Owen Hill welcomes ‘Challenge Cup’, hopes for expanded future 

Owen Hill, CEO of  Professional Football Jamaica Limited (PFJL), has welcomed the Popeye’s Challenge Cup as a new fixture in the local football calendar and believes it will grow into a staple of Jamaican football. 

The Challenge Cup is a new knockout tournament, which, in its inaugural season, will involve seven Jamaica Premier League (JPL) teams and all 18 Jamaica Football Championship (JFC) teams. 

The seven JPL teams are Cavalier, Mount Pleasant Football Academy, Montego Bay United, Portmore United, Chapelton Maroons, Arnett Gardens and Molynes United. 

The seven JPL teams were decided based on invitation for the inaugural season. 

The competition will be played across six rounds of competition, with the JFC teams starting in round one based on their season’s rankings, while the JPL clubs will join the competition in the later rounds. 

Hill threw his support behind the inaugural competition at its launch on Tuesday and said it provides more excitement for fans all across Jamaica. 

“We are excited because this is more than just a competition,” Hill said.  

“It’s not just another football competition added to the calendar, but we are seeing this as another opportunity for players to get a chance to showcase their talent.” 

The first round of competition will be played on May 12, with the final scheduled for June 9. 

The competition will run at the same time as the JPL playoffs, set for May 10 to May 24, but should not impact JPL teams who may be in the playoffs as they will not enter in the early knockout rounds. 

Hill said going forward, the Challenge Cup will be incorporated during the regular season to prevent any clash with the JPL playoffs. 

“It was never an easy decision to actually have the launch of a tournament right smacked in the middle of the playoffs, but the reality is we want to make sure that the corporate sponsors who are on board actually get value,” he explained. 

“The truth is they want to be a part of football, and again, they didn't want to actually cannibalise the current product, which is the Wray and Nephew Jamaica Premier League. So, having a separate tournament with television coverage, with expanded sponsorship and with expanded teams, gives everybody a chance to see what the future can look like.” 

He added:, “It is a football-orientated competition in the calendar, so it is going to be scheduled in the structured calendar for the seasons to come. It creates a constant that everybody can look forward to.” 

BIGGER AND BETTER 

Hill said the inaugural season would also be a test season for the competition, which he believes has a bright future in Jamaica. 

This is not the first time an all-island knockout competition has been launched, with the Lynk Cup lasting just one season as well as JFF Champions Cup, which was last played in 2014. 

Hill is confident the Challenge Cup can be a sustainable competition and pointed to the large corporate support as proof of the competition’s value. 

He said the vision is for the next season to come to have all JPL and JFC teams involved in an expanded tournament. 

“If you ask me, based on the fact that there are multiple sponsors a part of it, it means that there is a greater responsibility to protect those investments. More than likely those investments are going to be multi-year, so it requires that execution over multiple seasons,” Hill explained. 

“We actually want an all-island knockout competition, so when the pitch was made, when the discussions were happening, that was always the discussion - ; to have an expanded, multi-layered, all-island knockout tournament,” he continued.  

“That’s the vision, that's where we're going. Where we are now is invitation only to allow teams to participate and feel it out. But come next season, based on the discussions, it's going to be scheduled in the calendar, and then you're going to have more teams."

gregory.bryce@gleanerjm.com