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The Canadian Football League can trace its roots
back to a soccer game in Rugby, England in 1823 when a player named William Webb
Ellis suddenly picked up the ball and started to run with it, only to be tackled
by an opponent. Thus was born the game of Rugby Football.
The game progressed from that point and was introduced to North America by the
British Army garrison in Montreal, which played a series of games with McGill
University. In 1874, McGill arranged to play a few games at Harvard, which liked
the new game so much that it became a feature of the Ivy League. Both the
Canadian and American games evolved from this point.
In Canada, the game developed through associations organized in each province
and in 1884, the Canadian Rugby Football Union was created as the sport's
governing body. By 1890, the game was being played in each province.
In 1909, the Governor-General of Canada, Lord Albert Henry Earl Grey, donated a
trophy to be awarded to the team winning the Senior Amateur Football
Championship of Canada, better known as the Grey Cup. Since that time, the
trophy has survived two world wars, thefts, fires and misplacements and the
desire to win it has occasioned festivals, parades, beauty contests, bitter
rivalries and substantial expenditures of money.
Initially, the governing Canadian Rugby Union, having replaced the earlier CRFU,
determined its champion by having each province declare its winner and decide
whether to challenge for the trophy. Each province had its own ideas about
playing rules and eligibility of participants and the CRU general meetings were
often scenes of bitterness and confrontation. The CRU prevailed and ruled that
in order for a team to challenge for the Grey Cup, it must have played the
approved CRU rules during that year.
Grey Cup competition was originally open to university teams and other amateur
organizations and the inscriptions on the trophy include such teams as
University of Toronto, Queen's University and the RCAF Hurricanes. Teams from
Western Canada were not permitted to challenge until 1921 when Edmonton Eskimos
made their first of 22 Grey Cup appearances. By 1955, the universities and other
leagues such as the Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU) and the Quebec Rugby
Football Union (QFRU) had withdrawn from Grey Cup competition.
The Inter-provincial Rugby Football Union had been organized in 1907 with teams
from Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Hamilton. This league became known as the Big
Four. The Western Interprovincial Football Union was organized in 1936 with
teams in Winnipeg, Regina and Calgary. Edmonton joined in 1938 but in 1939 World
War II interrupted and the WIFU disbanded for the duration, as did the Big Four
in the East. Service teams filled the void during the war.
Both leagues resumed competition in 1946 with the same four teams in the East
and the original three in the West from Winnipeg, Regina and Calgary. The Regina
team changed its name to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Edmonton rejoined in 1949
and the British Columbia Lions were admitted in 1954. These nine teams later
formed the Canadian Football League.
In 1956, the IRFU and WIFU, still acting under the jurisdiction of the CRU,
created the Canadian Football Council to explore the organization of an
independent body to govern professional football, which had developed in fact if
not in name. The Council recommended the appointment of a Commissioner to
oversee the two bodies which changed their names to the Eastern and Western
Football Conferences respectively, with each Conference retaining some autonomy.
The name "Canadian Football League" was officially adopted in 1958 and
G. Sydney Halter of Winnipeg was appointed the first Commissioner, although he
had held a similar post in the WIFU since 1953. The CFL formally withdrew from
the CRU, which later changed its name to the Canadian Amateur Football
Association to reflect its role in the development of the sport at the amateur
level in Canada. In 1966, the CAFA formally transferred to the CFL the title to
the Grey Cup trophy. Subsequently the CAFA changed its name to "Football
Canada".
In 1961, the CFL commenced a partial interlocking schedule in which each EFC
team played at least one game against each WFC team, alternating at home and
away each year. This became a full interlocking schedule in 1981. In the
meantime, the CFL had in 1967 set up a central office in Toronto, where it
remains today. The two conferences were formally dissolved in 1980 with full
authority vested in the League office. The Montreal Club withdrew from the
League in 1987 and the Winnipeg Club was moved to the East to balance the two
divisions at four teams each.
For the 1996 season the nine clubs in Canada returned to the same division
alignment that prevailed prior to 1987, with Montreal rejoining Ottawa, Toronto
and Hamilton in the Eastern Division, while Winnipeg returned to its former
status as a member of the Western Division. At the conclusion of the 1996 season
the Ottawa Club membership was terminated, so for the 1997 season the League
operated with eight Clubs, with Winnipeg again in the Eastern Division, which
arrangement continued to the end of the 2001 season.
Today the League faces the challenge of continuing as the only professional
sports organization to operate wholly within Canada in eight major cities.
Competition for fan support has increased over the years with Major League
Baseball in two of those cities, NBA basketball in one city and NHL hockey in
six of the nine CFL cities. Despite this, competition for interest in the CFL is
increasing as evidenced by greater fan attendance at its games, higher
television ratings in all Canadian markets and renewed interest in possible
expansion to other cities in Canada. The annual Grey Cup championship continues
to be the greatest single day sports attraction in Canada and annually provides
the largest national television audience. In particular, each of the 2 latest
Grey Cup games, in Montreal in 2001 and in Edmonton in 2002, attracted crowds in
excess of 60,000 fans. The 2002 game also set a Grey Cup television viewer ship
record when 5.14 million viewers tuned in.
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Canadian Football News
All Canada Gridiron (A Canadian football recruiting site, featuring prospect profiles, news and opinions on Canada's top football prospects)
Total CFL
Yahoo CFL Coverage
The Rouge Magazine
CBC Sports CFL Coverage
Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union CIAU Coverage
ESPN CFL Page
55 Yard Line Page
SLAM! Coverage of the CFL
SportsNetwork Coverage of the CFL
TSN CFL Coverage
The 13th Man (Fan site. Photos, news, message forum, cheerleader pictures and more.)
Visit The Football Speaks for articles, predictions, forums, and more covering the NFL, CFL, NFL Europe, Arena, af2, and College Football! www.footballspeaks.com
Canadian Football Leagues (College, Professional, and Developmental)
Canadian Football League CFL
Soudog's CFL History Page
Canadian Football Hall of Fame
Vanier Cup Website Great website that covers all aspects of Canadian collegiate football.
Canadian Junior Football League CJFL (Team Page)
Canadian Interuniversity Atheletic Union CIAU
Great Lakes Football League
Northern Football Conference NFC
South Central Ontario Football League
CFL In the U.S. Excellent overview about the CFL's attempt to expand the league to the United States.
Canadian Football League Teams
| Eastern Division | Western Division |
Northern Football Conference Teams
North/Central Division
Sault Ste Marie Steelers
Sudbury Spartans
T.O. Raiders
Oshawa Hawekeyes
T.O. Maddogs
Southern Division
Oakville Longhorns
Quinte-Limestone Panthers
Milton Marauders
Tri City Outlaws
Sarnia Imperials
Books and Resources About Canadian Football
Differences Between American Style and Canadian Style
The CFL Rulebook (from the CFL web site)
A Passing Game: A History of the CFL
Bigger Balls: The
CFL and Overcoming the Canadian Inferiority Complex
Thrown to the Lions: 45 Years of B.C. Football
