Jamaica College forward Jamone Lyle (third left) gets away from St Catherine High School’s Caiden Yen (on ground) while his teammates Jaquan Brown and Davill Jarrett (right) look on during their ISSA Manning Cup game at Ashenheim Stadium in St Andrew on Wednesday. (Photo: Naphtali Junior)
October 13, 2026
True Blues banned from 2027 knockout competition, must forfeit Manning Cup match against St Catherine
Jamaica College (JC) have been booted from the Walker Cup for fielding an ineligible player, bringing their championship hopes crashing down just days before a highly anticipated final showdown against rivals Kingston College (KC).
Additionally, the ‘True Blues’ have been banned from next year’s edition of the knockout tournament, and must forfeit the Manning Cup second round match against St Catherine which they had won 3 – 2, which means the result has been reversed to hand St Catherine a 3 – 0 win over the many-time champions.
The decision was made at an Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) emergency meeting on Tuesday, following the revelation that JC star Jamone Lyle has a professional contract with Waterhouse Football Club, making him ineligible for schoolboy football under ISSA regulations.
Waterhouse, in a disciplinary letter dated October 9, said it had fined Lyle $60,000 for unauthorised participation in a Manning Cup match on October 7. The club alleged that Lyle ignored instructions from head coach Donovan Duckie and General Secretary Richard McCallum not to take the field for JC, in breach of his professional contract and the club’s rules.
ISSA’s decision to boot JC from the Walker Cup means that KC will now face Mona High in the final set for Friday. Mona had lost to JC in the semi-final via a penalty shootout.
{“jamaica-observer”:”Jamaica Observer”, “breaking-news”:”Push Notifications”}