Ali Cole Cup enjoys biggest staging yet

The 2026 staging of the Ali Cole Cup promises to be the biggest yet as the annual pre-season schoolboy football competition gets under way today, with the tournament extended to five days and two venues.

Speaking yesterday at the Ali Cup media launch, tournament commissioner Oral Hillary said the competition continues to improve each year.

Hillary said the Ali Cup has grown from a fledgling competition into one of the most anticipated pre-season tournaments on the schoolboy football calendar.

“We started with eight teams competing on one day, and over the course of nine years, we have gone to three days with 20 teams, to now, we have reached a point where we have officially settled down to have some great showcase football,” he explained.

This year’s staging will see 20 schools, 10 from the Manning Cup and 10 from the daCosta Cup, competing for the title.

The teams will be divided into four groups of five for the preliminary round, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the quarterfinals.

In the knockout stage, teams will contest single-elimination matches, with the final expected to feature the last remaining Manning Cup and daCosta Cup representatives.

One of the major changes this year is the tournament’s move away from its traditional 20-minute format.

Instead, matches will be played over 40 minutes, with 20-minute halves separated by a three-minute break.

To accommodate the increased playing time, the group stage will be contested over two days instead of one.

Competition began yesterday with the daCosta Cup teams in action at the St Elizabeth Technical High School field.

The Manning Cup teams will take the field on Thursday and Friday, with matches scheduled for hosts Excelsior High School.

The final day of competition will be held on Saturday at Excelsior, where the champions will be crowned.

Reigning Manning Cup and Olivier Shield champions Excelsior will seek to defend their title but are expected to face strong challenges from defending daCosta Cup champions STETHS as well as Clarendon College.

The Ali Cup is an annual competition held in memory of Allan ‘Ali’ Cole Jr, a former Excelsior High standout and son of former Jamaican international Allan ‘Skill’ Cole.

This year’s tournament will also be the first staging since the death of Skill Cole, who passed away in September last year.

REMEMBERING SKILL

Carlton ‘Sambo’ Hammond, organiser of the Ali Cup, said many of the tournament’s changes were made based on recommendations from Skill before his passing.

He said the decision to increase match time was taken to commemorate both Ali Cole Jr and Skill Cole, with each half dedicated to father and son.

“Last year, before Skill passed, he asked me what we can do to make this tournament better,’ Hammond said.

“We’re going to add 20 more minutes to the 20 minutes that we’re already playing. So it’s 20 minutes for Skill and 20 minutes for Ali.”

daCosta Cup teams

STETHS, Clarendon College, Christiana High, Irwin High, Alphansus Davis High, William Knibb High, Vere Technical High, Manning’s School, St James High, Foga Road High.

Manning Cup teams

Excelsior High, Vauxhall High, Papine High, Camperdown High, Norman Manley High, Campion College, Kingston Technical High, Clan Carthy High, Hillel Academy, Dunoon Park Technical High.