Search results
May 14, 2015 · Thus the decision was made to have the teams play two games, one by Harvard’s American rules, and one game played by Canadian rules. On May 13 and 14, in 1874 two games were played in the US ...
- Overview
- Football in Canada
The gridiron football played in Canada closely resembles the U.S. game, but it developed independently, and, overshadowed by ice hockey, it never achieved equal national importance.
Canadian football’s earliest history remains uncertain. It is generally agreed that rugby came to Canada with British soldiers early in the 19th century, and games were reported in the Toronto Globe as early as 1859. Students at the University of Toronto were playing football by the early 1860s, but it was clubs in Quebec and Ontario, rather than universities as in the United States, that led the way in developing the sport. Several of these clubs formed the Foot Ball Association of Canada in 1873, adopting Rugby Union rules in 1875. This initial association collapsed in 1877, to be followed by the first of the Canadian Rugby Football Unions in 1880; the final one, the Canadian Rugby Union (CRU), formed in 1891. Provincial unions were likewise formed in Ontario and Quebec in 1883, but football developed later in the West, with the Western Canadian Rugby Football Union not forming until 1911. The top senior clubs—the Big Four of Quebec and Ontario (Ottawa, Montreal, Hamilton, and Toronto), together with the five top Western clubs (Winnipeg, Saskatchewan, Calgary, Edmonton, and British Columbia)—eventually formed the major football organization in Canada, the professional Canadian Football League.
The Grey Cup, named for Governor-General Earl Grey, was first awarded in 1909, with college and club teams alike competing. Over time, the Grey Cup became Canada’s professional championship, as well as a weeklong festival and the premier single sporting event in the country.
The CRU became the umbrella organization for all the football unions, including the Canadian Intercollegiate Rugby Football Union, which was formed by eight universities in 1897 in reaction to the growing professionalism among the top senior clubs. In addition to the championship for senior clubs, the CRU sponsored an intermediate championship beginning in 1894 and a junior championship beginning in 1908.
No clear boundaries between intercollegiate and club football, or even amateur and professional, were drawn in Canada for several decades, nor were football’s commercial possibilities realized for some time. Unlike U.S. football, early Canadian football was a game for the players rather than the spectators. The University of Toronto’s victory over the Parkdale Canoe Club for the initial Grey Cup, for example, drew 3,807 fans and generated gross revenues of $2,616.40—at a time when top U.S. university teams were playing before 50,000 spectators and Yale was earning more than $1 million from football.
Developing a uniform set of rules in Canada was far more difficult than in the United States. The U.S. model was a powerful influence that was resisted by those who desired to preserve the Canadian-ness of Canadian football. Though clinging to certain rugby features, the Canadian game was gradually "Americanized" by U.S. coaches such as Frank ("Shag") Shaughnessy at McGill University (1912–29) and by pressure from Western clubs, which were more open to U.S. influence and to professionalism. The legalization of the forward pass in 1931 led clubs, particularly in the West, to seek U.S. players skilled at the passing game, to whom was offered local employment in the midst of the Great Depression rather than direct payments.
The gridiron football played in Canada closely resembles the U.S. game, but it developed independently, and, overshadowed by ice hockey, it never achieved equal national importance.
Canadian football’s earliest history remains uncertain. It is generally agreed that rugby came to Canada with British soldiers early in the 19th century, and games were reported in the Toronto Globe as early as 1859. Students at the University of Toronto were playing football by the early 1860s, but it was clubs in Quebec and Ontario, rather than universities as in the United States, that led the way in developing the sport. Several of these clubs formed the Foot Ball Association of Canada in 1873, adopting Rugby Union rules in 1875. This initial association collapsed in 1877, to be followed by the first of the Canadian Rugby Football Unions in 1880; the final one, the Canadian Rugby Union (CRU), formed in 1891. Provincial unions were likewise formed in Ontario and Quebec in 1883, but football developed later in the West, with the Western Canadian Rugby Football Union not forming until 1911. The top senior clubs—the Big Four of Quebec and Ontario (Ottawa, Montreal, Hamilton, and Toronto), together with the five top Western clubs (Winnipeg, Saskatchewan, Calgary, Edmonton, and British Columbia)—eventually formed the major football organization in Canada, the professional Canadian Football League.
The Grey Cup, named for Governor-General Earl Grey, was first awarded in 1909, with college and club teams alike competing. Over time, the Grey Cup became Canada’s professional championship, as well as a weeklong festival and the premier single sporting event in the country.
The CRU became the umbrella organization for all the football unions, including the Canadian Intercollegiate Rugby Football Union, which was formed by eight universities in 1897 in reaction to the growing professionalism among the top senior clubs. In addition to the championship for senior clubs, the CRU sponsored an intermediate championship beginning in 1894 and a junior championship beginning in 1908.
No clear boundaries between intercollegiate and club football, or even amateur and professional, were drawn in Canada for several decades, nor were football’s commercial possibilities realized for some time. Unlike U.S. football, early Canadian football was a game for the players rather than the spectators. The University of Toronto’s victory over the Parkdale Canoe Club for the initial Grey Cup, for example, drew 3,807 fans and generated gross revenues of $2,616.40—at a time when top U.S. university teams were playing before 50,000 spectators and Yale was earning more than $1 million from football.
Developing a uniform set of rules in Canada was far more difficult than in the United States. The U.S. model was a powerful influence that was resisted by those who desired to preserve the Canadian-ness of Canadian football. Though clinging to certain rugby features, the Canadian game was gradually "Americanized" by U.S. coaches such as Frank ("Shag") Shaughnessy at McGill University (1912–29) and by pressure from Western clubs, which were more open to U.S. influence and to professionalism. The legalization of the forward pass in 1931 led clubs, particularly in the West, to seek U.S. players skilled at the passing game, to whom was offered local employment in the midst of the Great Depression rather than direct payments.
- Michael Oriard
The Canadian game allowed 13 players per side to kick, throw or carry the ball. There were downs, there were "tries" in the rugby sense (which quickly came to be known as touchdowns) and there was ...
List of games. Below is a list of games played outside the United States by teams from the NFL, and its precursor leagues the American Football League of 1926 (AFL 1926), All-America Football Conference (AAFC), and American Football League (AFL) from which the NFL absorbed teams. [24][25][26] Legend. AB = American Bowl.
The official playing field in Canadian football is larger than the American, and similar to American fields before 1912. The Canadian field of play is 110 by 65 yards (100.6 by 59.4 m), compared to 100 by 531⁄3 yards (91.4 by 48.8 m) in American football. Since 1986, Canadian end zones are 20 yards (18.3 m) deep while the American end zones ...
Apr 18, 2021 · America’s first intercollegiate rugby game saw McGill and Harvard play on Jarvis Field, Cambridge, on May 15, 1874. As every self-proclaimed student of football history knows, the first football-like games between Canadian and American teams came in 1874 when McGill University introduced rugby to Harvard.
People also ask
Why did Canadians give Americans their football game?
Is Canadian Football similar to American football?
Are all NFL teams based in Canada?
How did Canadian Football develop?
Why is Canadian Football more open than American football?
How many timeouts do Canadian football teams get per game?
May 15, 2011 · The first game was played at 4:00 p.m., before 250 persons. The strange American rules prevailed and the ball was unlike anything which the Canadians had seen before.
