Clifford Cup knock out rugby 2023: 112-year-old Trophy returns after 4 years wait

By Shamseer Jaleel

112 year old Clifford  Cup returns

Nippon Paint Inter Club Clifford Cup Knock-out Rugby Tournament will be played after a lapse of four years with the last event taking place in 2019. The draw will be announced in the near future.

Havelock Sports Club are the defending champions beating Sri Lanka Air Force 40/21 in the final encounter. Kandy pulled out of this event due to their home matches not allowed to be played at Nittawela. This is the oldest XV a side rugby encounter in South Asia at present with games are expected to be played at neutral venues as per Sri Lanka Rugby. The trophy is 112 years old.

History of the Cup

The oldest rugby tournament in Asia, Clifford Cup commenced way back in 1911 and has been played continuously since 1950, having completed 79 seasons. In 1911, Lady Elizabeth Clifford (the wife of the then acting Governor of Ceylon Sir Hugh Clifford) was interested in the annual rugby football fixture, Colombo versus Up Country, and expressed her wish that a match take place in Colombo on her birthday, 26 August, between teams representing the United Services and All Ceylon. This is how the beginning of this knock out event commenced more than 112 years ago.

The Clifford Cup was awarded to the winner of a quadrangular 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 onwards, the Clifford Cup was handled by Central Province Rugby Football Union (CPRFU). In 1985 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, held at the end of the regular season.

In 1992, the Clifford Cup final was held in Kandy at the Nittawela Rugby Stadium, the first time the cup final was played outside of Colombo since 1957, Kandy SC defeated Police SC 22/9. This was the first Cup win for the Up-Country Club after being in existence for over 100 years. The Kandy outfit was led by Maurice Joachim. In previous years after 1950’s when CPRFU organised the event, quarter final encounters were played in the Central Hills and then the semi-finals and final moved back to Colombo.

The Cup final has been held in Kandy since 1992, with the exception being in 2006 when it was switched back to Colombo resulting in Kandy SC withdrawing 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 pulled out of the tournament.

Kandy Sports Club has won the Clifford Cup a record 22 times, including consecutive periods of 10 years 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 service duty).

The past winners of the Clifford Cup

1950 (Havelock SC), 1951 (Havelock SC), 1952 (CR and FC), 1953 (Dimbula), 1954 (CR and FC), 1955 (CR and FC), 1956 (CR and FC), 1957 (CH and FC), 1958 (CR and FC), 1959 (CR and FC and Dimbula), 1960 (CH and FC), 1961 (Havelock SC), 1962 (CH and FC), 1963 (Havelock SC), 1964 (Havelock SC), 1965 (CR and FC), 1966 (CR and FC), 1967 (Havelock SC), 1968 (Havelock SC), 1969 (CR and FC), 1970 (Havelock SC and Police SC), 1971 (CR and FC), 1972 (Police SC), 1973 (Army SC and Police SC), 1974 (Havelock SC), 1975 (Army SC), 1976 (Havelock SC), 1977 (Havelock SC), 1978 (Havelock SC), 1979 (Police SC), 1980 (Police SC), 1981 (Havelock SC), 1982 (CH and FC), 1983 (CH and FC), 1984 (Police SC), 1985 (Police SC), 1986 (Air Force SC), 1987 (CR and FC), 1988 (CR and FC), 1989 (CR and FC), 1990 (CH and FC), 1991 (Police SC), 1992 (Kandy SC), 1993 (Kandy SC), 1994 (CH and FC), 1995 (Kandy SC), 1996 (Kandy SC), 1997 (Kandy SC), 1998 (No tournament), 1999 (Kandy SC), 2000 (Kandy SC), 2001 (Kandy SC), 2002 (Kandy SC), 2003 (Kandy SC), 2004 (Kandy SC), 2005 (Kandy SC), 2006 (CR and FC), 2007 (Kandy SC), 2008 (Kandy SC), 2009 (Kandy SC), 2010 (Kandy SC), 2011 (Kandy SC), 2012 (Kandy SC), 2013 (No tournament), 2014 (Navy SC), 2015 (Kandy SC), 2016 (Kandy SC), 2017 (Kandy SC), 2018 (Kandy SC), 2019 (Havelock SC), 

2020 - 2022(No tournament).