The Clifford Cup Knock-out Rugby Tournament will kick off on March 26 at the Nittawela Rugby Stadium when Kandy SC plays debutants Sri Lions in the first quarter-final of the 2025 edition. Gates will be free for Kandy SC home matches on March 26 and April 1.
The eldest rugby tournament in Asia, Clifford Cup commenced in 1911 and has been played constantly since 1950, having finished 79 tournaments. In 1911 Lady Elizabeth Clifford, the wife of the then acting Governor of Ceylon Sir Hugh Clifford, was attracted in an annual rugby football fixture between Colombo and the Up Country.
The Clifford Cup was awarded to the champion of a tournament between four teams, mainly Low Country, Up Country, Ceylonese and United Services. The competition then continued until 1938, when it was disrupted by the Second World War.
From 1950 straight on, the Clifford Cup was handled by Central Province Rugby Football Union (CPRFU) and in the years after the 1950 the quarter-final encounters were played in the Central Hills with the semi-finals and final moved back to Colombo.
In 1985 on the other hand, Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) decided to award the Clifford Cup to the winners of a separate knock-out tournament, conducted amongst the ‘A’ division clubs at the end of the regular season.
In 1992, the Clifford Cup final was detained in Kandy at the Nittawela Rugby Stadium, the first time the Cup final was played outside of Colombo since 1957. Kandy SC beaten Police SC 22/9 and was the first Cup win for the Up Country club, which had been in existence for over 100 years. Kandy outfit was led by Maurice Joachim.
The Cup final has been detained in Kandy since 1992, with the exception being 2006 when it was switched back to Colombo when Priyantha Ekanayake was the Chief Executive Officer of the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) resulting in Kandy SC moving back from that year’s competition in protest. The same issue occurred in 2019 when Kandy was not allowed to host their games at Nittawela and they pulled out of the tournament. Kandy SC since 1992 in the last 33 years has gained the Knock-outs on no less than 22 occasions while pulling out twice due to venue issues. They have missed out winning the Cup only nine times since 1992.
Kandy SC has earned the Clifford Cup a record 22 times, including a run of ten consecutive titles between 1995 and 2005 (the competition was not held in 1998) and six consecutive years between 2007 and 2012. In 2006 and 2019 Kandy Sports Club and Navy SC both withdrew from the tournament – Kandy due to dispute over the ground allocation and Navy as their members were called up for national duty.
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