Canadian Football League CFL

The Development of the Canadian Football League

The Canadian Football League (CFL) has the same type of rugby-influenced origins as the National Football League (NFL), its American counterpart.   The CFL can trace its beginnings back as far as the mid-to-late 1800s and the Canadian Rugby Football Union.  

The CFL, as it is known today, became an entity in the 1950s with a merger of the Inter Provincial Rugby Union (IFRU) and the Western Inter Provincial Football Union (OFRU) into the Canadian Football Council. In 1954, professional Canadian football gained possession of the Grey Cup, which had long  been the trophy of amateur teams.  Governor General Earl Grey had donated the Grey Cup to the  Senior Amateur Football Championship way back in 1909. The final step in league development was taken in 1958 when the Canadian Football Council became the Canadian Football League.

At first, Eastern and Western teams played among themselves except for the Championship Grey Cup Game. A full schedule of interlocking games wasn’t introduced until 1981.  From 1954 to 1982 the Canadian Football League consisted of nine different teams--the Montreal Alouettes, Ottawa Rough Riders, Toronto Argonauts, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Winnepeg Blue Bombers, Saskatchewan RoughRiders, Edmonton Eskimos, Calgary Stampeders, and British Columbia Lions.

The original Alouettes team went bankrupt in 1982 and was replaced  by the Concordes.  The Concordes didn’t do so well either and changed their name to the Alouettes.  They still could not gain the popularity of the original Montreal Alouettes and the team was disbanded in 1987.  That reduced the number of Eastern teams to three so the Winnipeg Blue Bombers were moved into the Eastern Division making four teams in the East and four teams in the West. 

 In 1993, the CFL tried to expand with the admission of American teams to the league. This venture was short-lived but teams were formed in Sacramento, Las Vegas, Shreveport, Baltimore, Birmingham, Memphis, and San Antonio.  The only successful team was the Baltimore Stallions, which in 1995 became the first non-Canadian team ever to win the Grey Cup.  Ironically, the next year the Baltimore Stallions moved to Montreal and took on the ever-popular name of the Alouettes.  Once again the Canadian Football League was entirely Canadian. 

 The most recent CFL events have been the break-up of the Ottawa Renegades right before the 2006 season, and the interest of the cities of Halifax and Moncton in pursuing the development of new teams. A new Ottawa team is scheduled to begin play in 2010 with a newly renovated stadium. 

 The Canadian Football League is the second most popular sports league in Canada, running a far second however, to the National Hockey League. Training camps begin in June and the season begins with Canada Day--celebrated on July 1, and extends through the fall to the Grey Cup Championship. Canadian football has seen a sudden surge in popularity with the 2007 Grey Cup Champion Saskatchewan RoughRiders having six consecutive sellouts.  The Winnepeg Bluebombers had five consecutive sellouts. With attendance up everywhere, the Canadian Football League is facing the future with great optimism.