Football and family fun at 50th Roper Cup

The 50th renewal of the annual Roper Cup football extravaganza between North Street rivals St George’s College (the 2011 Schoolboy Football Triple Champions) and Kingston College (2011 Walker Cup Finalists) will be held on Saturday August 30, 2014 at Emmet Park, St. George’s College.

Gates open at 9:30a.m., and admission is just $300 for adults and $100 for students with ID. Entrance is free for children under 12. Parking will be available at a cost of $100. Vehicular traffic will enter Emmet Park via Sabina Park or George Headley Avenue. Only pedestrian traffic will be allowed through the North Street entrance to the campus.

The first match starts at 10am with the U14 teams followed by the U16 teams. These teams play for the George Thompson Trophy, which is decided by the aggregate score. The next scheduled match is between the U35 Old Boys of both Old Boys Associations. This marks the start of the Roper Cup. The Roper Cup is played between the U35 and the present manning teams (again decided by the aggregate score line). In between the U35 and present Manning matches will be a game played by the O35 Old Boys of both institutions. This match is to decide the Pancho Rankine Cup.

The day’s matches will showcase the football skills of many former Manning Cup greats from both schools, with this year’s renewal honouring the stalwarts who started it all. The members of the first old boys’ teams from both schools, which included the likes of Lascelles “Muggy” Graham and Neville Oxford. The feature match will be played between the current Manning Cup teams in their final warm-up before the official start of this year’s Schoolboy Football season.

This year’s event will feature a family oriented entertainment package, to promote the camaraderie and goodwill between the two institutions through friendly, fun-filled rivalry. There will also be spot prizes and give-aways throughout the day from sponsors.

The event is sponsored by Supreme Ventures, Vitamalt, CB Group (through CB Chicken & Bad Dawg Sausages), SportsMax TV, Tastees Ltd, Barco, Hi-Lyte Sport Drink, Crimson Dawn, Spanish Court Hotel and Tasc.