeba United and Innisfail Utd would contribute to the FNQ Country side, while Burdekin, Charters Towers and Ingham would contribute to NQ Country.

City-based teams contribute to FNQ and NQ City. FQ North general manager Declan Carnes said the idea, rubberstamped at a board meeting this week, is to give the best local players more opportunity to play representative football.

“This will confirm our rep structure going forward, and will give more participants the chance to play representative football,” Carnes said.

There is currently no plan for the Frank Farina Cup, with Carnes hopeful the Queensland Champions Cup, which would have featured Crystal Palace against Brisbane Roar at Queensland Country Bank Stadium, will be rescheduled sometime in 2021.