The much-anticipated Olivier Shield clash between St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) and Excelsior High will be played on Wednesday, January 7 to decide the best schoolboy team in Jamaica, revealed ISSA’s President Keith Wellington.

The venue has not been decided as yet, but Wellington said it would either be inside the National Stadium or the adjoining Stadium East field.

The Olivier Shield — the supremacy of schoolboy football contested between the urban Manning Cup champions and the rural daCosta Cup winners — was originally scheduled for Saturday, December 13, 2025. But due to the impact of Hurricane Melissa on October 28, the football season was postponed for over a month, hence, pushing the all-island decider into 2026.

The Olivier Shield was named in honour of Sir Sydney Haldane Olivier (later Lord Olivier), who was the Governor of Jamaica from 1907 to 1913, and he donated the Shield in 1909 for an inter-scholastic football competition played between the then-established rural and urban schools.

Jamaica College (JC), St George’s College, Potsdam, now Munro College, were some of the early competitors and to date are the most successful teams.

JC leads the pack with 22 titles, having won the first in 1909 and their last in 2017. Munro College are next with 17 titles, the last of which was won 74 years ago in 1951. St George’s College, with 13, are followed by Cornwall College and Kingston College, with 11 each.

STETHS, which won their sixth daCosta Cup, will be hunting their second all-island title, having won in 1999, while Excelsior are seeking their third, having won in 1993 when they shared with Rusea’s High and won it outright in 2003.

The Olivier Shield is contested by the Manning Cup and daCosta Cup champions and in the early days, the teams used to share the Shield if the two-legged tie was level on goals. Now it’s a play to the death decided by penalty kicks providing one winner.

KC are the current holders, having defeated Garvey Mace 4-3 on penalties in 2024.