Kandy was once a powerhouse of Sri Lanka football. But today it is in a forgotten state. When will the game of football that one time held its own and produced players of international class regain its former glory in. In the good old days Kandy enjoyed the glory of the football sport played by the British in Ceylon. Now this sport is on the decline and one wonders whether Kandy's football will regain its former glory?
looking back into Kandy football it reveals that football in Kandy had its origin in the 1930's during the World War when the British units were stationed in Kandy, with the onetime Commander in Chief of Allied Forces in South East Asia, Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten had his headquarters in the hill capital, and gave a good flip up for the game. Today, all the facilities for the game are there, but the sport is virtually dead, especially in Kandy, no inter club domestic football is played. Schools continue to play in the Education Department tournament and some play their inter school matches.In the 1930's when football was given priority, some first class British football players displayed their versatility, representing the Kingstown and Queenstown regiments, the Royal Artillery and also the East African Rifles, who had quite a few Negro stars in the side. So, the game gained popularity day by day, because it was played with great interest and enthusiasm. Some of the clubs which took in the game in the 1930's were, Old Antonians SC, Old Kingswoodians SC, Police SC, Kandy YMCA, Greenfield SC, Kandy Sports Club, Young Stars SC, Phoenix SC, St. Michael's SC, Gampola Chums, Rovers SC, Kandy YMMA and Red Stars SC .
It was at that time the Kandy District Amateur Football League was formed. It subsequently changed its name to Kandy Association Football League. And served football in Matale, Gampola, Nawalapitiya, Kurunegala and Kegalle, and as the years passed by, these towns formed their own leagues. When Football in Colombo and elsewhere received a setback as far as Ceylonese exponents of the game were concerned, the game was more or less confined to the permanent population as well as to the services. Early in 1942, however, there appeared to be a lack of interest in the game, and the efforts made by S.C. Traill the then secretary to call a meeting of the League having failed he was compelled to return the trophies to the donors.
At that time the game seemed to be seriously affected. But fortunately G.H. Robins, T.P.C. Roberts who were then stationed in Kandy and M.S.Jainudeen were mainly responsible in resuscitating the game. A tournament for the Main Shield was inaugurated with the participating of the Services Footballers in Kandy and football began to thrive again. At that time Bogambara was the location of high activity.
Football had wide acceptance amongst our people - particularly the common masses and the middle class. From its humble beginning almost over ninety years, it has come to stay as a popular mass sport. As years went on football flourished in Kandy, and several schools in and around Kandy took up the game. It was St. Anthony's College, who first played football. It must be recalled that late M.S.Jainudeen as Secretary of Kandy football, went all out to popularize the game in Kandy.
Kandy is a founder member of the football's controlling body. In the good old days league, knockout and seven a side tournaments were conducted with over 250 matches, with only one ground available, that is Bogambara. From the early years of barefoot competitions to the late age of modern football, Kandy played a vital role in its growth. Lately football has surprisingly taken a back seat in Kandy. Previously the game was promoted to great heights and also produced a President and Secretary from Kandy for the governing body. Then came the Kandy Football Referees Association. In the late ’40’s with pioneers like Philip Buultjens, Kingsley Abeyasinghe, R. Jaymon, S.A.C. ‘Gunner’ Mohideen as active referees and later A.J.M. Yusuf, M.E. Marikar, Tom Ossen, B.D. Alfred, Jinadasa, T. Kumala Mohamed, M. Jamaldeen, handled the whistle.
First president from Kandy at FFSL was DIG Bodhi Liyanage and the first secretary was Hafiz Marikar. And some of the people who gave a big hand for football in the early days were people like late Col. V. H. L. Anthonis, A. C. L. Ratwatte E.L. Senanayake, M.S. Jainudeen, Dr. C.D.L. Fernando, S. Nadaraja, Kumala Mohamed. William Premaratne L.P. Wijeratne, W.B Abeyasinghe, S. Sirisena and M. Mohamed to name a few.
Schools were the nursery of the clubs. Where St. Anthony's, Kingswood, Dharmaraja, Sri Rahula, St. Paul's (now known as Sri Sumangala), Berravettes, Vidyaratha and St. Sylvester's excelled. In 1963 the Kandy Schools Football Association was formed and it did an excellent job to promote the game. Zahira Gampola, Nugawela Central, Gampola Vidyalaya, Wickrimabahu, Katherasen from Nawalapitiya, Highlands from Hatton and Zahira Matale played under the Kandy Schools Association.
For the first time Kandy won the All Island Senior and junior League championship under the presidency of late B.M. Liyanage. The team was coached by Kumala Mohamed. With this win Kandy was offered a tour to Nepal to play in a tournament, for which teams from Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal took part and Kandy was placed second. It was the first ever Kandy team to tour overseas. Today not a single Kandy team participating in FFSL competitions.
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