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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Football Union (ORFU) and the Quebec Rugby Football Union (QFRU) had withdrawn from Grey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.
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Canadian Football News
Total CFL
Yahoo CFL Coverage
Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union CIAU
ESPN CFL Page
SLAM! Coverage of the CFL
TSN CFL Coverage
The 13th Man (Fan site. Photos, news, message forum, cheerleader pictures and more.)
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
Canadian Interuniversity Atheletic Union CIAU
Northern Football Conference NFC
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 |
Books and Resources About Canadian Football
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
BC Lions
