| Gordon Sturtridge | |
| Birth Date: | 1929 |
| Birth Place: | Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada |
| Death Place: | Mount Slesse, British Columbia, Canada |
| Number: | 73 |
| Import: | no |
| Position1: | Defensive end |
| Amateur Title: | CJFL |
| Amateur Team: | Winnipeg Rods |
| High School: | St. Paul's, Winnipeg, Manitoba |
| Playing Years1: | 1949 |
| Playing Team1: | Winnipeg Blue Bombers |
| Playing Years2: | 1953–1956 |
| Playing Team2: | Saskatchewan Roughriders |
| Cflallstar: | 1954, 1955, 1956 |
| Awards: | 1953 - Dr. Beattie Martin Trophy |
| Retired #S: | 73 (Saskatchewan Roughriders) |
Gordon Henry Sturtridge (1929 – December 9, 1956) was a professional Canadian football player, and was one of 62 people who died on Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810, on December 9, 1956.[1]
Sturtridge played his entire five-year professional football career as a defensive end for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Western Interprovincial Football Union, and his #73 jersey is one of eight that has been retired by the club.
Sturtridge played amateur Canadian football in the Canadian Junior Football League, and was a member of the Winnipeg Rods.[2]
Sturtridge signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders where he starred for four years.[1] In 1953 he won the Dr. Beattie Martin Trophy as best Canadian rookie in the Western Conference (this despite having played with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 1949).[3] He was a three-time Western All-Star (in 1954, 1955, and 1956), and was on his way back to Regina, Saskatchewan, on Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810 after playing in the Shrine Game in Vancouver, British Columbia, on December 8, 1956.[1]
Sturtridge, his wife, Mildred (née Alford), Roughriders teammates, Mario DeMarco, Mel Becket, and Ray Syrnyk, were passengers on Flight 810 with another WIFU player, Calvin Jones, of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.[1] All five players were present at the 1956 All-Star game in Vancouver, British Columbia, and were headed back to their respective teams' home cities. The five players and Mildred were accompanied by 53 other passengers, and 3 crew members who all lost their lives in Western Canada's worst aviation disaster on December 9, 1956, on Slesse Mountain (Mount Slesse) near Chilliwack, British Columbia.[1] The crash is the subject of the 2012 documentary The Crash of Flight 810, part of TSN's Engraved on a Nation series of eight documentaries celebrating the 100th Grey Cup.[4] [5] [6]
Gordon and Mildred were survived by their three young children who were home in Regina at the time of the crash.[1]
In 1957, a youth football league in North Vancouver, British Columbia was named in memory of Sturtridge.[1] The Gordon Sturtridge Football League is for players aged 6 to 15.[1]