Sri Lanka Champions League

Sri Lanka Champions League

Founded	1985; 39 years ago (1985) (as Colombo Football League)
Country	Sri Lanka
Confederation	AFC
Number of teams	18
Level on pyramid	2
Relegation to	S2 League
Domestic cup(s)	Sri Lanka FA Cup
Current champions	Matara City (1st title)
Most championships	Saunders SC (12 titles)
TV partners	Football Sri Lanka TV
Website	football.lk

The S1 League (Sinhala: එස්1 ලීගය; Tamil: எஸ்1 லீக்), or simply S1, also known as Sri Lanka Champions League, is the second tier division of the Sri Lankan football league system. It was succeeded by the professional Sri Lanka Super League which serves as the first division.^[1] Until 2019, it was sponsored by Dialog Axiata and was thus officially known as the Dialog Champions League.

The league was conducted in various formats. Apart from the league system, a playoff stage was included in 2013–14 season. Currently, 18 clubs are participating in the tournament. Saunders have won the most titles in the league, winning 12 titles. Rathnam have won the title 5 times, Renown 4 times, and Colombo 3 times. In recent times, different clubs have been able to win the championship title.

The competition was started in 1985 and it was held every year. The 2016 Sri Lanka Football Premier League is the 32nd season of the Sri Lanka Football league. The tournament was conducted in various formats. Apart from the league system a playoff stage was included in the 2013–14 season. Currently 18 clubs participate in the tournament. Saunders are the most time champion with 12 titles. Rathnam have won the title five times and Renown four times. In recent times different clubs have been able to win the championship title. Colombo have won the title three times and are the current champions.

In the current structure of the league 18 clubs compete for the title. In the first stage the teams are divided into two groups of nine. Those teams compete in a round robin format. The best four teams from each group qualify for the Championship Stage. In that stage the 8 teams compete in a round robin format and the group winner is the champion of the season. The bottom two teams of each group in the first stage are relegated to the Division I.

The champion of the league will earn the chance to play in the AFC Cup tournament which is organized by Asian Football Confederation. Also they qualify for the SAFF Club Championship. However the title holders didn't compete in any of the above competitions until 2014. The first team to play in the AFC Cup was Colombo FC, which won the title in 2015.

Champions so far:^[2]

The number of national championships that clubs in Sri Lanka have attained.

The title sponsor of the current season in Dialog. So the league is known as Dialog Champions League. Other than dialog Cargills also sponsor the previous events. The official ball is supplied by Molten. The official broadcast partner is Football Sri Lanka TV.

Sugathadasa

Kalutara Stadium

Jayatilaka Stadium

Matara Stadium

Alburt Pieris

Navy

Prison Ground

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Locations of major football grounds in Sri Lanka

Most of the clubs in this league haven't any FIFA Standard Stadiums. So most of the matches are played in the 25,000-capacity Sugathadasa Stadium and Kelaniya Football Complex. Some clubs play their matches in their home stadiums which are located in Colombo, Anuradhapura, Kelaniya and Kalutara.

Year	Best scorers	Team	Goals
2003–04	M.A.M. Farzeen	Blue Star SC	19
2006–07	Kasun Jayasuriya	Ratnam SC	24
2007–08	Kasun Jayasuriya	Ratnam SC	12
2008–09	Kasun Jayasuriya	Renown SC	13
2009–10	Mohamed Fazal	Renown SC	14
2014–15	Mohamed Izzadeen	Army SC	26
2015	M.C.M. Rifnaz[3]	Renown SC	9
2016–17	Job Micheal	Renown SC	11
2017–18	Job Micheal	Renown SC	19

• League at FIFA
• League at soccerway.com