Third Gateway-S. Thomas’ football encounter on January 22

The stage is set for the third annual football encounter between S. Thomas’ College and Gateway College, with both teams vying for the prestigious Neville De Alwis – Ralph Alles Challenge Trophy. Named after two renowned educators, this trophy is a reminder of everything they stood for -- camaraderie, sportsmanship and equal opportunity.

Jaswer Omar, the newly elected President of the Football Federation Sri Lanka will be the chief guest and Premila Paulraj, Regional Director, Asia Pearson Edexcel will be the Guest of Honour. 

This 3rd annual encounter will be played at the new football grounds at Gateway College, Ratmalana on Saturday 22nd January 2022.  The joint organizing committee confirmed that arrangements have been made to conduct an Under 16 and Under 20 match between S. Thomas College and Gateway College and a friendly Girls Under 20 game between Gateway College and Overseas International School Colombo. S. Thomas old boys will also take on the Gateway old boys for the first time this year. 

Gateway College won the last two encounters under the guidance of Coach James Heath. S. Thomas’ displayed a marked improvement in the second encounter. Both S. Thomas’ (captained by Niven Nanayakkara) and Gateway (captained by Alan Fernando) are evenly matched with technically correct and skillful players who promise to provide spectators an interesting game, filled with healthy rivalry at this state-of-the-art facility.  

Both S. Thomas’ College and Gateway College continuously strive towards the development of sports in this country. What these two schools invest in their sportsmen will not only benefit the individuals themselves, but also the schools they come from and the country they so proudly represent. In its long history, S. Thomas has produced several world class sportsmen and despite being a relatively young school Gateway too has shaped a number of athletes, swimmers, basketball, netball and football players who have represented Sri Lanka and brought pride to our motherland.