CR&FC welcomes Centenary Year

(Seated L to R): Zulker Hamid, Secretary, Centenary Committee; Jehan CanagaRetna, Chairperson Centenary Committee; Ted Muttiah, President CR&FC, Jakque Diasz, Hon General Secretary, General Committee;  Dilroy Fernando, Chairman Tournament Committee. 

By Amindha de Alwis

The Ceylonese Rugby and Football Club (CR&FC) kicked off its Centenary Year Celebrations at a press briefing held yesterday at the Club’s Old Pavilion. 
The Centenary Year will run from September 25, 2022 and culminate on September 24, 2023.

Starting from a humble member-base of less than a hundred, CR&FC now boasts a membership of over 1100 and offers facilities for over 10 sports disciplines and has the special distinction of being the first rugby club in the island to admit and grant voting rights to women members. 

The Club released a coffee table book titled ‘Tackling Change’ covering its 100-year history along with the commencement of its Centenary Year. 
A number of events have been planned for the Centenary Year including a Christmas Celebration, a Legends Get-together, a Music Festival, a Centenary Sevens Tournament and a Dinner Dance to wrap up the year. 

The Sevens Tournament is set to be worked off from April 7-9, 2023 and will feature a Men’s and Women’s Club Competition as well as a Schools Competition. 

Eight Men’s teams will feature in the Club Competition, while the four local Women’s teams are hoped to be joined by two foreign invitational clubs, making it a six-team competition.
The Under-19 Schools Competition will feature ten invited schools. 

CR&FC President, Ted Muttiah said, “Today marks a remarkable journey, not just for CR&FC but for Rugby in Sri Lanka. The club was founded by Colonel E. H. Joseph dedicated to Ceylonese, as people of this land were known then. It thrived in the midst of the much-fancied European competition and quickly established a highly regarded reputation in the ensuing decades as an integral part of the game in Sri Lanka.”