Liberia Football Association Orange Cup starts its 2023/2024 edition today, Friday November 3, 2023, with all participants facing off in different fixtures.
The competition has 30 male football teams from across the first and second divisions that are going to participate against each other in a knock-out format. All the clubs in the two top leagues are to move to the Orange Cup with focus on securing the trophy, which qualifies the winner to participate in the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Confederations Cup.
Discoveries Sports Academy, Mighty Enforcers, and Philadelphia Lonestar, will all make their debuts at the LFA Orange Cup, while top first division clubs in the national league will strive to make it a way to achieve something this season.
The Liberia Shipping and Cooperate Registry (LISCR) Football Club are the holders of the title, after beating Watanga Football Club in the last Grand Final of the competition. The Shippers are again one of the competition’s favorites, in terms of the performance of the club and players in the ongoing Liberia Football Association National First Division League.
Other clubs are also expressing their strength in the national league, which makes it unlikely to know who could lift the FA Cup trophy at the grand finale that will be played on Sunday, May 5, 2024, at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium in Monrovia.
Mighty Barrolle, Heaven Eleven, Watanga, and Paynesville Football Clubs, are among the top teams from the first division league eyeing the competition.
In the Second Division, the league leaders, Shaita Angels, FC Gardnersville, Black Man Warriors, and Sinoe National Port Authority Football Club, will look to grab the opportunity of participating with upper sides of the domestic competition for promotion to the Confederations Cup.
Opening the competition this afternoon will be three matches for the day at three venues. Invincible Eleven will meet the National Port Authority (NPA) Anchors at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium in Monrovia. Freeport and Jubilee will clash at the Tusa Field in Gardnersville, and Margibi FC will welcome one of the three debutants, Mighty Enforcers, at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex Practice Pitch in Paynesville City.
On Saturday, November 4, 2023, the Same Venues will host an additional three fixtures. In Gardnersville, Global Pharma will welcome Wologizi FC that replaced Sandi, who participated in the first division league last season but got relegated and sold to the management of the Lofa county-based club. Paynesville will at this time witness two topflight sides, with Heaven Eleven up against Liberia Petroleum Refinery Company (LPRC) Oilers. Cece United will also welcome another debutant at the competition in Monrovia.
On Sunday, the Orange Cup will take wider actions across Six Venues in Montserrado, Nimba Grand Bassa and Sinoe Counties. Sinoe NPA will take LIFE FC to the southeastern region to meet at the J.E Greene Stadium in Sinoe County. Mighty Barrolle will pay hosts to Pags FC at the Doris Williams Stadium in Buchanan City, Grand Bassa County.
In Nimba County, there will be a single match, where Nimba Kwado FC will play before home fans against Junior Professionals at the Tomah Seh Floyd Stadium. Montserrado County, in round one, will host the last matches for the Sunday pairing. Bea Mountain will travel to Careysburg to take on Shaita Football Club at the George Weah Technical Center. ATS will host four second division clubs, with Nimba FC and Discoveries Sports Academy going neck to neck in game one, and Samira FC versus Black Man Warriors in game two.
At the practice pitch of SKD, FC Kallon of Liberia will meet second division Nimba United in game one, as Paynesville FC and Gardnersville FC close the day and round of the competition.
