Two favourites were dealt two different routes by the hand of fate. The random draw for the 2024 Jackson Cup didn’t do Gorge FC any favours while it the provided Vic West with an arguable easier path.
The Vancouver Island Soccer League’s answer to the FA Cup in England and Copa del Rey in Spain has been contested since 1915 and features the 20 teams in VISL Div. 1 and Div. 2.
This year’s tournament opens with the play-in round Feb. 2-3. Of note is the play-in match-up between fourth-seed Lakehill Div. 1 and Westcastle Div. 1, with the winner advancing to meet second-seed Gorge Div. 1 in the first round Feb. 16-18.
Top-seed Vic West Div. 1 has drawn a bye into the first round and will play the 17th-seed Prospect Lakers Div. 2, with the Lakers hoping they can add their name to the list of giant-slayers which have pockmarked the history of Cup competitions around the world.
Vic West is a sa国际传媒 and national champion powerhouse of the 1980s, which has steadfastly climbed back following a deep relegation dive in the 2000s into Div. 4. The Wests ended a 34-year drought last year by hoisting the Jackson Cup for the first time since 1989. Vic West, the oldest soccer club in sa国际传媒 at 127 years old, won its 23rd Jackson Cup, but first since the Berlin Wall still had eight months remaining to stand. Vic West defeated Lakehill on penalty kicks in the 2023 championship game to run Lakehill’s Jackson Cup drought into its 68th year.
This year’s quarter-finals are scheduled for Feb. 23-25, semifinals March 8-10 and the final on March 23 at 5:30 p.m. at Starlight Stadium in Langford.
“The random draw adds an extra element to the Jackson Cup tournament,” said VISL executive-director Vince Greco.
This year’s draw happened to put Vic West and Gorge FC on opposite sides of the brackets meaning the top two seeds could meet in the final, which is not the case every year.
Fans can get a glimpse of that potential Cup final on Saturday when undefeated Vic West (12-0-2) plays second-place Gorge FC (12-1-1) in a much-anticipated league match at 6 p.m. at Hampton Park.
