The 2021 Sri Lanka Super League was the first season of Sri Lanka Super League, after a significant 3 Year delay resulting in Sri Lanka Football having a dry period of a lack of top division football. Today it was meant to be the top division of Sri Lankan football. The season after numerous political delays and lack of preparation finally kicked off in the middle of the pandemic on 19 April 2021. The Super League was the brainchild of the current President Jaswar Umar.
| Season | 2021 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 19 April 2021 – 11 January 2022 |
| Champions | Blue Star (1st title) |
| AFC Cup | Blue Star |
| Matches played | 45 |
| Goals scored | 137 (3.04 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Senal Sandesh Pingho (10 goals) |
2022 → | |
Summary edit
Impact of COVID-19 pandemic edit
The start of the season was impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 situation. After the 2018–19 season, the inaugural Super League was scheduled to kick-off in April 2020,[1] but was rescheduled to November 2020,[1] 29 January 2021[2] and finally started on 19 April 2021,[3] due to concerns of the pandemic with discussions held with the health authorities.[4]
Due pandemic, this season was forced to play on a single round-robin system (each club plays the others once).
After the International Break at the end of matchday 3, the tournament recommencement was scheduled to 2 July 2021. But the Football Sri Lanka announced the postponement on 16 June 2021, due to travel restrictions.[5]
Pre-season tournament edit
After numerous delays, and conflict on basing the National Team Priorities of Technical Head Amir Alagic, clubs were asked if they could play a Premier Season Practice Tournament. Causing further delays to the actual tournament. A pre season was launched with much glamour and delight but unfortunately with Covid 19 being a constant outbreak, the tournament delayed further. Since the Sri Lanka national football team were set to play their 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying second round games against Lebanon and South Korea in March, Football Sri Lanka without any professional consultation conducted Sri Lanka Super League pre-season tournament, without spectators or a plan.[2][6]
Super League pre-season tournament was conducted with the 10 Super League clubs, divided to two groups, group stage matches held from 17 February 2021 to 24 March 2021.[7]
Teams edit
The league is made up of 10 clubs that were selected from the Sri Lanka Champions League at the end of the 2018–19 season, after meeting the Football Federation of Sri Lanka's Club Licensing Criteria in association with the Asian Football Confederation.[4]
Teams and their divisions edit
- Note: Table lists clubs in alphabetical order.
Foreign players edit
League table edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blue Star (C, Q) | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 9 | +12 | 22 | Qualification for AFC Cup preliminary round 1 |
| 2 | Sea Hawks | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 11 | +5 | 19[a] | |
| 3 | Colombo | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 22 | 11 | +11 | 19[a] | |
| 4 | Renown | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 17 | |
| 5 | Up Country Lions | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 8 | +9 | 16 | |
| 6 | Red Stars | 9 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 18 | 16 | +2 | 10 | |
| 7 | Defenders | 9 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 10 | |
| 8 | New Young's | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 13 | 31 | −18 | 7 | |
| 9 | Ratnam | 9 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 16 | −11 | 3 | |
| 10 | Blue Eagles | 9 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 16 | −13 | 2 |
Results edit
Fixture edit
Round 1 edit
| 19 April 2021 | Colombo | 4–0 | New Young's | |
| 14:00 | Dilshan  15', 85'Zarwan 57' (pen.)Seka 79' |
| 21 April 2021 | Ratnam | 1–1 | Up Country Lions | |
| 16:00 | Jimoh 59' |
Akhil 77' |
| 21 April 2021 | Blue Eagles | 0–1 | Sea Hawks | |
| 16:00 | Hasmeer 11' |
Round 2 edit
| 23 April 2021 | Blue Star | 1–0 | Colombo | |
| 16:00 | Sandesh Pingo 6' |
| 24 April 2021 | Defenders | 0–0 | Blue Eagles | |
| 13:00 |
| 25 April 2021 | New Young's | 1–4 | Up Country Lions | |
| 16:00 | Nithushan 23' |
W.Razeek 19', 65', 83' Sujan Perera 90+3' |
Round 3 edit
| 30 April 2021 | Sea Hawks | 5–0 | New Young's | |
| 16:00 | Hasmeer 28', 55' Kaneshiro 31', 44', 74' |
| 1 May 2021 | Blue Star | 3–0 | Ratnam | |
| 13:00 | Irshan 12' Arshad 13'Sandesh Pingho 36' |
| 29 November 2021 | Up Country Lions | 2–0 | Defenders | |
| 11:00 | Abege 28' Asmil 89' |
Round 4 edit
| 6 December 2021 | Sea Hawks | 1–0 | Up Country Lions | |
| 15:00 | Musthaq 90+3' |
| 7 December 2021 | Blue Eagles | 1–2 | New Young's | |
| 15:00 | L.Fernando 86' |
Sanjeewa 39' Rumesh 53' |
Round 5 edit
| 10 December 2021 | Blue Eagles | 0–1 | Renown | |
| 11:00 | Kurukulasuriyage 74' |
| 11 December 2021 | Sea Hawks | 2–2 | Defenders | |
| 11:00 | D.Madushan 26' S.Madushan 30' |
Chameera 68' Mohamed 73' |
| 12 December 2021 | New Young's | 4–4 | Red Stars | |
| 11:00 | Sanjeewa 19', 47', 53' Nitharshan 68' |
Dananjaya 6' Ogudugu 24'Rihad 28'Rahman 45+4' |
| 12 December 2021 | Up Country Lions | 1–2 | Blue Star | |
| 15:00 | Sujan Perera 71' (pen.) |
Arepade 43' Sandesh Pingho 53' |
Round 6 edit
| 17 December 2021 | Red Stars | 1–3 | Renown | |
| 11:00 | Rahman 35' (pen.) |
Kurukulasuriyage 16' Aman 54'Iqbal 90+2' |
| 17 December 2021 | Up Country Lions | 1–0 | Blue Eagles | |
| 15:00 | Shifan 90+5' |
Round 7 edit
| 28 December 2021 | Sea Hawks | 2–1 | Red Stars | |
| 11:00 | Kaneshiro 45+4' D.Madushan 90+5' |
Rahman 15' |
| 29 December 2021 | Up Country Lions | 2–3 | Colombo | |
| 11:00 | Nitharshan 20', 63' |
Aakib 30', 90+6' Tagne 90+5' |
| 29 December 2021 | New Young's | 1–2 | Renown | |
| 15:00 | Agbeti 78' (o.g.) |
Supan 53' D.Madushan 57' |
| 30 December 2021 | Defenders | 1–3 | Blue Star | |
| 11:00 | Jayasekara 43' |
Arepade 37' Sandesh Pingho 73', 84' |
| 30 December 2021 | Blue Eagles | 0–0 | Ratnam | |
| 15:00 |
Round 8 edit
| 7 January 2022 | Ratnam | 0–1 | Sea Hawks | |
| 11:00 | S.Madushan 58' |
| 7 January 2022 | Renown | 1–0 | Up Country Lions | |
| 11:00 | Job 45+2' |
| 7 January 2022 | Blue Star | 4–1 | New Young's | |
| 15:00 | Sandesh Pingho 52', 56', 83' Arshad 90' |
Mushikhan 21' |
| 7 January 2022 | Colombo | 2–0 | Blue Eagles | |
| 15:00 | Seka 24' Aakib 78' |
Round 9 edit
| 10 January 2022 | Renown | 2–1 | Ratnam | |
| 11:00 | Priyadarshana 31' Job 74' |
Enoch 52' |
| 10 January 2022 | Defenders | 6–1 | New Young's | |
| 11:00 | Izzadeen 27', 64', 85' M.Fernando 45+2' (o.g.)Mohamed 84', 89' |
Mushikhan 22' |
| 10 January 2022 | Red Stars | 0–3 | Up Country Lions | |
| 15:00 | W.Razeek 1', 51', 59' (pen.) |
| 11 January 2022 | Blue Star | 3–2 | Blue Eagles | |
| 15:30 | Fazal 11' Arshad 14'M.Ishan 83' |
L.Fernando 15' Malshan 36' |
Top goalscorers edit
Own goals edit
| Player | Club | Own Goals | Against |
|---|---|---|---|
 Olumide Agbeti
|
Renown SC | 1 | New Young's SC |
 Madushanka Fernando
|
New Young's SC | 1 | Defenders FC |
Clean sheets edit
| Player | Club | Clean Sheet |
|---|---|---|
| Udayanga Perera
|
Sea Hawks FC | 4 |
| Supun Kaveesh
|
Blue Star SC | 4 |
| Rasik Rishad
|
Renown SC | 4 |
 Mohammed Mubarak
|
Red Star SC | 3 |
| Weerasinghe Sujan Perera
|
Up Country Lions SC | 3 |
| Nuwan Gimhana
|
Colombo FC | 2 |
Champions edit
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Star SC | Kalutara | Kalutara Stadium | 15,000 |
References edit
- ^ a b ‘Super League’ – Sri Lanka’s first Professional Football League to begin in November at Daily News Lanka. date:2 July 2020
- ^ a b Lanka Super League to begin with pre-season tournament at Daily Mirror Lanka. date: 20 January 2021
- ^ Football Super League kicks off tomorrow at Sunday Observer Lanka. date:18 April 2021
- ^ a b Sri Lanka Super League set for November lift off at AFC. date: 2 July 2020
- ^ Super League Postponement at Football Sri Lanka. date: 16 June 2021
- ^ Football Super League kicks off to transform Sri Lanka at Sunday Observer Lanka. date: 4 April 2021
- ^ Super League pre-season tournament group stage schedule at Football Sri Lanka (Facebook). date: 12 February 2021