Police FC drawn with Jamaica champs Cavalier for Concacaf Caribbean Cup

MISCELLANEOUS Police FC, the 2023/24 TT Premier Football League (TTPFL) runners-up, will face a tough exercise in the Concacaf Caribbean Cup, as they have been drawn against Jamaican champions Cavalier FC and Mount Pleasant Football Academy for the 2024 edition of the tournament.

The draw for the August 20-December 5 tourney was conducted in Miami on June 6, with ten teams split into two groups of five. After round-robin matches (two home and two away), the top two teams in both groups will advance to the semifinals.

The TTPFL runners-up were placed in group A alongside the two teams who contested the Jamaica Premier League (JPL) final last month, as well as Haitian club Real Hope FA. The next team to feature in group A will be the winner of the 2024 CFU Club Shield tourney.

Cavalier defeated Mount Pleasant in the exciting JPL final on penalty kicks to strip the latter team of their 2023 JPL crown. Mount Pleasant is home to the Soca Warriors attacking pair of Kaile Auvray and Nathaniel James, both of whom made the switch to the JPL last season.

Cavalier are no strangers to the Caribbean Cup tournament, and they played both Defence Force and 2024 TTPFL champions AC PoS in the group stage of last year’s competition. Cavalier managed a runner-up finish in the tourney after losing to Suriname’s SV Robinhood in the finale.

Both AC PoS and Defence Force failed to get beyond the group stage last year, and the “Capital Boys” will be looking to make amends as they have been drawn in group B. AC PoS have been drawn with Haitian club Ouanaminthe FC, the Dominican Republic pair of Cibao FC and Moca FC and the runners-up of the upcoming CFU Club Shield.

Last year, AC PoS finished at the bottom of their group with one point from four matches, and they also lost 1-0 to a Moca team which finished the tourney in third spot. Cibao won the Dominican Republic league title last year.

Fresh from their win over AC PoS in the First Citizens Knockout Cup finale on May 29, Defence Force will hope to book their spot in the Concacaf Caribbean Cup by securing a top two finish in the preceding CFU Club Shield.

The top three teams in the Concacaf Caribbean Cup will advance to next year’s Concacaf Champions Cup. A Concacaf release said the competition’s group stage match schedule will be published in the coming days. Former Soca Warriors forward Cornell Glen assisted with the draw in Miami.