Top things to know
- The KFC Elite Cup will expand from one league to three when it returns in 2027.
- The U18 level will feature the U18 Elite Cup and the U18 Championship, with promotion and relegation between them.
- A new U15 competition will be played in an 8v8 format on a smaller field.
- Organiser Eric Rademakers said the expansion targets high-level players and addresses gaps in Jamaica's youth development.
- Portmore United are the reigning champions; Mount Pleasant Football Academy won the inaugural title in 2025.
The KFC Elite Cup will return in 2027 with a significantly expanded format, growing from a single league into three competitions in a move organisers say is aimed at strengthening Jamaica's youth football development.
Eric Rademakers, organiser of the KFC Elite Cup, said the expansion is targeted at ensuring players are consistently competing in a competitive environment against quality opposition. The competition, which began in 2025, has grown into a staple of Jamaica's youth football, with several of the island's top clubs fielding U18 teams on a weekly basis.
Under the new structure, the U18 level will feature two divisions: the U18 Elite Cup as the premier league and a second division, the U18 Championship. Clubs will move between the two divisions through promotion and relegation. A new U15 competition will also be introduced, with teams competing in an 8v8 format on a smaller field.
Rademakers explained that the changes are designed to address gaps organisers have identified in Jamaica's youth development. "A lot of it comes from the gap that we can identify in youth football in Jamaica. We'd like to focus a little bit more on the high-level players; the more serious players, so to say," he said.
He said schoolboy football remains the most popular youth competition on the island but falls short as a platform for development because it fosters an open, inclusive environment rather than one geared towards high-level competition. "Schoolboy football is really that avenue to allow everybody to play who wants to join," Rademakers said. "But, when you want to really shape the best players in the country, you can't have that in a format that has everybody involved."
He continued: "When you want to shape diamonds with diamonds, you don't want to have a 15-year-old that's just beginning football playing against an 18-year-old that's playing in the U20 World Cup qualifiers. That was really kind of the main thought process behind everything."
The introduction of promotion and relegation is intended to foster competition and meritocracy, giving second-division teams a strong incentive to succeed while keeping top-division teams competitive even when the title is out of reach. "We wanted to make it an actual competitive league so, if someone else wants to pick up the football and perform amazing, then they should be able to get promoted," Rademakers said.
Under the format, the last-place team in the Elite Cup will be relegated to the Championship at the end of the season, while the Championship winners will be promoted to the Elite Cup.
Portmore United are the reigning champions of the Elite Cup, while Mount Pleasant Football Academy won the inaugural title in 2025.