Urban schools favoured as Elite Clarendon Football tourney kicks off

URBAN teams look set to dominate their rural counterparts when the three-day Elite Clarendon Football Competition gets under way today at Glenmuir High School.

The winning team is set to take home $550,000, while the runners-up will receive $250,000 and the third-place team $100,000.

The competition, which is being staged or the second consecutive year, will see defending champions Glenmuir High looking to retain their title. Three new Corporate Area teams have been added to the eight-team tournament.

The newcomers are traditional Mona High, Kingston College and Excelsior High, the three schools who have captured the last three Manning Cup schoolboy football titles. Mona won in 2023, Kingston College in 2024, and Excelsior lifted the crown in 2025.

Today’s programme features the quarter-finals, with the winners advancing to tomorrow’s semi-finals. In the opening match at 10 a.m., Mona will face last year’s beaten finalists Vere Technical. Defending Manning Cup champions Excelsior will take on Denbigh at noon while Kingston College will meet Manchester High at 2 p.m. Defending champions Glenmuir will close the day’s action at 4 p.m. against Munro College.

The tournament is being played on a straight knockout basis, with today’s winners progressing to tomorrow’s semi-finals. Following Saturday’s semi-finals, the winners will contest Sunday’s final, while the losing semi-finalists will meet in the third-place playoff.

The competition is the brainchild of Anthony Baker, a former daCosta Cup player who represented both Denbigh and Glenmuir.