The KNVB District Cup (Dutch: Districtsbeker) is a cup competition for amateur football clubs in the Netherlands. The competition is held in each of the six districts of the Royal Dutch Football Association. The winners of the six cup competitions contest the KNVB Amateur Cup.
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Competition format
The competition starts each year in late August with a group stage. Depedent on the district and the tier of the teams in a group, the group winners and sometimes the group runners-up qualify for the knock-out stage. From the knock-out stage, teams can get a bye if they are left over after the draw is made. If needed, an intermediate round will be played to narrow the number of teams down to 16 before the round of 16 is played.
From the 2016-17 season, the teams of the Topklasse will no longer participate in the District Cup.
Qualification for the KNVB Cup
All the semi-finalists of all the district cups (24 in total) qualify for the KNVB Cup of the next season. If a team qualify for the Cup in multiple ways (like winning the promotion/relegation play-offs of the Topklasse and reaching the semi-finals of the District Cup) a lucky loser is determined by:
History
The cup competition, which started in the 1959-1960 season, initially saw a separation between Saturday clubs and Sunday clubs, who played in separate cup competitions. This separation was abolished in 1980; Saturday clubs and Sunday clubs from one district now play for the one cup of that district.
The reserve teams of professional football clubs played in the District Cup competitions until 1997, when the KNVB Reserve Cup was established.
In order to minimize the number of match days, between 2003 and 2006 the final eight teams in the district cups were divided into two groups. They played each other in group matches of 2 halves of 20 minutes, with all group matches played on the same day. The winners of the two groups qualified for the final.