1936 in Canadian football explained
Canadian Football News in 1936
Teams were restricted to a maximum of five imports, and only players who had lived in Canada for a full year could compete in the Grey Cup game.[1] When Regina won the West, five of their imports were declared illegal by the Canadian Rugby Union (CRU). Regina offered to drop the players for the Grey Cup, but the CRU would not allow them to play for the cup. Instead, the Grey Cup was a contest between the Sarnia Imperials of the Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU) and the Ottawa Rough Riders of the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (IRFU). Sarnia won their second and last Grey Cup with a powerful line-up that included future Hall of Famers Hugh (Bummer) Stirling and Ormond Beach.[2]
The Western Interprovincial Football Union (WIFU) was formed in August with the Winnipegs, Calgary Bronks, and the Regina Roughriders.[1]
The IRFU and WIFU adopted a two-game point series format for the playoffs. The series was played between first and second place teams.[1]
A white ball was used in games played under floodlights in Western Canada.[1]
Intercollegiate teams stopped competing for the Grey Cup.[1]
The Regina Roughriders fielded two teams; the main, or "big" team in the WIFU, and the "little" Roughriders who played in the last SRFU season.
The Calgary Bronks played a full schedule in the Alberta Rugby Football Union including some games which conflicted with the WIFU schedule. For the open dates, the Bronks fielded the same team that was competing in the WIFU (5 games). For the remaining three games, the Bronks fielded a second team which was referred to as the Calgary Bronks 'B'. The final game of the regular season saw the Calgary Bronks square off against the University of Alberta Golden Bears. These teams were the two top teams in the ARFU, so it was decided that in addition to being the final regular season game, the game would also determine the ARFU championship.
Regular season
Final regular season standings
Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pts = Points
- Calgary-Regina games are worth 4 points.
| | | |
Bold text means that they have clinched the playoffs.
Saskatchewan Rugby Football Union! Team !! GP !! W !! L !! T !! PF !! PA !! Pts| Moose Jaw Millers | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 23 | 5 |
| Saskatoon Hilltops | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 26 | 11 | 4 |
| Regina "Little" Roughriders | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 21 | 3 |
|
British Columbia Rugby Football Union ! Team !! GP !! W !! L !! T !! PF !! PA !! Pts | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 52 | 36 | 10 |
| 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 82 | 36 | 10 |
| North Shore Lions | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 21 | 63 | 4 |
| University of British Columbia Varsity | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 25 | 0 |
|
Grey Cup playoffs
Note: All dates in 1936
BCRFU tie-breaker playoff
- Vancouver Athletic Club Wolves win BCRFU and advance (only to default.)
Division semi-finals
- Regina won the total-point series 24–14 after Winnipeg started the series with a 2-0 lead.
- Game to be played on Nov.7 in Winnipeg, but Moose Jaw Millers withdraw on Nov. 5 and Regina advances to Final
- BCRFU forfeits game, Calgary Bronks "B" side advance to final.[3] [4]
Division finals
- Regina started the game with a 5-0 lead.[5] [6] CRU would not allow them to play for the Grey Cup
- Sarnia advanced to the Grey Cup game.
- Ottawa won the total-point series 22–6 and advanced to the Grey Cup game.
Grey Cup Championship
1936 Eastern (Combined IRFU & ORFU) All-Stars selected by Canadian Press
NOTE: During this time most players played both ways, so the All-Star selections do not distinguish between some offensive and defensive positions.
1st Team
- QB – Bob Coulter, Toronto Argonauts
- FW – Ormond Beach, Sarnia Imperials
- HB – Hugh Welch, Hamilton Tigers
- HB – Ab Box, Toronto Argonauts
- DB – Ted Morris, Toronto Argonauts
- E – Wes Cutler, Toronto Argonauts
- E – Seymour Wilson, Hamilton Tigers
- C – Fred Wigle, Montreal Indians
- G – Charles "Tiny" Hermann, Ottawa Rough Riders
- G – George Pigeon, Montreal Indians
- T – Dave Sprague, Ottawa Rough Riders
- T – Pete Joktus, Montreal Indians
2nd Team
- QB – Arnie McWatters, Sarnia Imperials
- FW – Abe Eliowitz, Ottawa Rough Riders
- HB – Andy Tommy, Ottawa Rough Riders
- HB – Mike Hedgewich, Sarnia Imperials
- DB – Hugh Sterling, Sarnia Imperials
- E – Jack Holden, University of Toronto
- E – Syd Reynolds, Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers
- C – George Willis, University of Western Ontario
- G – Pat Butler, Sarnia Imperials
- G – George Hornig, McGill University
- T – Ernie Hempey, Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers
- T – Gus Greco, University of Toronto
1936 Canadian Football Awards
Notes and References
- Web site: CANADIAN FOOTBALL TIMELINES (1860 – 2005). footballcanada.com. 11 October 2019. 9 January 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170109113533/http://footballcanada.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/FootballTimelines.pdf. dead.
- Web site: Year: 1936. www.cflapedia.com. 2019-10-11.
- BCRFU forfeit game by deciding not to participate in Western playoffs. Numerous reasons were given, including cost and interrupting BCRFU schedule.
- https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=s_RlAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FokNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1014%2C3151687 Gridders Call Off Playoff, The Vancouver Sun - Oct 24, 1936
- Regina spotted five points to start the game as when WIFU organized, "it was agreed by all teams that the points separating the teams in the league standings would be carried into the western playdowns." Regina had a five point differential in points over Calgary in the WIFU standings.
- https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qRxkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LXsNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1609%2C915778 The Calgary Daily Herald - Nov 10, 1936
