CFL All-Star Game explained

The Canadian Football League played an all-star game regularly during the 1950s and 1970s and twice in the 1980s.

1950s

The first game in 1955 actually precedes the establishment of the Canadian Football Council and the CFL, and was known as the Shrine Game, sponsored by the Shriners to raise funds for Shriners Hospitals for Children. It was held each year from 1955 to 1958 the week after the Grey Cup, as the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union All-Stars took on the Western Interprovincial Football Union.

After the 1956 contest, five players that played in the game (four from the Saskatchewan Roughriders and one from the Winnipeg Blue Bombers) were killed when Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810 crashed in what was then the worst air disaster in Canadian history. After poor attendances in the next two Shrine Games (the fact that they were outdoor football games played in Canada in December didn't help), the idea of an All-Star game was dropped.

1970s

The CFL All-Star Game returned in 1970, now played as a pre-season contest in late June and early July, with the league all-stars taking on the previous season's Grey Cup champion. After no game was held in 1975, the contest returned for three more years (1976–78), with East again meeting West. These games were played before the pre-season (similar to the NFL's Pro Football Hall of Fame Game), in late May and early June; again, poor attendance led to the game's cancellation.

1980s

Two more CFL All-Star Games were played, in the 1980s: a post-season contest in December 1983 (held indoors in Vancouver), pitting East and West; and a June 1988 game between the CFL All-Stars and the hometown Edmonton Eskimos. Even though the 1988 contest drew a CFL All Star-record 27,573 fans,[1] no game has been held since then.

List of games

There have been 14 CFL All-Star Games. Of the eight games that have featured teams from the East versus West (or IRFU versus WIFU), the West leads the series 5–2–1. The remaining six games featured a CFL All-Star team versus the defending Grey Cup champion. The league team won four of these games, with the Calgary Stampeders and Ottawa Rough Riders each winning once.

SeasonDate Day Venue City Visitor Score Home Attendance Ref
December 3, 1955 Saturday WIFU All-Stars 6-6 (tie) IRFU All-Stars 15,088 [2]
December 8, 1956 Saturday IRFU All-Stars 0-35 WIFU All-Stars 13,546 [3]
December 7, 1957 Saturday WIFU All-Stars 2-20 IRFU All-Stars 5,000 [4]
December 6, 1958 Saturday WIFU All-Stars 9-3 IRFU All-Stars 7,000 [5]
July 2, 1970 ThursdayCFL All-Stars 35-14 23,094 [6]
June 29, 1971 Tuesday CFL All-Stars 30-13 9,000 [7]
June 28, 1972 Wednesday CFL All-Stars 22-23 Calgary Stampeders 23,616 [8]
June 27, 1973 Wednesday CFL All-Stars 22-11 24,765 [9]
June 26, 1974 Wednesday CFL All-Stars 22-25 Ottawa Rough Riders 15,102 [10]
May 29, 1976 Saturday East All-Stars 16-27 West All-Stars 21,762 [11]
June 4, 1977 Saturday West All-Stars 19-20 East All-Stars 7,500 [12]
June 3, 1978 Saturday East All-Stars 12-24 West All-Stars 21,000 [13]
December 3, 1983 Saturday East All-Stars 15-25 West All-Stars 14,000 [14]
June 23, 1988 ThursdayCFL All-Stars 15-4 27,573 [15]

Notes and References

  1. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Web site: 1988 CFL All-Star Game . YouTube.
  2. Web site: WIFU All-Stars 6 @ IRFU All-Stars 6. 2013-09-27.
  3. Web site: IRFU All-Stars 0 @ WIFU All-Stars 35. 2013-09-27.
  4. Web site: WIFU All-Stars 2 @ IRFU All-Stars 20. 2013-09-27.
  5. Web site: WIFU All-Stars 9 @ IRFU All-Stars 3. 2013-09-27.
  6. Web site: CFL All-Stars 35 @ Ottawa Rough Riders 14. 2013-09-27.
  7. Web site: CFL All-Stars 30 @ Montreal Alouettes 13. 2013-09-27.
  8. Web site: CFL All-Stars 22 @ Calgary Stampeders 23. 2013-09-27.
  9. Web site: CFL All-Stars 22 @ Hamilton Tiger-Cats 11. 2013-09-27.
  10. Web site: CFL All-Stars 22 @ Ottawa Rough Riders 25. 2013-09-27.
  11. Web site: East All-Stars 16 @ West All-Stars 27. 2013-09-27.
  12. Web site: West All-Stars 19 @ East All-Stars 20. 2013-09-27.
  13. Web site: East All-Stars 12 @ West All-Stars 24. 2013-09-27.
  14. Web site: East All-Stars 15 @ West All-Stars 25. 2013-09-27.
  15. Web site: CFL All-Stars 15 @ Edmonton Eskimos 4. 2013-09-27.

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