[2][3][4] The inaugural winner of the competition was the Havelock Sports Club, led by Ian Labrooy, completing an undefeated season by defeating Dimbula A & CC, 13-0.

In 1952 Ceylonese R&FC, captained by Mahes Rodrigo (who went on to become a dual international in rugby and cricket) won the league title.

[2][5] The Kandy Sporting Club made their first appearance in a Clifford Cup final in 1954, where they lost 21-5 against Ceylonese R&FC.

[4] In 1957 the Colombo H&FC, led by St. John Davies, won the league for the first time against a combined Dimbula/Dickoya team, skippered by Malcolm Wright.

In 1959 Ceylonese R&FC, captained by Ago Paiva, shared the league title with Dimbula A&CC, led by Ken McPherson.

The format of the competition was also changed, whereby all 13 clubs had to play each other once on a home and away basis in alternate years and at the end of the league season the best eight teams competed in a knock-out tournament for the Clifford Cup.

[10] In 1976, led by Thajone Savanghan, Havelock SC bagged the rugby double, winning the League and Clifford Cup.

[12] As a result of the outbreak of civil war in 1983, Police SC withdrew from the league competition, that year the title was again won by Colombo H&FC.

In 1984 Police SC, captained by Upali Vidanage, clinched the 'A' Division League title, going on to win for a further five successive years until 1989.

The SRFU decided to award the Clifford Cup to the winners of a separate knock-out tournament, conducted amongst the 'A' Division Clubs, held at the end of the regular season.

Police SC subsequently retained the John Player League title for the following four years,[14] under the leadership of Sunil Sahabandu (1985), H. Premasiri (1986), Muruga Jayaratne (1987), Ajantha Samarakoon (1988) and M. H. Marso (1989).

[15] In 1990 Police SC withdrew from competition when the second civil war broke out, with Colombo Hockey & Football Club, led by Imran Salley, clinching the rugby triple by winning the John Player League, Clifford Cup and Premadasa Trophy that year.

In 1993 CH and FC, this time captained by Hisham Abdeen, repeated their previous years domination by again securing the rugby triple.

[17][18] In 1996 the competition was renamed the Carlsberg Rugby League, with the inaugural winner being the Ceylonese R & FC,[19] who led by Viraj Prasantha were unbeaten all season.

[21] Ceylonese R&FC, captained by Champika Nishantha, were successful in 1998, defeating defending champions Kandy SC 21-13 in the deciding game.

[24] In 2001 Old Zahirians SC were promoted to the Caltex League, after finishing third in the 'B' division in 2000, the same year as the club won the Lahore International Ten-A-side Rugby Tournament.

The club dominated the league for the next ten years securing titles under Pradeep Basnayake (2002), Sajith Mallikarachchi (2003), Radhika Hettiarachchi (2004), Sanjeewa Jayasinghe (2005), Sajith Mallikarachchi (2006), Jeewa Galgamuwa (2007), Sean Wijesinghe (2008), Pradeep Liyanage (2009), Fazil Marija (2010) and Saliya Kumara (2011).

[64] Kandy SC were declared the champions for 2022, although the competition was halted due to the 2022 Sri Lankan political crisis with two matches remaining in the season.

[65] In 2024 Ceylonese R&FC secured the championship title for the first time in 26 years, by defeating the defending champions, Kandy SC, in the last match of the season.