View source for Sri Lanka Army Sports Club (rugby union)

{{Infobox rugby team
| teamname       = Sri Lanka Army Sports Club
| image          =
| imagesize      =
| union          = [[Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union]]
| fullname       = Army Sports Club
| location       = [[Sri Lanka]]
| shortname      = Army
| countryflag    = Sri Lanka
| countryflagvar =
| founded        = 1962
| region         =
| ground         = Panagoda
| capacity       =
| chairman       = Gen.Chandana
Wickramasinghe
| Manager        = Lt Hasmitha
Karunathilake
| president      =
| captain        = Maj Manoj Bandara
| top scorer     =
| caps           =
| coach          = Shamlie Nawaz
| url            =
| league         = [[Sri Lanka Rugby Championship|Dialog Rugby League]]<br>[[Clifford Cup]]
| season         = [[2016-17 Dialog Rugby League season]]
| position       = 6
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'''Sri Lanka Army Sports Club''' is a Division 'A'  [[rugby union]] team based in [[Sri Lanka]] that plays in the [[Sri Lanka Rugby Championship|Dialog Rugby League]] in Sri Lanka. It is the rugby union team of the [[Sri Lanka Army Sports Club (disambiguation)|Sri Lanka Army Sports Club]] and was founded in 1962.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ft.lk/article/388230/Etisalat-empowers--Sri-Lanka-Army-rugby-team|title=Etisalat empowers Sri Lanka Army rugby team|newspaper=Daily FT|date=10 February 2015|accessdate=23 March 2016}}</ref>
==History==
In 1961 Army SC together with Division 'B' teams from [[Sri Lanka Air Force Sports Club (rugby)|Air Force]], [[Sri Lanka Navy Sports Club (rugby)|Navy]], [[Sri Lanka Police Sports Club (rugby)|Police SC]]  and University were permitted to play alongside the Division 'A' clubs, [[Ceylonese Rugby & Football Club]], [[Colombo Hockey and Football Club]], [[Havelock Sports Club|Havelock SC]], [[Kandy Sports Club (rugby)|Kandy SC]], [[Dimbula Athletic & Cricket Club]], [[Dickoya Maskeliya Cricket Club]], Uva and [[Kelani Valley Club]] in the Clifford Cup competition.  The expanded competition, allowed all thirteen clubs to play each other once on a home and away basis in alternate years and at the end of the season the best eight teams went on to play in a knock-out tournament for the [[Clifford Cup]].
In 1973 Army SC, captained by S.P. de Silva, shared the Clifford Cup with Police SC following a 19 all draw.<ref name="ST">{{cite news|url=http://www.sundaytimes.lk/980524/sports2.html|title=Two Fijians prop army pack|newspaper=[[Sunday Times (Sri Lanka)|Sunday Times]]|accessdate=23 March 2016}}</ref> It wasn't until 1975, under Saliya Udugama, that Army SC won the Clifford Cup outright for the first time by beating Air Force SC<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2011/05/22/army-determined-to-put-up-a-good-show-this-season/|title=Army determined to put up a good show this season|newspaper=[[Sunday Leader]]|first=Milinda|last=Gunawardena|date=22 May 2011|accessdate=23 March 2016}}</ref> 4&ndash;3.<ref name="ST"/>
In 1978 the Clifford Cup was awarded to the League Champions and the knockout competition was played for [[Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union|SLRFU]] President's Trophy. In 1979 Army SC won the President's Trophy at [[Galle Face Green|Galle Face]], led by Daya Ratnayake, beating a strong [[Havelock Sports Club]] 21&ndash;3.  In 1981 Army won the President’s Trophy again under the captaincy of John Senaweera.
==Clifford Cup==
{| class="wikitable"
! Club
! Wins
! Seasons
|-
| Army Sports Club || 2 || 1973‡, 1975
|}
* ‡ Shared [[Sri Lanka Police Sports Club (rugby)|Police Sports Club]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160303190449/http://www.srilankarugby.com/index.html Sri Lanka RFU Official website]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160311125425/http://srilankarugby.com/provicial_unions.html Provincial Unions]
{{Rugby union in Sri Lanka}}
[[Category:Sport in Colombo]]
[[Category:Rugby union teams in Sri Lanka]]