Ottawa Trojans Explained

Ottawa Trojans
Bgcolor:red
Fontcolor:blue
Folded: (Amalgamated with Ottawa Rough Riders
in 1948)
Location:Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Field:Lansdowne Park
League:Ontario Rugby Football Union
Colours:Red and Blue
Coach:Gordie Perry (1943–1944)
Arnie McWatters (1945–1946)
Wally Masters (1947)

The Ottawa Trojans were a Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario and competed in the Ontario Rugby Football Union from 1943 to 1947. After winning the 1947 ORFU championship, the team would merge with the Ottawa Rough Riders in 1948.[1]

History

The team was first admitted into the ORFU on Friday, July 16, 1943, and played for one season as the Ottawa Combines, supplanting the Kitchener-Waterloo Panthers as the sixth team.[2] The club was renamed the Trojans prior to the 1944 season and wore red and blue uniforms.[3] [4] The team had their most successful season in 1947 where they won the ORFU championship before losing the East Final to the Toronto Argonauts.[5] [6] After the 1947 season, they amalgamated with the Ottawa Rough Riders after the Riders were given exclusive rights to Ottawa's Lansdowne Park playing fields.[7] The new football organization would be known as the Ottawa Rough Riders Football Club[1] and would compete in the 1948 Grey Cup before finally winning it in 1951.

Seasons

SeasonWLTPFPAPtsFinishPlayoffs
1943 2 7 0 68 129 4 4th, ORFU Missed Playoffs
1944 3 3 0 74 74 6 3rd, ORFU Missed Playoffs
1945 3 4 0 56 78 6 3rd, ORFU Missed Playoffs
1946 0 10 0 36 127 0 6th, ORFU Missed playoffs
1947 5 4 1 148 133 11 3rd, ORFU Lost Eastern Finals

Notes and References

  1. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=lzMrAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2ZgFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5276%2C936200 Lansdowne Field Leased by Riders
  2. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_yVkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ansNAAAAIBAJ&pg=3694%2C2005640 Combines in O.R.F.U.
  3. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wHYtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fpgFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3865,2170523&dq=ottawa+trojans+combines&hl=en The Montreal Gazette - Nov 12, 1943
  4. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YgIvAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HdwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4115%2C90540 Ottawa Citizen - Sep 2, 1946
  5. 2009 Canadian Football League Facts, Figures & Records, Canadian Football League Properties/Publications, Toronto, Ontario,, p.292
  6. Web site: Home . cflapedia.com.
  7. Web site: Ottawa Trojans 1944 - 1947 . 2012-04-30 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120420035854/http://capitalregionfootball.info/Trojans_1944_-_1947.php . 2012-04-20 . Ottawa Trojans