When considering the game of Football, St. Thomas’ College has a long history in the city of Matara as well as in the entire South. St. Thomas’ College, which has been working to endow many players to the national level by continuing the school Football game in the Matara district for many decades, has a prominent position among other schools.

In particular, the “Battle of the Golden Ensigns” which has been competing with Rahula College, Matara for twenty years has managed to add a new chapter to the history of school football competitions in all of Sri Lanka.

This historic competition was started in 2002 by Mr. P. Hettiarachchi, who was a Superintendent of Police in Matara at the time, and a Former student of St. Thomas’ College, Mr. Jagath Munasinghe, a managing director of Century Finance Company. Mr. Ratnasiri Suraweera, who was the principal of St. Thomas’ College at that time, and Mr. Kithsiri Liyanage, the former principal of Rahula College, were also involved in the organization of this task. St. Thomas’ College was the initial host school. The Honorary Secretary of the Old Boys Association of St. Thomas’ College, Mr. Samath Gunasekara, and the Old Boys Association were the hosts. The Ruhunu Masters Sports Club has also given a lot of support for this. Mr. M.P. Kumara was the coach of the St. Thomas’ College team since the opening match. Mr. M.B. Veerappuli was the coach of the Rahula College team. Mr. Darshan Gunawardena was the teacher-in-charge of St. Thomas’ College football team and Mr. Herbert Jayawardena was the teacher-in-charge of Rahula College football team. The fact that these two teachers as well as both coaches were Old Boys of St. Thomas’ College is a great testimony to establish St. Thomas’ College as the founding heirs of this competition. In the opening match of 2002, St. Thomas’ College team was captained by M. Dhanuka. Purosha Dissanayake was the captain of Rahula College.

The outside stadium of Matara Uyanwatta was a haven for football in the city and sports commentators believe that the beginning of this tournament led to the revival of football in Matara. Through this, players representing the national football team as well as the many players representing army and police football teams have been born.

Out of the twenty matches held so far (2024), St. Thomas College has won eleven matches and Rahula College has won nine matches. One match ended in a draw.

As the achievements of the Football Tournament, Mathila Duminduhewa, Rasika Sampath, Kavindu Priyankara, Saliju Sanjana have represented the Sri Lankan football team for several years and have won in countries like Nepal, Japan, Iran, and India. In the year 2013, Gamindu Eesara gave fame to the school by engaging in training until selection for the Sri Lanka Football Squad.

For many years, this match was held at night which led to spending a lot of money on special expenses including lighting. For that purpose, the dedication of the officers and members of the Old Boys Association of the two schools, who managed to continue this tournament by getting the support of the sponsors and using the funds of their association, should be appreciated.

We hope that St. Thomas’ College, which is continuing the Battle of the Blues Ruhuna, which is one of the oldest cricket matches in the country, for over a century, will have the strength and courage to continue the Battle of the Golden Ensigns for many more years.