Caribbean Club Championship

The Caribbean Club Championship, also known as the CFU Club Championship or CFU Club Champions' Cup,[1] was an annual international football competition held amongst association football clubs that are members of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU). The tournament served as a qualifying event for the CONCACAF Champions League and, from 2017, the CONCACAF League.

Caribbean Club Championship
Organizing bodyCFU
CONCACAF
Founded1997
Abolished2022
RegionCaribbean
Number of teamsVarious
Last champion(s)Haiti Violette (1st title)
(2022)
Most successful club(s)Trinidad and Tobago W Connection
Trinidad and Tobago Joe Public
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico Islanders
Jamaica Portmore United
Trinidad and Tobago Central
Jamaica Harbour View
(2 titles each)
WebsiteCFU homepage

In 2023, the tournament was replaced by the CONCACAF Caribbean Cup which follows a similar format. This change was made in conjunction with the expansion of the CONCACAF Champions League starting from the 2024 edition.[2]

Qualification

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Thirty-one national associations affiliated with the CFU were invited to participate, with each eligible to send two clubs, usually their league champions and runners-up. However, many member nations did not send a representative team every year. CFU also allowed Antigua Barracuda, Puerto Rico Islanders, and Puerto Rico FC (all now defunct) to compete despite being members of the United States league system. This tournament currently sent three or four teams to CONCACAF competitions: the champions enter the CONCACAF Champions League, the runners-up and third place teams enter the CONCACAF League, and the fourth place team competed in a playoff with the CFU Club Shield winner for a spot in the CONCACAF League.

The CFU presented an exact replica of the championship trophy to the winning team for their permanent possession.

Participation of member associations

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Country Competitions Years
  Haiti 19 2000–02, 2006–07, 2009–22
  Trinidad and Tobago 19 1997–98, 2000–04, 2006–07, 2009–18
  Jamaica 18 1997–98, 2000, 2002–07, 2013–20, 2022
  Suriname 16 1997, 2000–01, 2003–05, 2007, 2009–12, 2014–17, 2021
  Curaçao 11 2000–01, 2003, 2005–07, 2009–10, 2012, 2014, 2021
  Antigua and Barbuda 10 2000, 2004–07, 2009, 2012–13, 2015, 2017
  Puerto Rico 10 2006–07, 2009–14, 2017, 2021
  Guyana 8 1997, 2001, 2009–12, 2014–15
  Guadeloupe 7 1997–98, 2014–17, 2021
  Cayman Islands 6 2002, 2011–12, 2014, 2016–17
  Dominican Republic 6 2016–18, 2020–22
  Dominica 5 2000, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009
  Saint Lucia 5 2000–02, 2005, 2011
  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 5 1997–98, 2010, 2017, 2021
  Aruba 4 2005–07, 2009
  Bermuda 4 2010–12, 2016
  Martinique 4 1997–98, 2002, 2021
  U.S. Virgin Islands 4 2005–07, 2015
  Barbados 3 1997–98, 2000
  Montserrat 2 2004, 2017
  Sint Maarten 2 2017, 2021
  Bahamas 1 2015
  Bonaire 1 2021
  Cuba 1 2007
  French Guiana 1 2021
  Saint-Martin 1 2004
  Saint Kitts and Nevis 1 2011

The following associations have never had any team participate in a Club Championship:

Associations in italics have had teams participate in the Caribbean Club Shield

Past winners

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Season Winners Result Runners-up Third place Result Fourth place
1997 United Petrotrin   2–1   Seba United N/A
1998 Joe Public   1–0   Caledonia AIA N/A
1999 Not held
2000 Joe Public   [a]   W Connection Harbour View   [a]   Carioca
Qualified teams for CONCACAF Champions' Cup
2001[b] Defence Force     W Connection N/A
2002[c] W Connection     Arnett Gardens N/A
Season Winners Result
(1st / 2nd leg)
Runners-up Third place Result
(1st / 2nd leg)
Fourth place
2003 San Juan Jabloteh   3–3 (4–2 p)
(2–1 / 1–2)
  W Connection N/A
2004 Harbour View   3–2
(1–1 / 2–1)
  Tivoli Gardens N/A
2005 Portmore United   5–2
(2–1 / 4–0)
  Robinhood N/A
2006 W Connection   1–0   San Juan Jabloteh N/A
2007 Harbour View   2–1   Joe Public Puerto Rico Islanders   1–0
(1–0 / 0–0)
[d]
  San Juan Jabloteh
2008 Not held
2009 W Connection   2–1   Puerto Rico Islanders San Juan Jabloteh   2–1   Tempête
2010 Puerto Rico Islanders   [a]   Joe Public San Juan Jabloteh   [a]   Bayamón
2011 Puerto Rico Islanders   3–1 (a.e.t.)   Tempête Alpha United   1–1 (a.e.t.)
(4–3 p)
  Defence Force
2012 Caledonia AIA   1–1 (a.e.t.)
(4–3 p)
  W Connection Puerto Rico Islanders   2–0   Antigua Barracuda
Qualified teams for CONCACAF Champions League
2013[e] W Connection     Valencia Caledonia AIA  
2014[f] Bayamón     Waterhouse Alpha United  
Season Winners Result Runners-up Third place Result Fourth place
2015 Central   2–1   W Connection Montego Bay United   1–0   Don Bosco
2016 Central   3–0   W Connection Don Bosco   2–0   Arnett Gardens
2017 Cibao   1–0   San Juan Jabloteh Portmore United   2–2 (a.e.t.)
(5–3 p)
  Central
2018 Atlético Pantoja   0–0 (6–5 p)   Arnett Gardens Portmore United   2–1   Central
2019 Portmore United   [a]   Waterhouse Capoise   [a]   Real Hope
Qualified teams for CONCACAF Champions League and CONCACAF League
2020[g] Atlético Pantoja     Waterhouse Arcahaie     Cibao
Season Winners Result Runners-up Losing semi-finalists
2021 Cavaly   3–0   Inter Moengotapoe Metropolitan   [h]   Samaritaine
Season Winners Result Runners-up Third place Result Fourth place
2022 Violette   0–0
4–3 (p)
  Cibao FC Atlético Vega Real   1–1
3–1 (p)
  Waterhouse
  1. ^ a b c d e f The championship was decided by a final group round.
  2. ^ No champions were decided. The two group winners qualified for the 2002 CONCACAF Champions' Cup.
  3. ^ No champions were decided. The two group winners qualified for the 2003 CONCACAF Champions' Cup.
  4. ^ After the CONCACAF Champions League (CCL) replaced the Champions' Cup in 2008, the two losing semi-finalists in the 2007 CFU Clubs Championships (CFU-CC) played a two-legged series on 10 and 25 May 2008 to determine the 2007 CFU-CC tournament's third place team and the final Caribbean spot (CFU#3) for the inaugural 2008–09 CONCACAF Champions League.
  5. ^ No champions were decided. The two group winners and the play-off winners between the two group runners-up qualified for the 2013–14 CONCACAF Champions League.
  6. ^ No champions were decided. The final stage was cancelled after one of the participating teams Valencia could not participate, and CONCACAF decided to save expenses for the three group stage winners set to participate in the final stage as they all qualified for the 2014–15 CONCACAF Champions League.
  7. ^ No champions were decided. The final stage was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the results in the group stage were used to determine the teams which qualified for the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League (Atlético Pantoja) and the 2020 CONCACAF League (Waterhouse, Arcahaie, Cibao)[3]
  8. ^ No third place match was played.

Results

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By club

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Team Winners Runners-up Years won Years runner-up
  W Connection 2 5 2006, 2009 2000, 2003, 2012, 2015, 2016
  Joe Public 2 2 1998, 2000 2007, 2010
  Puerto Rico Islanders 2 1 2010, 2011 2009
  Portmore United 2 0 2005, 2019
  Central 2 0 2015, 2016
  Harbour View 2 0 2004, 2007
  San Juan Jabloteh 1 2 2003 2006, 2017
  Caledonia AIA 1 1 2012 1998
  Cibao 1 1 2017 2022
  Cavaly 1 0 2021
  Violette 1 0 2022
  Atlético Pantoja 1 0 2018
  United Petrotrin 1 0 1997
  Inter Moengotapoe 0 1 2021
  Waterhouse 0 1 2019
  Arnett Gardens 0 1 2018
  Tempête 0 1 2011
  Robinhood 0 1 2005
  Tivoli Gardens 0 1 2004
  Seba United 0 1 1997
  • When sorted by years won or lost, the table is sorted by the date of each team's first placement

By country

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Nation Winners Runners-up Winning clubs Runner-up clubs
  Trinidad and Tobago 9 10 W Connection (2), Central (2), Joe Public (2), San Juan Jabloteh (1), United Petrotrin (1), Caledonia AIA (1) W Connection (5), Joe Public (2), San Juan Jabloteh (2), Caledonia AIA (1)
  Jamaica 4 4 Portmore United (2), Harbour View (2) Arnett Gardens (1), Waterhouse (1), Tivoli Gardens (1), Seba United (1)
  Puerto Rico 2 1 Puerto Rico Islanders (2) Puerto Rico Islanders (1)
  Dominican Republic 2 1 Cibao (1), Atlético Pantoja (1) Cibao (1)
  Haiti 2 1 Cavaly (1), Violette (1) Tempête (1)
  Suriname 0 2 Robinhood (1), Inter Moengotapoe (1)

CFU Club Shield

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A second-tier competition, called the CFU Club Shield, formerly known as the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Shield, was introduced in 2018 for clubs from non-professional leagues that worked towards professional standards.[4] Until 2022, the winner of this competition, as long as it fulfills the CONCACAF Regional Club Licensing criteria, played against the fourth-placed team of the Caribbean Club Championship for a place in the CONCACAF League. Since 2023, the winner and runner-up qualify for the CONCACAF Caribbean Cup.

See also

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Notes and references

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  1. ^ "CFU Club Champions' Cup 2011 Tournament Regulations" (PDF). 1 August 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 October 2011.
  2. ^ mlssoccer. "Concacaf announces expanded Champions League starting in 2024 | MLSSoccer.com". MLSsoccer. Archived from the original on November 3, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  3. ^ "Update on Concacaf Caribbean Club Shield and Flow Concacaf Caribbean Club Championship". CONCACAF. 25 August 2020. Archived from the original on 13 September 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  4. ^ "Dominican Republic Selected to Host Inaugural CONCACAF Caribbean Club Shield". mailchi.mp. CONCACAF. Archived from the original on 16 June 2019. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
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